Bosnians go to polls to choose between nationalists and reformists
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 2:49 am
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/02/europe/b ... index.html
Bosnians go to the polls on Sunday to choose the country’s new collective presidency and lawmakers at national, regional and local levels, deciding between long-entrenched nationalist parties and reformists focused on the economy.
Nearly 3.4 million people are eligible to vote amid the worst political crisis in the Balkan country since the end of its war in the 1990s, prompted by separatist policies of the Serb leadership and threats of blockades by Bosnian Croats.
The polls open at 7 a.m. local (12:00 a.m. ET) and close at 7 p.m. (12:00 p.m. ET). The first official results are expected at midnight local but political parties are expected to come out with their own results around 10 p.m.
Bosnia is comprised of two autonomous regions, the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats, linked by a weak central government. The Federation is further split into 10 cantons. There is also the neutral Brcko district in the north.
Election campaigning by ruling ethnic parties was dominated by hate speech and nationalist rhetoric, focusing rather on themes of protection of national interests and criticism of opponents than on real-life issues such as jobs and soaring inflation.
Bosnians go to the polls on Sunday to choose the country’s new collective presidency and lawmakers at national, regional and local levels, deciding between long-entrenched nationalist parties and reformists focused on the economy.
Nearly 3.4 million people are eligible to vote amid the worst political crisis in the Balkan country since the end of its war in the 1990s, prompted by separatist policies of the Serb leadership and threats of blockades by Bosnian Croats.
The polls open at 7 a.m. local (12:00 a.m. ET) and close at 7 p.m. (12:00 p.m. ET). The first official results are expected at midnight local but political parties are expected to come out with their own results around 10 p.m.
Bosnia is comprised of two autonomous regions, the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats, linked by a weak central government. The Federation is further split into 10 cantons. There is also the neutral Brcko district in the north.
Election campaigning by ruling ethnic parties was dominated by hate speech and nationalist rhetoric, focusing rather on themes of protection of national interests and criticism of opponents than on real-life issues such as jobs and soaring inflation.