Dodik's Allies Sweep Bosnia's Elections as Serb Entity Defies Court Ban
Savo Minić won the presidency of Republika Srpska with backing from the banned Milorad Dodik. Željka Cvijanović will represent Serbs in Bosnia's tripartite presidency.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's elections passed without surprises, according to preliminary results published by the Central Election Commission on Sunday evening. Candidates from the ruling parties won across the board, with allies of former Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik securing the most significant victories.
After counting 95 percent of ballots, Denis Bećirović remained the leader for the Bosniak seat in the country's tripartite presidency, with around 38 percent of the vote. He previously served as chairman of the presidency. The Croat seat appeared to go to Darijana Filipović with around 48 percent. Serbs gave their preference to Željka Cvijanović with around 55 percent — a close associate of Dodik who has previously sat in the presidency.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a unique presidency system in which three representatives — one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb — serve simultaneously as heads of state. The system was created under the 1995 Dayton Agreement, which ended the civil war. Many analysts consider the resulting structure inefficient.
The main suspense of the vote was the outcome of the presidency of Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. The race pitted opposition candidate Branko Blanuša against Prime Minister Savo Minić. According to preliminary results, Minić won, leading in most electoral districts. The opposition candidate took some districts, but according to the Central Election Commission, this did not change the overall result.
Minić, like Cvijanović, ran for the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the party founded by Milorad Dodik, who previously served as president of Republika Srpska. In 2025, Dodik was forcibly removed from office for failing to comply with decisions of Bosnia's Constitutional Court and international agreements.
According to the Central Election Commission, the SNSD is also winning the elections to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. The same party received the majority of Bosnian Serb votes in elections to the lower house of Bosnia's national parliament, the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Dodik has already congratulated both Minić and Cvijanović on their victories. The politician himself is barred by a court decision from engaging in political activity for six years. Dodik has refused to recognise the court's ruling and travelled to Moscow for support. Dodik and Minić met with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on September 29.
For now, the results confirm what many observers expected: despite the court ban and international pressure, Dodik's political machine remains the dominant force among Bosnian Serbs. His allies now control the presidency of Republika Srpska, the Serb seat in the national presidency, and the largest bloc in both regional and national parliaments. The question is not whether Dodik remains influential. It is whether his allies will govern any differently than he did — or whether they will simply act as his proxies until his ban expires.
Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com