Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine/Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине") is the head of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Overview

According to the Article V of the Constitution, the Presidency consists of three members: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation and one Serb elected from the Republika Srpska. Together, they serve one four-year term.

The member with the most votes becomes the chairman (the President of the Presidency) unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months, to ensure equality.

The Presidency is responsible for:
* Conducting the foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
* Appointing ambassadors and other international representatives, no more than two thirds of which may come from the Federation;
* Representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in European and international organizations and institutions and seeking membership in such organizations and institutions of which it is not a member;
* Negotiating, denouncing, and, with the consent of the Parliamentary Assembly, ratifying treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
* Executing decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly;
* Proposing, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, an annual budget to the Parliamentary Assembly;
* Reporting as requested, but no less than annually, to the Parliamentary Assembly on expenditures by the Presidency;
* Coordinating as necessary with international and nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and;
* Performing such other functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties, as may be assigned to it by the Parliamentary Assembly, or as may be agreed by the Entities.

Presidency elected in 1998

Elected members:
* Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, since 5 October 1996 (chairman between 14 February and 14 October 2000)
* Živko Radišić for the Serbs, since 13 October 1998
* Ante Jelavić for the Croats, since September 1998

Živko Radišić with 52% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first 8 months; Ante Jelavić with 52% of the Croat vote followed Radišić in the rotation; Alija Izetbegović with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a second term until Radišić and Jelavić had each served a first term as Chairman of the Presidency.

Presidency elected in 2002

Election held 5 October 2002.

Elected members:
*Dragan Čović for the Croats
*Mirko Šarović for the Serbs
*Sulejman Tihić for the Bosniaks

Mirko Šarović with 35.5% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Dragan Čović received 61.5% of the Croat vote; Sulejman Tihić received 37% of the Bosniak vote.

Mirko Šarović resigned in 2003 due to his implication in the scandal regarding the selling of arms to Iraq. The Parliament replaced him with Borislav Paravac.

Dragan Čović was dismissed by the High Representative Paddy Ashdown, after Čović was indicted for financial corruption; however, the trial hasn't taken place yet. The Parliament replaced him with Ivo Miro Jović.

Results

Presidency elected in 2006

The elections were held on 1 October 2006.

ee also

*Chairmen of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

External links

* [http://www.predsjednistvobih.ba/Home.aspx?langTag=en-US Website of the Presidency]
* [http://www.ccbh.ba/constitution/?lang=en&content=5 Article V of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina]
* [http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=17077 Holding Bosnian presidents accountable] , "ISN Security Watch", 21 December 2006