06 October 2018•Update: 07 October 2018
By Talha Ozturk
BELGRADE, Serbia
Voters in Bosnia and Herzegovina will choose a new government in the general election on Sunday.
Bosnia's government structure is one of the most intricate political systems in the world.
A total of 3.35 million Bosnians are eligible to cast ballots in the election.
The vote will be held across the country at 5,794 polling stations. Three-hundred-and-fourteen mobile teams will reach 10,000 citizens unable to step out to vote.
This year, some 78,000 registered voters living abroad are eligible to vote at diplomatic and consular missions in Vienna, Oslo, Belgrade, Chicago, Munich, Frankfurt, and Graz.
Election silence has been effective as of 7 a.m. local time (0500GMT) on Saturday and will last until all the polling stations are closed at 7 p.m. local time (1700GMT) on Sunday.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has two entities, 10 cantons, and an autonomous region. The country's complex political structure, the crippling economic crisis, unemployment and memories of the war make the elections even more complicated.
Voters will choose a national parliament, three members of the national presidency, the parliaments of the country’s two entities and other bodies.
They will elect the parliamentarians of the two councils -- the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH) and the Republika Srpska (RS), the two constitutional entities of the country.
They will also vote for members of the Bosnian federation's 10 cantons.
Fifteen candidates -- six Bosnians, five Croats, four Serbs -- will compete for the rotating chairmanship of the three-member Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnian candidates:
Sefik Dzaferovic (Party of Democratic Action-SDA), Fahrudin Radoncic (Union for a Better Future of BiH), Denis Becirovic (Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Senad Sepic (Independent Block-NB), Mirsad Hadzikadic (Independent candidate), Amer Jerlagic (Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Croat candidates:
Democratic Union-HDZ BiH), Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic (People's Party for Work and Betterment), Diana Zelenika (Croatian Democratic Union 1990), Borisa Flatar (Our Party-NS), Zeljko Komsic (Democratic Front-DF).
Serb candidates:
Milorad Dodik (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats-SNSD), Mirjana Popovic (Serbian Progressive Party-SNS), Gojko Klickovic (First Serbian Democratic Party-Prva SDS), Mladen Ivanic (Alliance for Victory
67 political parties, 34 independent candidates, 34 alliances
Bosnia and Herzegovina election authority has cleared 67 political parties to participate in the elections. This is the highest figure since the 2002 elections.
The elections will also see 34 independent candidates and 34 alliances at different levels of the state functions.
In total nearly 7,500 candidates will run for 518 posts which equals an average of 14 candidates for every single post up for grabs.
