General elections were held in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

on 12 October 2014. They decided the makeup of Bosnia and Herzegovina's

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

as well as national, entity, and cantonal governments. Voter turnout was 54.47%. The elections for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

were divided into two; one for the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...

and one for

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

. In the presidential election, voters in the Federation re-elected Bosniak Bakir Izetbegović and elected Croat Dragan Čović, while voters in Republika Srpska elected Serb Mladen Ivanić. The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives, winning 10 of the 42 seats and over 300,000 votes, their highest number of votes since 1998. The

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...

came in second with 6 seats, down two from the previous general election. The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) significantly improved its result, earning 12.97% of the popular vote, up from 8.40% in 2010, winning five seats. The newly-formed Democratic Front (DF), headed by

Željko Komšić Željko Komšić (; born 20 January 1964) is a Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Croat politician serving as the List of Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6th and current Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia a ...

, also won five seats. The Union for a Better Future and the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ BiH) each won 4 seats. The ruling

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

recorded its worst ever result with 6.65% of the popular vote, a drastic decline from 17.33% in the 2010 general election, winning three seats, its lowest number since 1996. The Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to meet the 3% constituency level vote

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

, denying it seats in the House of Representatives for the first time in its history. Following the election, the SDA and the SDS formed a coalition agreement with the DF, the HDZ BiH and the Party of Democratic Progress. In March 2015, Denis Zvizdić was appointed as the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the government was confirmed by the House of Representatives.

Electoral system

The three members of the Presidency are elected by plurality. In

voters elect the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

representative, whilst in the

voters elect the

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

members. The 42 members of the House of Representatives are elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in two constituencies, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Results

Presidency

House of Representatives

By entity

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republika Srpska

Aftermath

While the Bosniak member Bakir Izetbegović was the only member of the tripartite

to be re-elected, Serb member Mladen Ivanić was chosen as the first one to

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

the Presidency. Izetbegović said: "In the next four years, I expect the Presidency to be a strong engine driving this country forward on the path of reform toward reaching our most important goal — to become a rightful member of the union of free and democratic

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an nations." Ivanić said that "the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are exhausted and tired of quarrels and confrontations, trapped in a vicious circle of economic crisis, enormous unemployment. They are depressed from a lack of ideas on how this situation could change. This must change." He further added that everyone's interest was served by cooperating with both the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

References

External links

Central Election Committee BiH
{{Bosnia and Herzegovina elections Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results