Bosniak party

An opposition bloc led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, which was swept from power in 2020 after three decades of uninterrupted rule, came second with 23.8 per cent of votes.

The early parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place on 11 June 2023, will be the twelfth parliamentary elections since the introduction of a multi-party system and the sixth since Montenegro gained its independence.  There are around 542 thousand eligible voters registered in the central electoral roll.

High Representative Christian Schmidt, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war, warned on Friday that he could intervene using his sweeping powers if politicians in the Federation entity do not find a way to implement election results and form a government in the entity.

In the second round of the election, preliminary results put Milatovic far ahead on 60 per cent of the counted votes while Djukanovic won 40 per cent.

Milatovic had the support of the ruling majority parties, while Djukanovic was supported by the smaller opposition Bosniak Party and two ethnic Albanian parties.

A woman walks past campaign billboards for Presidential candidates Milo Djukanovic and Jakov Milatovic in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

Osman Mehmedagic, former director of Bosnia's Intelligence and Security Agency and now sanctioned by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, reacted to the penalty by saying that the "accusations are unfounded and false".

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, extended the list of sanctioned individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, slapping sanctions on a former chief of the Intelligence Security Agency, Osman "Osmica" Mehmedagic and two others. 

The formation of a government in the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bigger of Bosnia's two entities, remains on hold since the October 2022 election, as the governing coalition that promised its quick formation falls apart. 

Ljubljana – Faris Kočan, a researcher at the Centre of International Relations at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences, believes the results of the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina available so far indicate time may have come for civic ideas as opposed to nationalism.

Serbian member of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik, is traveling to Montenegro, ahead of the vote of confidence in the government of Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovi, the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina report.