Around 3.3 million citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina will elect the three-headed head of state on Sunday. In addition, they determine the federal parliament and the parliaments in the two parts of the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most corrupt and poorest countries in Europe. Unemployment is around 16 percent and more and more people are leaving the country. Last year alone there were around 170,000 people.
Ethnic clientele politics
The difficult economic situation, inflation, environmental protection, but also corruption were issues in the election campaign. But there were hardly any answers to these questions, says historian Marie-Janine Calic from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. “That would require tackling reforms together and saying goodbye to ethnic clientele politics.”
The Balkan country suffers from the antagonisms between the national parties of the Muslim Bosnians, who make up about half of the population, the orthodox Serbs (a third of the population) and the Catholic Croats (15 percent). In addition, the Serbian part of the country is striving for secession from Bosnia.
Many believe that only their party can represent their interests well and that the other ethnic groups want to take advantage of them.
The political system in Bosnia is based on this ethnic principle, on the sharing of power between the three state-forming peoples. As a result, the party landscape, society and the economy are ethnically stratified, explains the historian Calic: “Many believe that only their party can represent their interests well and that the other ethnic groups want to take advantage of them.”
That is why most people vote for candidates from their ethnic group. The interest for the whole country was almost completely absent in the election campaign. “The parties have no interest in changing anything. On the contrary, they are trying to introduce more and more elements that further strengthen this ethnic principle, for example in the right to vote, »says Calic.
No conclusion to the story
The traces of war are omnipresent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 27 years after the civil war, the country is still deeply divided. Also in the city of Mostar there were no local elections and no mayor for 12 years. Twenty-seven years after the war, secondary schools are still taught separately: Catholic Croats in one classroom, Muslim Bosnians in another.
In the village of Ledinac, very close to Mostar, people still worship Croatian war generals. But since the war, a third of the people have left the village. Zana Alpeza stayed. With her association “The right path” she fights against emigration. «So many empty houses here in the village. Children no longer play in the gardens. And there are fewer and fewer old people.”
Mirhunisa Sukic is also disappointed. She runs an organization that helps Bosnian war refugees return to their home villages. “Many wanted to return, but they were discriminated against, got no jobs.” Many lose patience and emigrate, especially the younger generation.
“Anyone who is against this ethnic system often does not vote at all. And many have simply left the country,” notes historian Calic. Instead of voting, “many voted with their feet” and left the country. According to the UN, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the country in the world that has lost most of its population to emigration in the last ten years. And a reversal of this trend is not in sight.