Bosnian Serb leader Dodik declared election winner of Serb entity after recount

BELGRADE, Serbia

Following a recount, Milorad Dodik on Thursday was declared the winner of the presidency of the Serb entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Central Election Commission said the Bosnian Serb leader was in the lead with 48% of votes, with his main opponent – Jelena Trivic of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) – well behind on 42%.

After the Oct. 2 elections, both contestants had claimed that they were going to be the president of Republika Srpska, the country’s Serb entity.

Suad Arnautovic, the commission’s head, said the result was “unchanged” after the recount, which was held after the opposition accused Dodik of rigging the vote.

Dodik caused heightened tensions ahead of the elections by threatening to withdraw from state institutions, taking steps towards the secession of Republika Srpska.

Since the end of 1990s war, and the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a political system dubbed as the world’s most complicated. It comprises two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Republika Srpska.

The two entities have broad autonomy and all actions require consensus from the country’s three main ethnic groups – Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats.