“According to preliminary, unofficial and incomplete results, Sinisa Karan won 50.89% of the votes,” Commission President Jovan Kalaba told a news conference.
Karan of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) previously served as Minister of Internal Affairs and was considered Dodik’s right-hand man.
Why was voting held on Sunday?
The election was called earlier this year after Dodik was sentenced to a year in prison and barred from political activity over separatist policies that international observers said had created instability in the Balkan nation.
Dodik flouted decisions by High Representative Christian Schmidt, the international envoy responsible for implementing the Dayton Accords peace accord that ended the Bosnian war 30 years ago.
Dodik had repeatedly threatened the possible secession of Republika Srpska from the rest of Bosnia.
His threats reignited fear in a country where the 1992-95 war killed nearly 100,000 people and displaced millions.
Although Dodik initially came to power in 1998 with Western support, he later began to express Serbian nationalist positions more openly and has attempted to lean toward Moscow in recent years.
What is Republika Srpska?
The 1995 Dayton Accords ended the war, leaving the Balkan country divided into a Serb-majority entity known as Republika Srpska, as well as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing the Bosniak – also known as Bosnian Muslims – and Croat communities.
The mixed Brcko District was established as a buffer between the two entities.
Since the end of the war, Bosnia has been plagued by nationalist politics as well as corruption and substantial economic crises.
Who was the second candidate in the voting held on Sunday?
Karan was pitted against Branko Blanusa, a university professor and candidate of the opposition Serb Democratic Party.
Four other contenders were also in the race but were not considered strong candidates.
“The election campaign took place in a fair and tolerant atmosphere,” Blanusa said after casting his vote in the northwestern city of Banja Luka.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah
<a href