The Bosniaks of Srebrenica boycotted the repeated elections in that city in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in which the Serb forces committed genocide against the Bosniak population in July 1995, and the joint candidate of the Serbian parties for mayor, Mladen Grujičić, was elected mayor of the Municipality.
The elections were boycotted at the invitation of the coalition of political parties, the "My Address: Srebrenica" Initiative, because the postal vote for Srebrenica residents living all over the world was not repeated.
Grujičić, who was also the mayor in the last mandate (elected in the 2016 elections), received 67,62 percent of the votes as a candidate of several Serbian parties in the coalition called "Together for Srebrenica".
Alija Tabaković, the candidate of the coalition of Bosniak parties "My address: Srebrenica", won 31,70 percent of the vote.
Independent candidate Mile Janjić 0,36 and Aleksandar Simić, also an independent candidate, 0,31 percent of votes.
Grujičić told Radio Free Europe (RSE) after election day that "even if there had been no boycott by the Bosniak parties", the difference in his favor "would have been big" and he would have won a new mandate as mayor.
"That's why I believe that the boycott of the elections is a justification for Bosniaks who knew that they would not have a chance to achieve better results than those in November, when I had an advantage of 1.200 votes over my opponent Alija Tabaković. Citizens, Serbs and Bosniaks showed dignity. And those who boycotted the elections, they didn't cause problems," said Grujicic.
Because of the boycott, it could happen that, apart from the mayor of the municipality of Serbian nationality, the composition of the municipal assembly will be uninational, that is, without Bosniaks.
The elections in Srebrenica and in Doboj in the north of the country were repeated after the ones already held on November 15 this year due to numerous irregularities.
Most often, it was about voting without valid documents of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina or about their falsification, fictitious declarations of place of residence, forgery of signatures, preventing the presence of observers, etc.
Appeal to the Constitutional Court
Sadik Ahmetović, president of the election headquarters of the "My address: Srebrenica" Initiative, told RFE/RL that Bosniaks respected the decision of this Initiative and did not vote.
When asked what was achieved by the boycott, Ahmetović said: "We continue our struggle in several directions. We expect the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to accept our appeal, which allows voting for all Bosniaks from Srebrenica, wherever they are. In this regard, we expect new elections to be called, in which every citizen of Srebrenica would have the right to choose their candidates. Only in that way would the elections in Srebrenica be legitimate and democratic," Ahmetović said.
He added that it was a success that the repeated local elections in Srebrenica took place in the best order and there were no incidents that would damage the established coexistence between Serbs and Bosniaks.
The appeal to the Constitutional Court was submitted a few days before the repeated elections, and the Constitutional Court was requested to issue a measure nullifying the repeated elections.
This Sunday in Srebrenica, 42,87 percent of voters turned out for the elections for the mayor and the Municipal Assembly, and in Doboj, 55,43 percent for the elections for the mayor and councilors of the City Assembly, announced the CEC.
The data refers to 26 out of 28 regular polling stations in Srebrenica and to all 89 polling stations in Doboj.
The complete turnout for the entire electoral units of Doboj and Srebrenica will be published later.
On the streets and parking lots in Srebrenica on Sunday, the day of the repeated elections, there were many cars parked with license plates of cities from Serbia.
The large number of voters from Serbia in the November elections was one of the reasons to cancel them and call a new one.
Two polling stations without a single voter
As an effect of the boycott of the elections called for by the parties from the "My address: Srebrenica" coalition, not a single voter appeared at the polling stations of Luka and Osmača.
The RSE reporter from Srebrenica reported that there were no crowds at other polling stations and that it was obvious that the elections were boycotted by Bosniaks, in accordance with the call for a boycott of the "My address: Srebrenica" initiative.
That coalition of political parties had a common candidate for municipal mayor in the November elections.
In order for the boycott to be complete, the members of the electoral committees were withdrawn as well as the observers previously delegated from the coalition consisting of the Party of Democratic Action, the Alliance for a Better Future, the Movement of Democratic Action and the Democratic Front.
Councilors who win enough votes for the new convocation of the municipal assembly are asked not to assume mandates.
A few days before the repeated elections, representatives of several pro-Bosnian parties in Srebrenica supported the decision made by the Initiative "My address: Srebrenica".
"Political parties that supported our position and the common candidate for the mayor, found in the values of this idea the least common content: the fight against discrimination and segregation, persistence in action to achieve full equality for all citizens, commitment to the obligation to realize the right to return and constant action against policies that glorify war criminals, deny the verdicts of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally, against those who deny the victims and the genocide itself in Srebrenica", the Initiative's announcement stated at the time
In order for the boycott to be complete, the members of the polling committees as well as the observers previously delegated from the coalition consisting of the Democratic Action Party (SDA), the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB), the Democratic Action Movement and the Democratic Front (DF) were withdrawn. Councilors who win enough votes for the new convocation of the municipal assembly are asked not to assume mandates.
The boycott was supported by the Srebrenica women's association
Munira Subašić, president of the Movement of Mothers Association of the Srebrenica and Žepa enclaves, along with other Srebrenica mothers, supported the boycott of the elections in this city.
"Our commitment is to fight for justice, truth and democracy in Srebrenica. However, of all that, only shadows remain. What is happening is not democracy because our fellow citizens were deprived of their basic rights through genocide, and now also through elections," Munira Subašić told RSE.
She says that, according to her knowledge, "about 60 Bosniaks" voted in Srebrenica.
"They were blackmailed, they had to vote because they are employees of public institutions in Srebrenica," says Subašić.
SNSD declared victory in Doboj
In Doboj, where Serbs make up about 70 percent of the population, Boris Jerinić, who was mayor of Doboj in the previous term, was re-elected.
Jerinić received 67,44 percent of the votes, the candidate of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) Cvijan Filipović won 16,20 and Srđan Todorović from the Socialist Party (SP) 16,36 percent of the votes.
At a press conference in Doboj after the election day, Jerinić said that his victory was convincing, stating that "the landing on Doboj that the opposition announced failed."
Jerinić was also elected mayor in the early local elections in February 2019, after the previous mayor, Obren Petrović, received a mandate as a member of the BiH Parliament.
The results of the elections for the city assembly of Doboj and for the municipal assembly of Srebrenica will be announced on Monday (February 22) in the morning.
President of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Bakalar stated at the press conference that this commission has not received a single complaint related to violations of the election process, which are within the jurisdiction of the Central Election Commission.
Three objections were received from political parties, but they are under the jurisdiction of the Doboj City Election Commission, Bakalar said.
Coalition "Under scrutiny": Persuasion and pressure
Representatives of the coalition of non-governmental organizations "Under Scrutiny" announced at the end of the election day that their observers recorded open persuasion to vote for a certain party or individual, that is, there was intimidation and pressure on voters at three polling stations in Doboj and two in Srebrenica. .
Voting without valid identification documents was registered at eight polling stations, five of which are in Doboj and three in Srebrenica, it was said at a press conference in Doboj on Sunday evening.
Family voting was observed in more than half of the polling stations in both Doboj and Srebrenica.
At 22 polling stations, one person assisted a large number of voters to vote in a booth, 19 of which are in Doboj.
Remarks or objections were also recorded at fifteen polling stations in Doboj and at one polling station in Srebrenica.
For more than a hundred civil, non-partisan observers of this coalition, unhindered access to all polling stations was provided, unlike the election on November 15 last year, when they were prevented from monitoring the voting process in Doboj. That was one of the reasons for canceling the elections in this city.
Four candidates fought for the post of mayor of Srebrenica, while the ballot for the municipal assembly included candidates from 22 political parties, four coalitions and one independent candidate.
On the ballot for the election of the mayor of Doboj there were three candidates from three political parties, while on the ballot for the city assembly there were candidates on behalf of 85 certified political subjects (34 independent candidates, four coalitions and 47 political parties).
Assembly of the Municipality of Srebrenica - previous composition
In the previous mandate, the Coalition of the SDA, SBB and the Party for BiH had five councilors, the SNSD also had five, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Democratic People's Alliance (DNS) each had two councilors, and there were two independent councilors , and the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), the Serbian Radical Party Dr. Vojislav Šešelj SRS and the People's Democratic Movement (NDP) have one councilor each.
Assembly of the city of Doboj - previous composition
In the previous convocation, councilors from SNSD made up the majority, 14 of them. The Socialist Party (SP) had three councilors. SDA, SDP and the Democratic Alliance (DEMOS) had two councilors each. SDS, PDP, DNS, NDP and United Srpska had one councilor each.
In local elections in November, citizens in BiH elected municipal heads and mayors, and municipal and city convocations of assemblies in the Republic of Srpska, i.e. councils in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The elections for the mayor of Mostar and the City Council were held on December 20, 2020.
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