Sarajevo Would Build Its Government on Census Data
Statements by Gordan Grlić Radman in Mostar Reignite Debate on BiH Election Law, Bosniak Officials Respond with Calls for Transformation into a 'Civic State'
Statements by Gordan Grlić Radman in Mostar Reignite Debate on BiH Election Law, Bosniak Officials Respond with Calls for Transformation into a 'Civic State'
Statements by Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman in Mostar have sparked a new sharp polemic between Croatian and Bosniak political representatives ahead of the BiH elections scheduled for October 2026. On Tuesday, Grlić Radman again spoke of the continued fight for "the equality of Croats in BiH," warning that the current election law allows Bosniaks, who are nearly four times more numerous, to elect not only their own but also the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency.
The Croatian and Bosniak members of the BiH Presidency are elected on the territory of the Federation of BiH, one of the two entities, with each voter able to decide whom to vote for. This arrangement has allowed Bosniaks to elect the Croatian member of the Presidency, Željko Komšić, four times, even though Croats in BiH did not vote for him at all.
This is a solution agreed upon in 1995 in Dayton, which was signed on behalf of Croatia by then-Croatian President Franjo Tuđman. The same document was also signed by Alija Izetbegović, who was then the head of the BiH Presidency and the leading Bosniak leader in the 1990s.
Novi list believes that claims of oppression of Croats in BiH are inaccurate, as the Dayton Agreement has secured them greater representation in government at the state, Federation, and canton levels than their population share of 15 percent would warrant. Currently, Croats also hold the position of Chair of the Council of Ministers of BiH, a role held by Borjana Krišto of HDZ BiH.
Denis Bećirović, the Bosniak member and current Chair of the BiH Presidency (SDP BiH), reacted to Grlić Radman's statements, saying that "political forces fighting for a democratic and European BiH will never allow the formation of mono-ethnic electoral units."
"Our state needs a transformation of the existing model toward an inclusive, functional democracy based on civic principles," said Bećirović.
This stance advocates for the introduction of a so-called civic state, a solution that is in direct opposition to the current constitutional system of BiH, of which Bećirović is currently the formal head.
BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković stated that "there will be no new electoral units in BiH," and wrote on Facebook: "In our country, it is time for equality of Bosniaks with other peoples." Konaković insists that members of different peoples in governing bodies should be represented according to the 2013 census, according to which Bosniaks make up more than half of BiH's population.
The paradox, as Novi list points out, is that in a civic state, which Bosniaks formally advocate for, the government should be formed based on election results, not on census data.
Slaven Kovačević, a member of Komšić's Democratic Front who is running for the BiH Presidency, assessed that "the establishment of a third, ethnically based electoral unit would be the first step toward the federalization of BiH, and then proponents of such a concept would impose a confederal form of governance and annexation to neighboring Croatia."
It is bizarre, however, that BiH is currently already a de facto federal state consisting of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH. Kovačević, like Komšić, who did so four times, wants to become the Croatian representative in the BiH Presidency, and he would be elected by Bosniaks.
