in northeastern Bosnia is a self-governing administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it is not part of either the Federation or Republika Srpska
Independence: 1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday: National Day, 25 November (1943)
Constitution: the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new constitution now in force
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Jozo
KRIZANOVI (chairman since 14 June 2001, presidency member since NA
March 2001 - Croat); other members of the three-member rotating
(every 8 months) presidency: Zivko RADISIC (since 13 October 1998 -
Serb) and Beriz BELKIC (since NA March 2001 - Bosniak); note - Ante
JELAVIC was dismissed from his post by the UN High Representative in
March 2001
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA (since 18 July 2001)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the National House of Representatives
elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term; the member with the most votes becomes the chairman unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election; election last held 12–13 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2002); the chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives
election results: percent of vote - Zivko RADISIC with 52% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first 8 months; Ante JELAVIC with 52% of the Croat vote followed RADISIC in the rotation; Alija IZETBEGOVIC with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a second term until RADISIC and JELAVIC had each served a first term as Chairman of the Presidency; IZETBEGOVIC retired from the presidency 14 October 2000 and was temporarily replaced by Halid GENJAC; Ante JELAVIC was replaced by Jozo KRIZANOVIC in March 2001
note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Karlo FILIPOVIC (since 27 February 2001); Vice President Safet HALILOVIC (since 27 February 2001); note - president and vice president rotate every year; President of the Republika Srpska: Mirko SAROVIC (since 11 November 2000)
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the National House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats - 14 Serb, 14 Croat, and 14 Bosniak; members elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms) and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats - 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve two-year terms); note - as of 1 January 2001, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a permanent election law; a draft law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures; officials elected in 2000 were elected to two-year terms on the presumption that a permanent law would be in place before 2002
elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2002); House of Peoples - last constituted after the 11 November 2000 elections (next to be constituted in the fall of 2002)
election results: National House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA%; seats by party/coalition - SDP 9, SDA 8, SDS 6, HDZ-BiH 5, SBH 5, PDP 2, NHI 1, BPS 1, DPS 1, SNS 1, SNSD-DSP 1, DNZ 1, SPRS 1; House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA%; seats by party/coalition - NA
note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of a House of Representatives (140 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held NA 2002); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 38, SDP 37, HDZ-BiH 25, SBH 21, DNZ 3, NHI 2, BPS 2, DPS 2, BOSS 2, GDS 1, RP 1, HSS 1, LDS 1, Pensioners' Party of FBiH 1, SNSD-DSP 1, HKDU 1, HSP 1; and a House of Peoples (74 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30 Croat, and 14 others); last constituted November 2000; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held NA 2002); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party/coalition - SDS 31, PDP 11, SNSD 11, SDA 6, DSP 4, SDP 4, SPRS 4, SBH 4, DNS 3, SNS 2, NHI 1, DSRS 1, Pensioners' Party 1; as of 1 January 2001, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a permanent election law; a draft law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures; officials elected in 2000 were elected to two-year terms on the presumption that a permanent law would be in place before 2002
Judicial branch: BiH Constitutional Court (consists of nine members:
four members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of
Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's National
Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the
European Court of Human Rights)
note: a new state court, established in November 1999, has jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities; the entities each have a Supreme Court; each entity also has a number of lower courts; there are ten cantonal courts in the Federation, plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has five municipal courts
Political parties and leaders: Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes
AJANOVIC]; Bosnian Patriotic Party or BPS [Sefer HALILOVIC]; Civic
Democratic Party of BiH or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croat Christian
Democratic Union or HKDU BiH [Ante PASALIC]; Croatian Democratic
Union of BiH or HDZ-BiH [leader vacant]; Croatian Party of Rights or
HSP [Zdravko HRSTIC]; Croatian Peasants Party of BiH or HSS-BiH
[Ilija SIMIC]; Democratic Action Party or SDA [Alija IZETBEGOVIC];
Democratic National Alliance or DNS [Dragan KOSTIC]; Democratic
Party of Pensioners or DPS [Alojz KNEZOVIC]; Democratic Party of RS
or DSRS [Dragomir DUMIC]; Democratic Peoples Union or DNZ [Fikret
ABDIC]; Democratic Socialist Party or DSP [Nebojsa RADMANOVIC];
Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Rasim KADIC]; New Croatian
Initiative or NHI [Kresimir ZUBAK]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
or SBH [Haris SILAJDZIC]; Party of Democratic Progress or PDP
[Mladen IVANIC]; Party of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD
[Milorad DODIK]; Pensioners' Party of FBiH [Husein VOJNIKOVIC];
Pensioners' Party of SR [Stojan BOGOSAVAC]; Republican Party of BiH
or RP [Stjepan KLJUIC]; Serb
