branch: chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Beriz BELKIC (chairman since 14 February 2002, presidency member since 30 March 2001 - Bosniak); other members of the three-member rotating (every eight months) presidency: 30 March 2001 - Croat) 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, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months; election last held 12-13 September 1998 (next to be held NA October 2002); the chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dragan MIKEREVIC (since 15 March 2002), position rotates every eight months cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved 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 eight 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 replaced first temporarily by Halid GENJAC and subsequently by Beriz BELKIC; Ante JELAVIC was replaced by Jozo KRIZANOVIC in March 2001 when the High Representative barred him from public office note: (since 1 January 2002); Vice President Karlo FILIPOVIC (since 1 January 2002); note - president and vice president rotate every year; President of the Republika Srpska: Mirko SAROVIC (since 11 November 2000); Vice President of the Republika Srpska: Dragan CAVIZ (since NA)
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 four-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 four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures; officials elected in 2000 and previously were elected to two-year terms on the presumption that a permanent law would be in place before 2002 election results: National House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - SDP 22%, SDA 20%, SDS 15%, HDZ-BiH 12%, SBH 12%, PDP 5%, NHI 2%, BPS 2%, DPS 2%, SNS 2% SNSD-DSP 2%, DNZ 2%, SPRS 2%; 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 elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held in NA October 2002); House of Peoples - last constituted after the 11 November 2000 elections (next to be constituted in the fall of 2002) 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 October 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 in the fall of 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; Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures; officials elected in 2000 and prior 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: 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 10 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
[Ante JELAVIC; note - not recognized by the international community];
Croatian Party of Rights of BiH or HSP-BiH [Zdravko HRSTIC]; Croatian
Peasants Party of BiH or HSS-BiH [Ilija SIMIC]; 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 [Safet HALILOVIC]; Party of Democratic
Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; 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]; People's Party-Working for Progress or NS-RZB
[Mladen IVANKOVIC]; Republican Party of BiH or RP [Stjepan KLJUIC];
Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Dragan KALINIC]; Serb National Alliance
(Serb People's Alliance) or SNS [Branislav LULIC]; Social Democratic
Party of BIH or SDP-BiH [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika
Srpska or SPRS [Zivko RADISIC]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: BIS, CE (guest), CEI, EBRD,
ECE, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), OAS (observer),
OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Igor DAVIDOVIC chancery: 2109 E Street NW, [1] (202) 337-1500 consulate(s) general: Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Clifford J. BOND embassy: Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo mailing address: use street address telephone: [387] (33) 445-700 FAX: [387] (33) 659-722 branch office(s): Banja Luka, Mostar
Flag description: a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag; the remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle
Government
