Independence: NA April 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday: Republika Srpska—"Republic Day," 9 January;
Independence Day, 1 March; Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina—"Republic Day," 25 November
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 Zivko RADISIC (since 13
October 1998—Serb); other members of the three-member rotating
(every 8 months) presidency: Ante JELAVIC (since NA September
1998—Croat) and Alija IZETBEGOVIC (since 14 March 1996—Muslim)
head of government: Cochairman of the Council of Ministers Haris
SILAJDZIC (since NA January 1997); Cochairman of the Council of
Ministers Suetozar MIHAJLOVIC (since 3 February 1999)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairmen
note: President of the Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina: Ivo ANDRIC-LUZANIC (since 1 January 1999); Vice
President is Ejup GANIC; note—president and vice president rotate
every 3 months; President of the Republika Srpska: Nikola POPLASEN
(since 29 October 1998)
elections: the three-person presidency members (one Muslim, one
Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term;
the president with the most votes becomes the chairman unless he was
the incumbent chairman at the time of the election; election last
held 12-13 September 1998 (next to be held September 2002); the
cochairmen of the Council of Ministers are appointed by the
presidency
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 will follow
RADISIC in the rotation; Alija IZEBEGOVIC with 87% of the Muslim
vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was
ineligible to serve consecutive terms as chairman
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina
consists of the National House of Representatives or Vijece Opcina
(42 seats—14 Serb, 14 Croat, and 14 Muslim; members elected by
popular vote to serve two-year terms) and the House of Peoples or
Vijece Gradanstvo (15 seats—5 Muslim, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members
elected by the Muslim/Croat Federation's House of Representatives
and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve two-year terms)
elections: National House of Representatives—elections last held
12-13 September 1998 (next to be held in the fall 2000); House of
Peoples—last held NA (next to be held NA)
election results: National House of Representatives—percent of vote
by party/coalition—NA; seats by party/coalition—KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6,
SDP 4, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SDBIH 2, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1;
House of Peoples—percent of vote by party/coalition—NA; seats by
party/coalition—NA
note: the Muslim/Croat Federation has a House of Representatives
(140 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve NA year terms);
elections last held NA (next to be held NA); percent of vote by
party—NA; seats by party/coalition—KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP 19, SDBIH
6, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2, BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1,
HSS 1; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats;
members elected by popular vote to serve NA year terms); elections
last held NA (next to be held NA); percent of vote by party—NA;
seats by party/coalition—SDS 19, KCD 15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10,
SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1, HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, consists of nine members:
four members are selected by the Muslim/Croat Federation's House of
Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska National
Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the
European Court of Human Rights
Political parties and leaders: Bosnian Party of Rights or BSP
IZETBEGOVIC; includes SDA, SBH, GDS, LS]; Croatian Democratic Union
BIH or SDP (formerly the Democratic Party of Socialists or DSS)
note: note—SDP and SDBIH announced a merger in 1999
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA