Home > Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

According to the Article V of the Constitution, the Presidency consists of three members: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation and one Serb elected from the Republika Srpska. They all serve four-year terms.

The member with the most votes becomes the chairman (the President of the Presidency) unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months, to ensure equality.

The Presidency is responsible for:

• Conducting the foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Appointing ambassadors and other international representatives, no more than two thirds of which may come from the Federation;
• Representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in European and international organizations and institutions and seeking membership in such organizations and institutions of which it is not a member;
• Negotiating, denouncing, and, with the consent of the Parliamentary Assembly, ratifying treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Executing decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly;
• Proposing, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, an annual budget to the Parliamentary Assembly;
• Reporting as requested, but no less than annually, to the Parliamentary Assembly on expenditures by the Presidency;
• Coordinating as necessary with international and nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and;
• Performing such other functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties, as may be assigned to it by the Parliamentary Assembly, or as may be agreed by the Entities.

See also List of chairmen of the Presidency

1 Presidency elected in 1998

Elected members:

• Alija Izetbegovic for the Bosniaks, since March 14, 1996 (chairman between 14 February 2000 and *NA*)
• Živko Radišic for the Serbs, since October 13, 1998
• Ante Jelavic for the Croats, since September 1998

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.

2 Presidency elected in 2002

Election held 5 October 2002 (next to be held in 2006).

Elected members:

• Dragan Covic for the Croats
• Mirko ŠarovicMirko Sarovic in Serbian Cyrillic) is a Bosnian Serb politician, former Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Born September 16, 1956 in Rogatica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. arovic resigned on April 2, 2003, faced with accusations of organizing for the Serbs
• Sulejman TihicSulejman Tihic (b. November 26, 1951) is a member of the rotating Presidency of Bosnia, representing that nation's Bosniak community. He became a member October 2002. He has been chairman of the presidency since February 28, 2004. Tihic was born in Bosans for the Bosniaks

Mirko Šarovic with 35.5% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Dragan Covic received 61.5% of the Croat vote; Sulejman Tihic received 37% of the Bosniak vote.

Mirko Šarovic resigned in 2003 due to his implication in the scandal regarding the selling of arms to IraqThe Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia. It shares borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south, Turkey to the north, Syria to the north-west, Jordan to the west and Iran to. The Parliament replaced him with Borislav ParavacBorislav (Boro) Paravac in Serbian Cyrillic) is a Bosnian Serb polititian and member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Paravac was born on February 18, 1943, in Kostajnica, Doboj Municipality, in north central Bosnia. He graduated from the Facu.