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Bosnia Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Bosnia
Official Name: Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51,130 square kilometres ( 19,741 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Sarajevo 415,631 (1991)
Banja Luka 142,644 (1991)
Population: 3,459,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: -4.4 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Emerging democracy
Independence: March 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
Constitution: Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (including the Muslim- and Croatian-controlled parts of the Republic) ratified April 1994.
Voting Rights: Age 16, if employed; universal at age 18
Government
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitution was originally written in 1974 but was subsequently revised between 1989 and 1991. To reflect the republic’s increasing democratization, the General Assembly prepared to write a new constitution in 1991, but increasing separatism and conflict among the republic’s three main ethnic groups interrupted this effort.
The revised constitution guarantees citizens various civil rights, including universal suffrage from the age of 18. The constitution also establishes a governmental structure, but this structure has been rendered inoperative by continuing war. The constitution calls for a bicameral legislature, composed of a 130-seat Chamber of Citizens and a 110-seat Chamber of Communes. The collective seven-member presidency—which is composed of two Muslims, two ethnic Croats, two ethnic Serbs, and one other—and the prime minister are chosen from among the Chamber members. All government officials serve four-year terms, except the president of the presidency, who is elected from among the seven members of the presidency and who serves a one-year term. All government officials may be re-elected. The presidency and the rest of the government are designed to reflect the republic’s ethnic diversity, with posts designated for the various ethnic groups.
The Ministry of Justice and the State Administration supervise all courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Supreme Court and Constitutional Court are the highest courts in the republic.
The republic employed a Territorial Defence Force before the war; it has now separated into three ethnic factions. In late 1994 Bosnian Muslim forces numbered about 210,000; Bosnian Serbs, about 80,000; and Bosnian Croats, about 50,000. A United Nations (UN) Protection Force, numbering from 35,000 to 40,000, was sent in to encourage peace in the war-torn areas of the former Yugoslavia in early 1995. About 22,000 were stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Recent History
The Dayton Peace Accord, which was signed by the presidents of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia at a formal ceremony in Paris on 14 December 1995, divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into two separate entities united by a central government with limited powers. The Muslims and Croats received 51 per cent of the territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the capital city of Sarajevo, and the Bosnian Serbs received the remaining 49 per cent. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) immediately deployed troops to assist in implementing the peace agreement.
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