From Dayton to present day: 26 members of the BiH Presidency, some elected twice

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the current Constitution, is defined as the highest state institution in the country, where the function of the collective head of state is equally performed by three members from the constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniak, Serb, and Croat, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

And, from 1996, when the first convocation of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was elected, until today, Bosnia and Herzegovina has had a total of 26 members of the BiH Presidency, with some of them serving two terms in these positions.

The constitutive session of the new members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is announced for Monday, one week after the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the final results of the general elections held in BiH on October 12.

For the next four years, the members of the BiH Presidency will be Bakir Izetbegović, Dragan Čović, and Mladen Ivanić. This is Ivanić's first term, the president of PDP and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, while this will be Izetbegović's and Čović's second terms as collective heads of state.

In his first term in the BiH Presidency, which he won after the 2002 General Elections, Čović was dismissed three years later due to accusations that he illegally exempted the company "Lijanovići" from paying taxes on imported meat, causing damage to the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina worth millions of KM.

The first convocation of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was elected in September 1996, in the first post-war elections, by direct vote in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosniak and Croat members) and in Republika Srpska (Serb member). Alija Izetbegović was elected as the member of the Presidency from the Bosniak people, Momčilo Krajišnik as the member of the Presidency from the Serb people, and Krešimir Zubak as the member of the Presidency from the Croat people.

This convocation of the Presidency served until October 1998, when the results of the September elections of the same year were implemented and the second convocation of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was constituted.

The second convocation of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was constituted in October 1998. That year, in the general elections, the following were elected to the Presidency: Alija Izetbegović as the member of the Presidency from the Bosniak people, Živko Radišić as the member of the Presidency from the Serb people, and Ante Jelavić as the member of the Presidency from the Croat people.

In October 2000, Izetbegović withdrew from the position by personal decision. The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected Halid Genjac on a temporary basis to his position. In March 2001, the High Representative, by personal decision, dismissed Ante Jelavić from the position of member of the Presidency.

From the end of March 2001, the Parliamentary Assembly elected Beriz Belkić to the position of member of the Presidency from the Bosniak people and Jozo Križanović as the member of the Presidency from the Croat people. Živko Radišić remained in the position of member of the Presidency from the Serb people.

After the general elections in October 2002, the third convocation of the BiH Presidency was elected, consisting of: Mirko Šarović, member of the Presidency from the Serb people, Dragan Čović, member of the Presidency from the Croat people, and Sulejman Tihić, member of the Presidency from the Bosniak people.

After resigning from the position of Chairman of the BiH Presidency in April 2003, Borislav Paravac was elected as the member of the BiH Presidency from the Serb people, replacing Mirko Šarović.

In March 2005, the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, dismissed Dragan Čović from the position of member of the BiH Presidency from the Croat people.

Following the decision of the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, to dismiss Dragan Čović, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH made a decision to elect Ivo Miro Jović as the member of the Presidency from the Croat people.

After the general elections in October 2006, the fourth convocation of the BiH Presidency was elected, consisting of: Nebojša Radmanović, member of the BiH Presidency from Republika Srpska, Željko Komšić, member of the BiH Presidency from the Croat people, and Haris Silajdžić, member of the BiH Presidency from the Bosniak people.

After the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in October 2010, the fifth convocation of the BiH Presidency was elected, which included: Nebojša Radmanović, member of the BiH Presidency from Republika Srpska, Željko Komšić, member of the BiH Presidency from the Croat people, and Bakir Izetbegović, member of the BiH Presidency from the Bosniak people, reports NAP.