In May, election of the Mayor of Sarajevo: NIP proposes Samir Avdić, two deputies from SDP and Naša stranka, but still no names

(Patria) - The election of the new Mayor of Sarajevo will be held next month, following the constitutive session of the new convocation of the Sarajevo City Council.

Although local elections were held in early October, the election of city councilors from four city municipalities took slightly longer than before.

The Central Election Commission confirmed the results of the indirect elections for the Sarajevo City Council on April 23, and the 14-day deadline began for holding the constitutive session at which city leaders will be elected, including the President of the City Council, deputies, and subsequently the new mayor and two deputy mayors of Sarajevo.

For some time now, Samir Avdić, a former Bosnian national basketball team player and current councilor of the People and Justice party in the Novo Sarajevo Municipal Council, has been mentioned as the new Mayor of Sarajevo.

Avdić served as deputy to Mayor Benjamina Karić from July 2023 until he accepted the mandate of councilor in Novo Sarajevo, and she became the head of that municipality.

In November 2024, Predrag Puharić (SDP) was elected Mayor of Sarajevo, and Mirza Selimbegović (NIP) was elected as deputy from the Bosniak community. The second deputy, Anja Margetić, remained in position but moved out of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was the proposal of Naša stranka.

The earlier agreement reached by the Troika parties, that the mayor would be from NIP, also implies a rotation of other positions. Thus, the position of President of the City Council will likely go to Naša stranka.

Regarding the deputies, they must be from other constituent peoples or from the group of Others, so current Mayor Puharić is mentioned as a deputy, as well as Enda Pavić Pečenković. However, after she was deprived of liberty this week and then released without any restrictive measures, and the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office suspects her of abuse of office, the question remains open whether she will leave the Sarajevo Canton Government, where she is Minister of Labor, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees. Incidentally, when the Troika parties discussed the reconstruction of the Sarajevo Canton Government at the end of last year, it was already being said that Pavić-Pečenković would leave the Sarajevo Canton Government.

NIP, SDP and Naša stranka do not have much time left to reach a final agreement, and these three parties have a comfortable majority for the election of the mayor. For the new mayor, 15 votes out of 28 city councilors are needed.

Composition of the City Council: Muamer Mekić, Vedad Deljković, Adi Zahiragić, Emir Bićo, Armin Buljugić, Srđan Simonović, Željko Ler, Jasmin Ademović, Alen Girt, Zvonko Ivišić, Zlatko Ilić, Sonja Mušić, Svjetlana Šošić, Amer Herenda, Kerim Balić, Srđan Srdić, Edhem Imamović, Edison Pavlović, Mirza Ramić, Dragana Bogdanović, Armin Handžar, Nejra Džanko Zukobašić, Hana Keč, Dino Okerić, Jasmin Smječanin, Azra Čomor, Damir Filipović and Bojan Vučković.