Bosnia’s sectarian parties poised to retain power after vote

by SABINE NIKSIC
Associated Press

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s long-entrenched sectarian parties are poised to be the overall winners of the country’s general election despite symbolic successes by some opposition candidates who ran on a corruption-fighting agenda. That’s according to preliminary results released Monday in the Balkan country that is divided along ethnic lines and has never fully recovered from its 1992-95 war. Bosnia’s election on Sunday was held amid growing fears that Russia, with the help of its Serb allies in the Balkans, might attempt to reignite the conflict in Bosnia to deflect attention from its military campaign in Ukraine. In one race, the candidate opposing hardline Bosnian Serb Milorad Dodik has refused to concede, claiming vote-rigging.