The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC) announced preliminary results early elections for the president of the RS, according to which Sinisha Karan, the candidate of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) won 224.384 votes, and Branko Blanuša (SDS), the candidate of the opposition, won 213.513 votes.
Karan had the broad support of the coalition partners who together with his party form the government in the RS, and he will be in the chair of the president until the General Elections, which will be held in October next year.
Who is Sinisa Karan?
Iza Karan has a very interesting biography that shows that he has been professionally connected to the police and intelligence structures for decades, the media from Bosnia and Herzegovina write. As such, today it is quite self-effacing, but in the background it works on processes important to the ruling structures. He worked from Kupres, via Sarajevo to Banja Luka.
From 1985 to 2008, he worked in the internal affairs bodies in the work duties and tasks of Kupres Police Station Commander, Kupres SUP Secretary, Head of the Crime Department of SJB Center Sarajevo, Head of the Directorate for Suppression of Crime of the MUP of the Republika Srpska, Head of Criminal Investigations of SIPA and Head of the Financial Intelligence Department of SIPA.
From 2008, he was employed in the Office of the President of the Republika Srpska, where he performed the duties of advisor to the president, and from 2009 to 2019, he performed the duties of the General Secretary of the President. Since January 2019, he has been performing the duties of the Secretary General of the Government of the RS.
From January 2019 to December 23, 2022, he served as Secretary General of the Government of Republika Srpska, after which he assumed the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, which he held until September 2025.
Opposition: "Shame and shame"
The head of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) club of deputies in the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (NSRS), Ognjen Bodiroga, said that the election day was "a scandal and a shame for democracy" in the Republika Srpska. He said that election day was marked by buying votes, bringing elderly people and social categories to vote, intimidation and other election irregularities.
He stated that there is ample evidence that the government bought votes. He said that the results of the election will also show the "state of the nation", that is, whether multimillion-dollar affairs, crime and corruption have become a normal thing for the people of the RS, or whether they will opt for a candidate who does not have a single blemish in his career, referring to the opposition candidate Branko Blanuša.
"We will see if it is normal that 350 million convertible marks (about 130 million euros) of public money are spent on various affairs, if it is normal that the roads in the eastern part of Srpska are in a catastrophic state, that NATO lobbyist Ana Trišić Babić is in the position of acting president of the RS," Bodiroga said.
He added that the opposition will continue its struggle whatever the results.
"This is a fight for the survival of Srpska," he emphasized.
