Five Croat parties to field own candidate for Bosnia Presidency

Ilija Cvitanovic heads the party which leads a bloc of five parties that have long expressed dissatisfaction with their position within the Croat National Assembly, chaired by Dragan Covic, leader of HDZ BiH.

Cvitanovic told the Federation entity's public broadcaster that the bloc would soon present a candidate with significant political and diplomatic experience.

HDZ BiH has already nominated its vice-president Darijana Filipovic for the Croat seat in the tripartite Presidency, urging Croat voters to unite behind her candidacy to prevent potential electoral manipulation and a repeat of the “Komsic case”.

Incumbent Presidency member Zeljko Komsic has been elected to the post four times, largely due to votes from Bosniak voters.

Komsic cannot run again after two consecutive terms, but his adviser Slaven Kovacevic is expected to stand, with some analysts describing him as a backup candidate whose chances could be weakened by a likely intense contest for the Bosniak seat, drawing away Bosniak voters.

The Croatian Party of Rights of BiH has urged the five-party bloc to drop its candidate, warning that even with a unified Croat front the political race would be difficult and uncertain.

Cvitanovic responded that it was crucial to offer voters a genuine choice rather than imposed solutions, adding the candidate should be an independent decision-maker rather than someone seen as aligned with party leadership, in an apparent reference to Filipovic.

He said a single candidate would stifle political competition and lead to dominance by one party, in this case HDZ BiH.

Cvitanovic added the bloc would soon announce its nominee, including the possibility of a non-party figure, and said it expected to play a key role in forming government after the October elections, with electoral law reform a top priority.