BELGRADE, October 5. /TASS/. Milorad Dodik, the incumbent Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), won the October 2 presidential election in Republika Srpska (BiH entity) in spite of the West’s interference, Dodik told TASS on Wednesday.
"My overall lead, according to the results of the election, is 30,000 votes, or about 5-6%. Amid the current circumstances, it is a very substantial result, which cannot be called into question by any actions launched here by opposition parties, which are abetted by Western embassies to generate instability. However, the situation is peaceful and stable, and we are considering forming the government, so the first meetings are taking place today," Dodik said, commenting on the results of the popular vote.
"They [the West] made attempts to topple me and my team, imposed British and US sanctions on me, paid their agencies here to speak negatively about me. However, the elections proved that the people did not accept this, and we will pursue our policies," Milorad Dodik said.
"We expect the Central Election Commission to announce the final results. So far 96% of votes have been processed, the margin is about 30,000, or more than 5%, so it is difficult to somehow distort the final results, and I expect the official results to be announced soon. Obviously, there are some external attempts to exploit the Central Election Commission, but the fairness and integrity of the elections cannot be called into question," he said.
Early on Monday, Dodik announced his victory in the presidential election in Republika Srpska (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina). On October 2, voters from two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Republika Srpska (RS), the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and Brcko District - elected three members of the BiH Presidency (collective head of state), president and two vice presidents of Republika Srpska, 42 MPs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 83 MPs of Republika Srpska and 98 MPs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The voter turnout was 50% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 90 parties, 38 coalitions, and 17 independent candidates took part in the elections. Over 3.3 million people are eligible to vote in the country. More than 60,000 observers were accredited to monitor the elections, which were held for the ninth time since independence was declared in 1992.