The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine) is the head of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the Article V of the Constitution, the Presidency consists of three members: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation and one Serb elected from the Republika Srpska. They all serve four-year terms.
The member with the most votes becomes the chairman (the President of the Presidency) unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months, to ensure equality.
The Presidency is responsible for:
- Conducting the foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- Appointing ambassadors and other international representatives, no more than two thirds of which may come from the Federation;
- Representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in European and international organizations and institutions and seeking membership in such organizations and institutions of which it is not a member;
- Negotiating, denouncing, and, with the consent of the Parliamentary Assembly, ratifying treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- Executing decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly;
- Proposing, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, an annual budget to the Parliamentary Assembly;
- Reporting as requested, but no less than annually, to the Parliamentary Assembly on expenditures by the Presidency;
- Coordinating as necessary with international and nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and;
- Performing such other functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties, as may be assigned to it by the Parliamentary Assembly, or as may be agreed by the Entities.
See also List of chairmen of the Presidency
Presidency elected in 1998
Elected members:
Zivko Radisic with 52% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first 8 months; Ante Jelavic with 52% of the Croat vote followed Radisic in the rotation; Alija Izetbegovic with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a second term until Radisic and Jelavic had each served a first term as Chairman of the Presidency.
Presidency elected in 2002
Election held 5 October 2002 (next to be held in 2006).
Elected members:
Mirko Šarović with 35.5% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Dragan Čović received 61.5% of the Croat vote; Sulejman Tihić received 37% of the Bosniak vote.
Mirko Šarović resigned in 2003 due to his implication in the scandal regarding the selling of arms to Iraq. The Parliament replaced him with Borislav Paravac.
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