Bosnia and Herzegovina general election, 2006

Bosnia and Herzegovina general election, 2006

← 2002 1 October 2006 2010 →
First party Second party Third party   Leader Milorad Dodik Sulejman Tihić Haris Silajdžić Party SNSD SDA SBiH Leader since 1996 2001 1996 Last election 3 10 6 Seats before 3 10 6 Seats won 7 9 8 Seat change 4 1 2 Popular vote 269,648 238,475 219,487   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Zlatko Lagumdžija Dragan Čavić Dragan Čović Party SDP BiH SDS HDZ BiH Leader since 1997 2006 2005 Last election 5 5 5 Seats before 5 5 5 Seats won 5 3 3 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 143,272 108,616 69,333
Colours denote the party with the most votes by municipalities
Chairman before election Adnan Terzić SDA Elected Chairman Nikola Špirić SNSD

Adnan Terzić
SDA

Nikola Špirić
SNSD

General elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 October 2006. They decided the makeup of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency as well as federal, entity, and cantonal governments. As of September 2006 there were 2,736,886 registered voters. Of the 2.7 million voters, 1.7 millions are in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 million in Republika Srpska. Official voter turnout as reported by the Central Election Commission was 52.74% of the total number of registered voters.

Analysts claimed that the 2006 election would be the most important since Bosnia's independence from Yugoslavia, and the subsequent Bosnian War. With the previous government failing to agree reforms to the constitution, and Bosnian Muslim politicians continuing to threaten the abolition of the Republika Srpska and officials in Republika Srpska continuing to speak of possible secession from the country in response, the election was seen as crucial in determining the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results were tentatively welcomed by commentators, and described as bringing "small signs of change to a Bosnia where institutional fragmentation has cemented ethnic division", with the result suggesting "a certain retreat of nationalism among the Muslim and Croat communities".

A controversy has emerged over the election of the Croatian member of presidency. Although Željko Komšić is an ethnic Croat, as a member of the SDP he was alleged by his political opponents to have received votes mainly from Bosniaks. He has been accused by his opponents that he was not the choice of Croats, but rather Bosniaks, citing that he did not win majority for Croatian representative in any of the counties/cantons with Croat majority. This is the result of the fact that in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both Bosniak and Croat presidents are on one ballot, letting the voter choose to vote in either category regardless of their own ethnicity.