Local Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Political Changes in Times of Pandemic

Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were held on 15 November 2020. These were the seventh local elections since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995. Only in Mostar were the elections held at a somewhat later date, on 20 December 2020, and for the first time after twelve years. These local elections were organised and took place under complex circumstances marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic turmoil. Nevertheless, the elections brought major political changes, mainly in urban areas. Opposition politicians (in the period before and after the elections) emphasised that these elections are just an introduction to events and changes that will take place during the 2022 general elections. Similar views were voiced by political analysts and the media. Some reports and documents produced by international and local institutions and organisations note that these were the first elections in more than two decades to show that the citizens are ready and determined to express their dissatisfaction and “punish” the ruling political elites and their inadequate policies.

Valida Repovac Nikšić

Valida Repovac Nikšić


Valida Repovac Nikšić is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Sarajevo. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Department of Philosophy and Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Sarajevo and pursued European interdisciplinary postgraduate studies in the area of democracy and human rights at the University of Sarajevo and the University of Bologna. She worked at the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Senior Advisor in the Cabinet of Deputy Minister for European Integration and as a Senior Advisor in the Cabinet of Director of the Directorate for European Integration. She spent a semester in 2010/2011 academic year at Berkley, University of California, as a Fulbright fellow. She earned her PhD at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Sarajevo in April of 2014. In April of 2019, she published a book titled: Teorijske rasprave o kozmopolitizmu (Theoretical Debate on Cosmopolitanism).


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