Bosnians choose between unity and ethnic division

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- For the first time since the war, Bosnia conducted elections without international supervision Saturday -- a test of whether the ethnically divided nation can run its own affairs.

The poll also is crucial to the country's future: Diplomats have warned that if Bosnians choose hard-line nationalists as their leaders, the country could lose the Western cooperation and foreign aid it depends on.

Political parties here are largely divided into nationalist ones that want to deepen the country's split along ethnic lines and moderate parties that seek to unify it and wash away ethnic divisions.

Voting appeared to go smoothly Saturday in the two mini-states that make up Bosnia, the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb republic.

"If no election manipulations occur, Bosnia will show that it can organize elections well and that would be a step forward toward Europe," said Igor Gajic, the editor of a news magazine in Banja Luka.

Since the 1992-1995 war, elections have been organized by the international administrators who hold ultimate sway in Bosnia.

Preliminary results were expected Sunday with official results coming Oct. 22. Forming a ruling coalition could take several more weeks.

There were more than 7,000 candidates from 57 parties and nine coalitions for assemblies on the levels of the nation, the mini-states and localities, and 35 candidates for the three-member multiethnic presidency.

Nationalists representing the three ethnic groups -- Muslims, Serbs and Croats -- ruled the country for much of the decade since independence but were pushed into opposition on the national level in 2000.

They remain strong, however, and may get a second look in Saturday's voting because Bosnians' everyday lives haven't improved much. Croat and Serb nationalists want to divide Bosnia along ethnic lines, while Muslim nationalists promote Muslim interests in a unified country.

Both the nationalists and their opponents say they want to create prosperity by aligning Bosnia closer to Western Europe.

But international officials say they won't cooperate with a country led by extreme nationalists promoting beliefs similar to those that sparked Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II. More than 260,000 people were killed in the war.

For most Bosnians, the immediate issue is money. Unemployment is 60 percent in the most impoverished areas, and the average monthly salary is equivalent to $250.

Many Bosnians are disillusioned, saying their lives haven't improved despite the promises made by the string of leaders elected in the five elections already held since the end of the war. Previous postwar elections were organized by international officials.

"I came to vote so that my conscience would not eat me away later if the other side comes to power and takes us all backward," said Osman Tirovic, 52.

None of the country's three presidents is running for re-election, though two -- Bosnian Croat Jozo Krizanovic and Bosnian Muslim Beriz Belkic -- are running for the national parliament.

The top Muslim presidential candidate, former Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, has promised to build roads to Western Europe if elected, while the Croat favorite, Dragan Covic, vowed to improve the economy.

Mirko Sarovic, the top Serb candidate, has tried to soften the image of his hardline Serb Democratic Party during his term as leader of the Serb half of Bosnia.

The winners will govern for four years instead of two, giving them more influence in shaping the country's future.

There was little trouble during balloting Saturday, but plenty of confusion. Bosnian observers said more than 10,000 people weren't allowed to vote because their names weren't on voting lists -- although they said they had registered.

Each of Bosnia's mini-states has wide powers, but they are linked by a joint parliament and government.

At the top is an international official, currently Britain's Paddy Ashdown, who has the power to impose laws and fire politicians.

So far, international officials have imposed measures encouraging national unity because politicians can't agree on issues ranging from border controls to the design of the national flag.

In the Muslim-Croat federation, the ruling coalition of moderates -- made up of the multiethnic Social Democratic Party and the Muslim-dominated Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina -- faces tough competition. Among their biggest opponents: the centrist, mono-ethnic Muslim Party for Democratic Action and the nationalist Croat Democratic Union.

In the Serb republic, voters are choosing among several nationalistic parties, led by the Serb Democratic Party -- founded by Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb president. He and Ratko Mladic, his top general, are the two most-wanted war crimes suspects.