Ten Bosnian parties grouped around the Social Democrats (SDP) have formed an alliance in a bid to take the country's executive power structures out of the hands of nationalists.
The parties hope to win support in both the Bosnian central parliament and the assembly of the Muslim-Croat half of the country to form governments without three powerful nationalist parties, SDP leader Zlatko Lagumdzija said after the alliance was officially announced.
Lagumdzija said the parties, representing Serb, Croat and Muslim nationalists, had been "the symbol of power" for the past decade of war and division in Bosnia.
He added that no official document was signed on the alliance, but said a joint program had been agreed.
Pledging thorough economic reform, the parties agreed that the return of refugees, strengthening of central institutions and the fight against corruption were high on the list of their priorities.
The coalition was not officially named, but dubbed the Alliance for Change.
However, the alliance does not have a majority either in the Muslim-Croat Federation assembly or in the central state parliament.
"We hope to attract other deputies to vote for our program as we do not have an absolute majority for the moment," Lagumdzija said.
The alliance will be open for cooperation with moderate Serb parties, he added.
The alliance has 69 seats in the 140-seat Muslim-Croat Federation parliament while the two nationalist parties - the Muslim Party for Democratic Action (SDA) and the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) - have 63 seats.
In the 42-seat central parliament the alliance has 17 seats while the three nationalist parties - the SDA, the HDZ and the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) - won 19 seats.
The SDP, the international community's hopeful to oust nationalists in November elections, is the strongest party in the alliance, followed by the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBIH), a former SDA ally.
The alliance also includes a number of smaller parties that garnered one or two seats.
AFP