Bosnians are voting today in an election that may decide whether their divided country moves closer toward the European Union and NATO in the next four years or sinks deeper into stagnation.
Since the last vote in 2006, mistrust has deepened between nationalist Croat, Serb and Muslim leaders, and political divisions have widened between the country's two regions, the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb Republic.
"I am voting to replace the politicians who made this country stagnate for more than 15 years. It is about time they left," said Emina Sejdic (59) who was among the first Sarajevans to cast ballots when the polls opened at 7am.
Since the 1992-95 war that killed about 100,000 people, Bosnia has held five general elections but has lagged in political and economic reforms and remains near the back of the queue of Western Balkan nations aspiring to EU and NATO entry.
More than 3.1 million registered voters can cast ballots for Serb, Croat and Muslim presidency members and deputies in the central, regional and cantonal parliaments, as well as a new president and vice-president of the Serb Republic.
Valentin Inzko, the international envoy who oversees the country's peace, has called on citizens to go out and vote.
"Please, get out and vote on Sunday," the Austrian diplomat told Bosnians. "This is your country, and it is your democratic responsibility to decide about its future."
The country of nearly 3.9 million people in the heart of the Balkans has forests, coal and rapid rivers that make it the region's sole power exporter. But the economy, which saw double-digit growth after the war as $15 billion in international aid flowed in, has been slowed in the past few years by burdensome administration, corruption and bickering politicians.
"We just ask for economic changes and for a better situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina," said Semir Sinanovic from Sarajevo, who is unemployed.
The political situation has deteriorated. After the International Court of Justice ruled in July that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia was legal, Serb Republic prime minister Milorad Dodik said Bosnian Serbs should have the same right to secede.
Bosnian Croat nationalist leader Dragan Covic, who has set up a "strategic partnership" with Dodik, has also based his campaign on calls for a separate Croat entity within Bosnia.
Bosnian Muslims, the largest single group in the Balkan country, dismiss such talk and say moves toward disintegration would lead to a new war.
"We are determined to stop all attacks on our country and our people," said Sulejman Tihic, head of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA). "Any attempts at secession or the establishment of a third entity will not go through."
Reuters