Bosnia held its election earlier this week on Sunday (Oct 7). It was a fractious polls predicated on race and religion.
In its aftermath, foreign policy experts are now expecting Bosnia’s Christian half, Republika Srpska, to be all the closer to secession. See Al–Jazeera Oct 9 story ‘Will Milorad Dodik break up Bosnia?’
BELOW: Bosnia’s three main races don’t really want to live together
Race & Religion political formula
Sectarian power sharing in Bosnia is even more complicated than in Lebanon. Uniquely Lebanon’s president is a Christian; at the same time, the Lebanese prime minister is a Sunni and its speaker of parliament a Syiah.
Bosnia meanwhile has a 3-in-1 presidency, also described as “triumvirate presidency”. The three members of the Bosnian collective head of state comprise a Bosniak (Muslim), a Serb (orthodox Christian) and a Croat (Catholic). Between them, they rotate the four-year presidential term alternately every eight months.
BELOW: It is impossible to imagine Russia without Christianity – Putin
“First priority” for people of his own race
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik – one of Bosnia’s three newly elected presidents – has close ties to Russia.
Whereas the former Soviet republic (USSR) was communist, its biggest component Russia is Christian. Dodik’s ally Russian President Vladimir Putin is a baptized Christian.
Dodik and Putin have met twice this year, the latest occasion being the beginning of this month in Sochi.
The new Serbian president of Bosnia told a post-election press conference on Monday (Oct 8) that his “first priority will be the position of the Serb people and of Republika Srspka”.
On the other hand, preeminent Bosniak party SDA (Party of Democratic Action) is allied to Muslim Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who styles himself Big Brother protecting the interests of Bosniaks, was given a hero’s welcome in Bosnian capital city Sarajevo this year in May – to shouts of ‘Allahuakbar!”
The Christian Serbs in Bosnia are aligned to Christian foreign power Russia; the Muslim Bosniaks in Bosnia are aligned to Muslim foreign power Turkey.
Yugoslavia had famously broken up in the early 1990s amid civil war, separating along race and religion lines.
In February 2008, neihbouring Muslim-majority Kosovo broke away from Christian Serbia and declared itself an independent state. The election results this week in Bosnia has only reinforced the country’s ethnic and religious divide.
Helen Ang 
Federated States are not Empires.
In a Federated States, race,religion and “any way of life”, are given constants.Things that will not and should not be change by any national government
It is within the government constitutional framework to accommodate all its citizens
It’s an expected duty.