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2.3. The National Assembly of the Republika Srpska
The National Assembly of the Republika Srpska
consists of eighty-three members who are directly elected by registered
voters to vote in the Republika Srpska. Sixty-two members are elected
from multi-member constituencies under the proportional formula
mentioned above in Box 3. There are twenty-one compensatory mandates
elected under the proportional formula mentioned above in Box 4.
See section 3.1 for more information about compensatory mandates.
The mandate of members of the National Assembly
of the Republika Srpska is two years.
A closer look should be taken at the distribution
of political power in the National Assembly. The biggest party in
1998, SDS, managed to attract even more voters in 2000 and ended
up with 38% of the votes and thirty-one mandates, partly assisted
by the banning of SRS in-between the two elections. KCD, the coalition
involving SDA, SBiH, LDS, and GDS, was the second largest party/coalition
in 1998 with fifteen mandates. The four parties, however, did not
go to elections together in 2000, and only SDA and SBiH managed
to get representatives elected with six and four mandates respectively.
FIGURE 3: RS National Assembly General Elections 1998/2000 (source:
www.oscebih.org)
NHI carried its one mandate from 1998 into the 2000 Assembly. HDZ
lost its mandate in 2000. SNS went from twelve mandates in 1998
to only two mandates in 2000. DNS, a party formed by former SNS
members got 3 mandates. SPRS experienced a down-turn in support
similar to that of SNS and slid from ten mandates in 1998 to four
mandates in 2000. DSP, founded by former SPRS members, got 4 mandates
in 2000. SNSD improved its standing in the period from 1998 to 2000
by almost doubling its number of representatives from six to eleven.
As it is evident from the table below, voter
turnout has decreased dramatically in the Republika Srpska. It declined
from 843,437 voters in 1998 to 677,508 voters in 2000; this is a
20% drop in turnout over a two-year period.
TABLE 4: Election Statistics 1998/2000 (source:
www.oscebih.org)
|
Types of Votes
|
Valid 1998 and 2000
|
Invalid or Blank 1998 and 2000
|
Total 1998 and 2000
|
| Ordinary RS |
547,247
|
508,845
|
73,719
|
40,610
|
620,966
|
549,455
|
| OCV |
87,348
|
50,003
|
8,297
|
1,241
|
95,645
|
51,244
|
| Absentee |
75,800
|
56,149
|
15,434
|
6,323
|
91,234
|
62,472
|
| Tendered |
30,670
|
12,758
|
4,922
|
1,579
|
35,592
|
14,337
|
| Total |
741,065
|
627,755
|
102,372
|
49,753
|
843,437
|
677,508
|
While there has been a decrease in the turnout of ordinary voters
of almost 12%, the most drastic changes are found in OCV, absentee,
and tendered ballots. OCV voting dropped from 95,645 in 1998 to
51,244 in 2000. Absentee ballots decreased from 91,234 in 1998 to
62,472 in 2000, and the number of tendered ballots fell by 60% from
35,592 to 14,337 in the same period. The number of blank and invalid
ballots has decreased substantially from 102,372 (12%) to 49,753
(7%) blank or invalid votes.
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