President of Republika Srpska

President of Republika Srpska
Предсједник Републике Српске
Seal of Republika Srpska
Standard of the president of Republika Srpska
Incumbent Milorad Dodik since 15 November 2022
Type	Head of state
Residence	Palace of the Republic
Seat	Banja Luka
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Term length	Four years renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holder	Radovan Karadžić
Formation	7 April 1992
Deputy	Vice Presidents
Website	www.predsjednikrs.net

The president of Republika Srpska (Serbian Cyrillic: Предсједник Републике Српске, Serbian Latin: Predsjednik Republike Srpske; lit. 'President of the Republic of Srpska/Serbs') is the highest executive authority in Republika Srpska, an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of the executive authorities, along with the Government of Republika Srpska. The president of Republika Srpska is directly elected for a term of four years, along with two vice presidents from different constituent nations (Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks). None of them can be from a same constituent nation at the same time. The president's residence is in Banja Luka.

The first president was Radovan Karadžić of the Serb Democratic Party, elected to the post in 1992, who led Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War and who was later sentenced to 40 years in prison for Srebrenica genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Milorad Dodik of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats took the office in 2022.

Powers

According to the Constitution of Republika Srpska, the president represents Republika Srpska and expresses its unity. As Republika Srpska functions as a parliamentary system, the president has very limited powers. The president does have the power to:

1. Nominate a candidate for prime minister to the National Assembly;
2. Nominate candidates for president and judges of the Constitutional Court, on a proposal of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, to the National Assembly;
3. Declares laws by a decree;
4. Gives pardons;
5. Gives decorations and recognitions as determined by a law;
6. Manages other duties according to the Constitution.

If the National Assembly is unable to make a session due to a state of emergency, the president, after obtaining an opinion from the Government, declares a state of emergency and orders measures for removing the state of emergency. The president, by his own initiative or on Government's suggestion, declares acts from the jurisdiction of the National Assembly during war circumstances or an immediate threat of war; the acts must be brought for a confirmation by the National Assembly the very moment when the Assembly is able to have a session.

The president can ask the Government to express its attitude on certain matters of the significance for the Republic, call a session of the Government, or put matters from Government's jurisdiction on an agenda.

Presidents

Main article: List of presidents of Republika Srpska

Latest election

Main article: 2022 Republika Srpska general election

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Milorad Dodik	Alliance of Independent Social Democrats	300,180	47.09
	Jelena Trivić	Party of Democratic Progress	273,245	42.86
	Ćamil Duraković	Independent	13,760	2.16
	Senad Bratić	SDA–State Movement	13,680	2.15
	Jusuf Arifagić	For the state of BiH	10,467	1.64
	Radislav Jovičević	Democratic People's Alliance	5,613	0.88
	Dejan Pejić	Liberal Party	2,168	0.34
	Neđo Đurić	Socialist Party of Srpska	2,092	0.33
	Davor Pranjić	Croatian Democratic Union and allies	1,966	0.31
	Ivan Begić	Independent	1,854	0.29
	Zoran Kalinić	Our Story Republika Srpska	1,252	0.20
	Ilić Miroslav	Independent	1,247	0.20
	Vladimir Bijelić	Independent	1,185	0.19
	Ivanović Dalibor	Independent	1,094	0.17
	Milivojević Cvijetin	Independent	801	0.13
	Slavko Dragičević	Independent	755	0.12
	Goran Milošević	Independent	691	0.11
	Sekulić Slavko	Independent	613	0.10
	Ana Dobrilović	Independent	547	0.09
	Milan Anđelić	Independent	508	0.08
	Jelenko Bubić	Independent	500	0.08
	Dušan Dragičević	Independent	494	0.08
	Amir Reko	Ecological Party of Republika Srpska	437	0.07
	Ljubiša Aladžić	Serbian Progressive Party	404	0.06
	Alen Popović	New Age	372	0.06
	Duško Đurđević	Independent	336	0.05
	Miljan Smiljanić	Independent	311	0.05
	Nikola Suvajac	People's Party	258	0.04
	Igor Gašević	Independent	250	0.04
	Davor Despot	Independent	229	0.04
	Gazmend Dečaj	Independent	209	0.03
Total			637,518	100.00
Valid votes			637,823	92.21
Invalid votes			38,939	5.63
Blank votes			14,981	2.17
Total votes			691,743	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,259,322	54.93
Source: CEC (partial results with 100.00% of the polling stations counted)

See also

• List of presidents of Republika Srpska
• Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina