Big win for democracy : Bosnian city of Mostar gets a vote
by Sabina Niksic, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 19, 2020 4:31 am EDT
Last Updated Dec 19, 2020 at 4:42 am EDT
The tower of Catholic church rises into the sky in Mostar, Bosnia, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Bosnia s ethnically divided southern city of Mostar is holding its first local election in 12 years. The vote on Sunday ends a political stalemate between two nationalist parties representing ethnic groups that has prevented Mostar’s citizens from democratically electing their local legislators. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Irma Baralija is looking forward to Sunday, when she intends to vote and hopes win her race in the first local election in 12 years held in her hometown the southern Bosnian city of Mostar.
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City has been divided on ethnic lines leading to vital services not functioning
The Mostar bridge connecting the two sides of the city, which was destroyed in the 1990s and rebuilt in the early 2000s. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The Mostar bridge connecting the two sides of the city, which was destroyed in the 1990s and rebuilt in the early 2000s. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Shaun Walker Central and eastern Europe correspondent
Sun 20 Dec 2020 04.40 EST
First published on Fri 18 Dec 2020 08.57 EST
Polls have opened in the city of Mostar in the first local elections in 12 years following a dispute between parties representing the city’s two main ethnic groups that paralysed municipal institutions for more than a decade.
Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
The historic Bosnian town of Mostar, a gem of 15th century Ottoman architecture, has not held an election since 2008. On Sunday it has a chance to shake off years of political paralysis.
Despite drawing millions of tourists, the town is suffocating under uncollected garbage and it still bears the scars of war from the 1990s: local echoes of a similar dysfunction at the national level.
The town of around 100,000 has not held an election for 12 years because its Catholic Croats and Muslim Bosniaks were unable to agree on electoral rules, a row that illustrates the ethnic tensions that brought war to the country three decades ago.
For Bosnia, historic Mostar is a test for change
The town of around 100,000 has not held an election for 12 years H. J. I./Reuters
17.12.2020
ELECTIONS
For Bosnia, historic Mostar is a test for change
An election sign is seen in front of a house that was destroyed during the 1992-1995 war, in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina December 14, 2020.
Foto: Reuters
The historic Bosnian town of Mostar, a gem of 15th century Ottoman architecture, has not held an election since 2008. On Sunday it has a chance to shake off years of political paralysis.
Despite drawing millions of tourists, the town is suffocating under uncollected garbage and it still bears the scars of war from the 1990s: local echoes of a similar dysfunction at the national level in Bosnia.
Hoffnung auf Heilung: Erste Kommunalwahlen in Mostar seit 2008 euronews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from euronews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.