The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) has declared the victory of its candidate, Siniša Karan, in the repeated early elections for the president of Republika Srpska (RS). The Central Election Commission (CEC) has not yet released the first results.
SNSD spokesperson Radovan Kovačević says he thanks the citizens of Prijedor who voted for Karan this time, as well as noting that Karan won in 16 out of 17 municipalities.
Siniša Karan (SNSD) won 218,481 votes, while Branko Blanuša (SDS) won 209,200 votes, according to data from the SNSD headquarters.
SNSD President Milorad Dodik, with whom he will hold a joint press conference, also congratulated him on his victory.
Regarding the early elections from November 2025, Karan won 200,116 thousand votes, or 50.89 percent of the votes at that time.
Karan had broad support from coalition partners who form the government in RS with his party, and he will remain in the president’s chair until the General Elections to be held in October next year, writes Klix.ba.
Otherwise, Branko Blanuša, the candidate of the opposition Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), conceded defeat tonight in the repeated elections for the president of Republika Srpska (RS), but pointed out that the election day was marked by significant blackmail and irregularities, which, as he emphasized, was particularly expressed through vote-buying.
“This result was achieved through pressure and blackmail. We must now learn a lesson and prepare for the next elections ahead of us (general elections in BiH in October this year),” Blanuša told reporters at the SDS Election Headquarters in Banja Luka.
As a reminder, Karan has a very interesting biography that shows he has been professionally tied to the police and intelligence structures for decades. As such, today he is quite self-effacing, but works in the background on processes important to the ruling structures. He has worked from Kupres, through Sarajevo to Banja Luka.
From 1985 to 2008, he worked in the internal affairs bodies in positions and tasks as the commander of the Kupres police station, secretary of the SUP Kupres, head of the Crime Department of the SJB Center Sarajevo, head of the Administration for Suppression of Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, Head of Criminal Investigations at SIPA, and head of the Financial Intelligence Department of SIPA.
From 2008, he was employed in the Service of the President of Republika Srpska, where he performed the duties of advisor to the president, and from 2009 to 2019, he performed the duties of Secretary General to the President. Since January 2019, he performed the duties of Secretary General of the Government of RS.
From January 2019 to December 23, 2022, he served as the Secretary General of the Government of Republika Srpska, after which he took over the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, which he held until September 2025.
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Source: Nova.rs; Photo: ATA Images