General Elections, 5 October 2002

ODIHR deployed an election observation mission to observe the general elections on 5 October in response to an invitation from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Headed by Peter Eicher of the United States, the mission began work on 2 September  and remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina through 20 October. Thirty experts and long-term observers from 15 OSCE participating States were deployed in Sarajevo and eight other cities.

On election day, the mission was joined by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament. Together, some 450 observers were deployed from 37 OSCE participating States.

According to the mission's final report: "The conduct of the elections was largely in line with international standards for democratic elections, when considering the country's unique legal and constitutional framework. They mark important progress toward the consolidation of democracy and rule of law under domestic control.

"These were essentially transitional elections. Although administered by BiH authorities, they took place in a legal context in which ultimate authority still rests with the international community. As in previous elections, the international community took a number of steps affecting key aspects of the elections which, while in line with their mandate and in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, were in some instances irregular by international standards. Such measures will hopefully be unnecessary in future elections."