September 6 (SeeNews) - The leaders of Bosnia's three biggest parties representing the main ethnic groups in the country - the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats - have failed to agree on a new prime minister eleven months after the general elections in the country, local media reported.
The leaders of the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, failed to meet the September 5 deadline they had agreed on for forming a government led by SNSD's candidate Zoran Tegeltija, local TV station B1 Televizija reported on Thursday.
The main obstacle to reaching an agreement is the country's NATO membership plan, which is strongly opposed by pro-Russian Milorad Dodik, leader of the ethnic Serbs' SNSD party.
On August 20, Bosnia's tripartite presidency comprising Dodik, Sefik Dzaferovic, who represents the Bosniaks, and Zeljko Komsic, representing the Croats, cancelled its two extraordinary sessions, during which the three were due to vote on the country's new prime minister and the Annual National Programme (ANP), which is a precondition for activating Bosnia’s Membership Action Plan for NATO.
The sessions were cancelled after Dodik warned he would not approve ANP. Komsic and Dzaferovic had said earlier that the adoption of the ANP is a necessary condition for them to vote in the country's new government led by Tegeltija.
According to the report of B1 Televizija, the three political leaders have announced that the talks on the new government will continue after September 5.
Yet, the report notes, there have been no signs that the deadlock between them will be resolved soon.