Sunday, October 4, 2026
Bosnia picks three presidents. The banned man’s party won.
Bosnia elects three presidents at once, one Bosniak, one Serb and one Croat, a system built by a US-brokered peace deal in 1995. Milorad Dodik, a pro-Russia Serb nationalist banned from office last year, declared victory for his party on Sunday. His ally led the Serb seat by about 30 points. Turnout was 42%, down around 8% from 2022.
People in a country called Bosnia voted today, and they pick three presidents at once, one for each of its three big groups. Imagine a team with three captains who have to agree before anyone moves. Tonight the grown-ups there are counting the votes.
Why it worksA six-year-old reasons from what is in front of them, so three presidents become three captains who have to agree before the team moves. The war stays out: Cantor found this age fears what it can picture, and a vote is only counting. Expect “so who’s the boss?” Say nobody is, on purpose, and that is the whole idea.
- “Can a country have three presidents?”
- Bosnia does. One for each of its three big groups, and they share the job. Most countries pick just one.
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After a war, a peace deal split Bosnia’s top job three ways so no one group runs the country alone. Think three referees who all have to blow the whistle. Milorad Dodik was banned from office for defying the deal’s overseer, so his party ran an ally. She won by 30 points.
Why it worksThis age is working out rules and whether adults apply them evenly, so the script hands them the chain: a war, a peace deal, a job split three ways, a man banned for defying its overseer, and his ally winning anyway. Expect “so did the ban do anything?” Honest answer: it kept his name off the ballot and nothing else.
- “Can a country have three presidents?”
- Yes. Bosnia’s 1995 peace deal split the job three ways so no one group runs the country alone.
- “Why was he banned if people like him?”
- A court convicted him of defying the envoy who oversees the peace deal. Popular and allowed are different things.
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If a court bans a politician and his party wins anyway, did the ban work? Milorad Dodik was off Bosnia’s ballot for the first time in nearly 30 years and still declared victory, crediting Trump and Putin. Second: turnout fell to 42%. When people stop voting, who decides?
Why it worksA teenager can hold two true things at once: the court kept Dodik off the ballot, and his party won the Serb seat by 30 points anyway. The script asks which one tells you whether the ban worked. Kuhn treats argument as a skill, and this case has a real other side. Expect “would you ban him?” Answer straight and show your reasons.
- “Isn’t banning a candidate undemocratic?”
- That’s the fight. A court said he defied the peace deal’s overseer; his voters answered by electing his ally.
- “Why does Russia care about Bosnia?”
- Dodik is pro-Russia and thanked Putin for his support. Russia’s ambassador sat in on his final rally.
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Based on the headline: Bosnia picks three presidents. The banned man’s party won.