THE main Muslim, Serb and Croat nationalist candidates have each won landslide victories in their own communities in the election to Bosnia's new three person presidency.
Counting continued overnight in the presidential election, with a final result expected later today.
The highest vote getter of the three will become chair of the presidency, and there is speculation that that contest will be very close with the Serb candidate, Mr Momcilo Kraijsnik, challenging the outgoing Bosnian President, Mr Alija Izetbegovic.
Mr Kraijsnik is an open advocate of Serb secession from Bosnia, and his election to the most senior Bosnian leader would be a major psychological blow to the international community's efforts to keep the country integrated.
Early results showed Mr Izetbegovic winning over 80 per cent of Muslim votes, and this might be enough for him to offset the benefit Mr Kraijsnik is receiving from the higher turnout in Serb controlled areas.
Counting also continues today in elections to a national assembly, separate assemblies in the two entities within Bosnia (Republika Srpska and the Muslim Croat Federation) and the presidency of Republika Srpska. Full results are not expected until the end of the week, and they will not be certified as valid until September 25th.
Meanwhile the official monitor of the Bosnian elections has stopped short of describing the poll as free and fair, but says there were "no major irregularities" on polling day.
Mr Ed Van Thijn, the co ordinator of the OSCE's election monitoring mission, gave a preliminary statement in Sarajevo yesterday.
He called on the head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia, Mr Robert Frowick, to demand changes in the SDS party programme before verifying the election results. Such changes would eliminate calls for Serb secession from Bosnia, and "ensure that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina is upheld."
An independent group of monitors, headed by the former US congressman and chairman of the multi party talks process in Northern Ireland, Mr George Mitchell, has said the elections were not "free, fair or democratic".