Šefik Džaferović


Šefik Džaferović is a Bosnian politician who is the 8th and current Bosniak Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and has been Chairman of the Presidency since 20 March 2020. He is the current Vice-president of the Party of Democratic Action as well.
From 2002 until 2018, he was as a senior member of the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Early life and education

Džaferović was born in 1957 in the Bosnian town of Zavidovići in the former Yugoslavia. He went to the Gymnasium in Zavidovići. After that, he graduated on the Faculty of Law, University of Sarajevo in 1979. Džaferović worked in judicial institutions and for the police in Zavidovići and Zenica until 1996.

Political career

Early career; member of Parliament

In 1996, Džaferović was elected to the council of Zenica-Doboj Canton. In the same year, he became a delegate in the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Four years later, he entered the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the election of 2002, he became a member of the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 2014 election, Džaferović was re-elected for a third time to the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina with 30,000 votes.

Presidency

In the 2018 general election, Džaferović was elected to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the Bosniak Member with over 36% of the votes, succeeding his Party of Democratic Action colleague Bakir Izetbegović. In the first month of his presidency, he had problems with Serb member Milorad Dodik, Chairman of the Presidency at the time, with Dodik stating he would not attend the first Presidency session under the new leadership until the flag of Republika Srpska, the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was put in his office. Dodik eventually relented, agreeing to hold the session with only the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 20 March 2020, Džaferović became the new Presidency Chairman for the following eight months, succeeding Croat member Željko Komšić.

Personal life

Džaferović has been married to his wife Vildana since 1980 and has two children, Jasmin and Jasmina. They live in Sarajevo.