Bosnia-Herzegovina - Personal backgrounds

As of May 2003, the members of the rotating presidency and their terms were Borislav Paravac, Serb (10 April 2003–14 June 2003); Dragan Covic, Croat (15 June 2003–14 February 2004); and Sulejman Tihic, Bosniak (15 February 2004–14 October 2004).

Sulejman Tihic heads the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) founded in Sarajevo in 1990. He was born on 26 November 1951 in Bosanski Samac. He studied law at Sarajevo University and worked as a judge and prosecutor in his hometown from 1975–1983. He was engaged in private law practice from 1983 until 1992. Tihic was taken prisoner during the war and was kept for three months in camps run by the Bosnian Serbs. After being released, Tihic served from 1994 to 1996 as head of the consular department of the Bosnian embassy in Germany. He was a member of the Republika Srpska Parliament (1996–2002). At the time of his election to the presidency, he was serving as deputy speaker of the Parliament, a post he held from 2000 to 2002. Tihic is married and has two sons and a daughter.

Dragan Covic is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ-BiH). He was born on 20 August 1956 in Mostar. Covic was educated at the University of Mostar and Sarajevo University. He holds two master's degrees (engineering and economics) and a doctorate in economics. For most of his professional life, Covic worked in Mostar as a manager for an industrial firm. From 1998 to 2001 Covic served as deputy prime minister and minister of finance of the Muslim-Croat Federation, and was elected to the presidency in October 2002. Covic is married and has two daughters.

As of May 2003, no personal information on Borislav Paravac had been published by English-language sources.