In the territory under SDA control the multiparty system remained during the war. However, in the pre-election period the chances of the opposition parties were not equal to the chances of the ruling party. Mines, threats, beatings forced the opposition to act illegally in some municipalities. All national parties campaigns were based on the thesis that the existence of several parties endangers the nation. As far as media are concerned, the number of independent and alternative media has risen, still far from representing a challenge for the most influencing media, in which ruling parties have a prominent position.
New media are mainly local newspapers.
Electronic media, which cover a larger area in BH and have most influence, are still monopolised by the ruling parties. In this entire period, nationalistic media continued to spread national hatred and intolerance. In the period covered by this report conditions for the return of refugees to places where they were evicted from have not yet been fulfilled. Some 130,000 people were left their homes, while around 100,000 refugees returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ethnic cleansing thus continued, but, in the post-war period pressure has been carried out through the housing and employment policy.