SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — An ally of separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Sunday was leading the presidential election in the Serb-run half of Bosnia, according to preliminary results released by the Bosnian election authorities.

The snap vote on Sunday in Republika Srpska was held after Dodik was removed from the presidential office over separatist policies that were stoking instability in the ethnically tense Balkan nation.

Dodik's ally Sinisa Karan won around 50% of the ballots while his main opponent Branko Blanusa won around 47%, with 92% of the votes counted.

Dodik was ousted in August after a Bosnian court convicted him of disobeying the orders of the international High Representative for Bosnia, sentenced him to a year in prison and banned him from holding any pu

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