Every key position of political power will be up for grabs on the days September 12 and 13, from the three-man inter-ethnic presidency down to legislatures in Bosnia's Moslem-Croat and Serb entities.

Some two million people will be able to vote, and the 500,000 odd refugees still living abroad after the 1992-95 war, says the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is overseeing the vote.

``The elections are going to be a new step towards democratization,'' said High Representative Carlos Westendorp, the international community's pointman for implementing the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords.

``They are not going to change dramatically the political panorama, but at least pluralism will be improved, no doubt,'' Westendorp said in a recent interview.

Nationalist stalwarts figure prominently on thecrowded ballot papers, including the current presidency members: Moslem leader Alija Izetbegovic, Serb hardliner Momcilo Krajisnik and Croat member Kresimir Zubak.

But social democrats, openly favored by the international community, could make inroads if voters decide that bread-and-butter issues -- not ethnic identity -- matter more, diplomats say.

One uncertain issue is Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians are battling Serbian rule in what in many ways is a replay of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina that claimed at least 200,000 lives.

``People have been pretty good not dragging it into the election,'' said one diplomat who, like other international officials, hopes the situation stays that way.

For Bosnians, whose political culture is still colored by their days under communism in the former Yugoslavia, it will be their third trip to the ballot box, after national polls in 1996 and municipal elections last year.

On the surface, much seems to have changed for the better. Sarajevo in particular is buzzingwith activity this summer, its streets clogged with traffic again, its cafes doing throbbing business after dusk -- a far cry from Its 43-month siege by Serb forces.

Moslems, Serbs and Croats feel safer driving through each others' turf after the introduction of generic vehicle plates.

But tension persists in many areas, despite the presence of more than 30,000 peacekeepers in the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR).

In southern Croat areas, the houses of Moslem war refugees are regularly blown up to discourage their occupants from returning. In central Bosnia, a bomb last week killed a Croat police officer in Moslem-controlled Travnik, and another blast damaged a Roman Catholic church.

So precarious is the situation that SFOR this week is bringing in a battalion-sized unit to tackle any civil unrest in the election period -- marking NATO's first venture into riot control.