 The SDA won a landslide majority in this election, and Emrić was subsequently chosen by councillors as the city's mayor.He left the SDA at some point between 2000 and 2004 and was re-elected as mayor as an independent candidate in the 2004 municipal elections, the first to be held after Bosnia and Herzegovina introduced the direct election of mayors.He joined the A-SDA in 2008 and was defeated by SDA candidate Mirsad Šahinović in the 2008 municipal elections.