by Vildana Selimbegovic and Ermin Cengic
Besides, not so long ago, or more precisely, during the whole most recent election campaign, exactly Silajdzic tried to score political points and collect votes by pointing out the mistakes of exactly those authorities. And then he demonstrated to what extent he respects the democratic will of the voters by rewarding them, for example, in the Sarajevo municipality Stari Grad by proposing no one else but Mustafa Mujezinovic for the president of the local council! Evil tongues claim that, facing all the weight of the ignominious alliance that he had accepted, Silajdzic personally reminded Robert Barry of the Amendment 11 and thus avoided a political self-immolation: the governor of the Sarajevo Canton [Mujezinovic] has set a record even in the SDA as far as the drop in the support of the electorate between the two municipal elections is concerned and with his autocratic rule over Sarajevo he was the best trump card of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during its election campaign in this canton. Let us also mention the satisfaction of the SDA hawks who gloated because they will punish Haris with Mujezinovic and exactly in the municipality where he ran at the top of the list of candidates of his party!
Party for SDA: Barry prevented the sweet revenge but the only person who made profit from this marry-go-round and is actually pulling all the strings, Alija Izetbegovic, wisely, as every time until now, bought absolute Silajdzic's obedience with a trial balloon - the statement that he will not run for the reelection as the Bosniak member of the Bosnian Presidency. At this time a significant number of the officials of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina are facing a dilemma: has their president already sold them for a promised armchair of the Bosniak member of the Presidency, the office that would allow him to expound unfettered on the necessity for changes in the Dayton agreement? "We are a party that takes risks for the benefit of the citizens of Bosnia-Hercegovina and the strengthening of the Bosnian state," Haris Silajdzic stated soon after the election results had been announced in an interview with this magazine and took upon his shoulders the biggest possible risk for Bosnia-Hercegovina: an extension of the agony lasting the ten most difficult years.
The effect of this Silajdzic's utopia in the field can be seen from calculations into which he has pushed the unfortunate infrastructure of his party. In those municipalities where the division of the leading positions in the municipality has already been completed, and where none of the parties has absolute majority in the local council, the principle that the councilors of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina eagerly follow the unspoken directive of their president and support their former party colleagues from the SDA was clearly demonstrated. Now, the fact that some of the councilors of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina misunderstood and voted for the SDP will, it seems, simply be their problem. Since the true reason why the councilors of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina in some municipalities leaned towards the SDP can usually be found in their failure to timely inform themselves or absolute animosity with respect to the SDA, which is especially strong in those municipalities infamous because of the abuses of power for private gain.
Ilidza was among the first municipalities to experience the benefits of the coalition between the SDA and SBiH. The SDP failed to secure the mayoral office, although it has a relative majority of 10 councilors, since eight SDA councilors joined forces with 6 councilors from the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina. And Husein Mahmutovic remained in the mayoral office as a personification of power since the first democratic elections unto eternity. Besides Ilidza, the sweetness of the new coalition was felt by the Stari Grad municipality, since it got a mayor from the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina although the SDP has 12 councilors out of 31 in the local council. Is it necessary to mention that 12 councilors voted for the candidate proposed by the SDP and that the same voting pattern is expected in the future?
In the municipality Doboj-Istok [Doboj-East], the majority consisting of one SBiH councilor, one councilor of the Liberal-Civic Coalition (LGK) or DSP, and six SDA councilors, gave the SDA the mayoral office, although the SDP also has 6 councilors in the local council. In Kalesija, the SDA is the largest party in the local council with 11 councilors, only one more than the SDP, so that the votes of the councilor from the SBiH, and one each from the LGK and the DSP tilted the scales on the SDA side. The situation in Gornji Vakuf was almost identical. There it turned out that Rasim Kadic [leader of the LKG] is also not naïve: exactly the LGK councilor sided with the SDA. In Breza, the mayor is from the SBiH, although the SDP had relative majority of nine councilors, only because some of the SBiH councilors could not resist their "old flame", the SDA. It was similar in Ilijas, except that the SDA had to win the support of four councilors from the Centrist Alliance for its mayoral candidate. On the other hand, the expectations that Olovo would get a mayor from the SBiH turned out to be correct, since Silajdzic's party squeezed itself between the SDA with nine and the SDP with seven councilors.
Principled, of course: Tesanj, the traditional stronghold of the SDA, got a mayor from the ranks of the SDP thanks to the fact that some of the councilors from the SBiH voted for the candidate proposed by the SDP although the SDA had the relative majority of 10 councilors out of 25 in the local council. In the neighboring Maglaj, the SDP got the mayoral office thanks to a very similar scenario, which is best illustrated by a statement of a SBiH councilor that they would vote for the SDP because they were against looting and crime.
Local councilors in Zavidovici added enough votes to the 10 from the SDP to allow it to surpass the SDA and its 11 councilors and get the mayoral office.
However, in Central Bosnian Canton, the councilors of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina were not equally principled. Although the leadership of the party, allegedly, suggested that the councilors do not support the HDZ under any circumstances, in many municipalities the HDZ managed to get the mayoral office due to excellent cooperation with the Alliance for the Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina, made up from Slajdzic's and Izetbegovic's parties. Exactly in those locales where the extension of the coalition with the SDA was justified by higher Bosniak interests, the nationalist essence of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina, under which the former war enemies are much closer than the civic option, was fully revealed.
The best illustration of this trend is the town of Jajce, where the slow trickle of Bosniak returnees has begun after superhuman efforts of the international community: HDZ won the mayoral office with its 15 votes and the support of at least one councilor from the ranks of the Coalition for the Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina. In Kakanj councilors of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina abstained, and HDZ assisted the SDA, which has the same number of councilors as the SDP - 12, to get the mayoral post. In Novi Travnik the partnership between the SDA, the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina, and the HDZ won although the situation is far from clear: the Alliance for the Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina has seven seats, and HDZ and the SDP six each, while the NHI has three, and the HSP one. The Kiseljak Municipality is interesting because of the identical phenomenon: the HDZ has relative majority with nine seats so that they needed some of the seven votes from the Alliance for the Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina to win the mayoral post.
On the other hand in Odzak the HDZ, allegedly, won power with assistance of five votes from Zubak's NHI, although the SDP has six, and the leading Croat political party eight seats in the local council.
In many municipalities we are yet to see to what extent statements of the leaders of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina, that they did not in advance agree to form a coalition with either the SDA or the SDP, are hypocritical. In those municipalities in which no party has absolute majority in the local council it is impossible to organize an administration and elect executive local authorities unless the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina supports the candidate of one of the two opposing options. The following examples of municipalities in which the local executive authorities and administrations still haven't been elected or are in the process of being elected, will clearly indicate the strength of the new coalition Izetbegovic-Silajdzic.
Thus in Bihac, the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina will decide with its four votes who will get the mayoral post, since the SDA has 13 and the SDP 10 seats in the local council. Sixteen votes are necessary to elect a mayor, so that the SDP, if the SBiH does not side with the SDA needs another two votes. Those votes can be sought among three parties holding one seat each in the local council: the HDZ, the Socialist Party of the Republic of Srpska (SPRS), and the Bosnian Patriotic Party (BPS). In Bosanska Krupa, the SDP and the SBiH have five seats each, and the SDA 12, so that the SDA needs only one vote to elect a mayor after its taste. Since it is hard to believe that the SDA will find that vote among the representatives of the SPRS, BPS, or the Socialist Party of the Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina (SPFBiH), according to some predictions, the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina will sell its votes!?
In Gradacac, out of 30 seats, 12 are held by the SDA, and 11 by the SDP. The majority and the mayoral post can be reached with the assistance of four votes of the SBiH, or one vote each from the HDZ, the Democratic Party of Pensioners, or the NHI. It is not difficult to guess which side will be backed by Silajdzic's councilors... The situation in the Municipality Doboj-Jug [Doboj-South] is very interesting. There SBiH is the largest party in the local council with five councilors, the SDA has four and the SDP three. There the decision will be made by the SDA or SDP councilors, which depends largely on the lobbying skills of Silajdzic's councilors. The situation in Banovici is even more interesting, since there the SDA has 10 councilors, the SDP seven, and an independent councilor and two councilors from the SBiH will decide whether the majority will swing to the left or the right.
Zenica - new test: In Travnik, the Alliance for the Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina has 15 seats, but it requires either the support of the HDZ or the SDP for the election of its candidate, since the only other parties represented in the local council are the NHI with two councilors and the LGK with one. Because of that, the central Bosnian coalition of the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina and the HDZ has been announced. This alliance is supposed to satisfy both sides. Similar developments are expected in Bugojno, where the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina needs the support of either the SDP, or the HDZ or the NHI. It is not difficult to guess which party will side with this coalition. Some predictions indicate that after all Zenica will be the biggest test of the behavior of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina with respect to the SDA and the SDP. Namely, in Zenica the SDP is the largest party in the local council with 13 seats, while the SDA has 10. Four votes of councilors from the SBiH will decide which candidate becomes the mayor. It has already been heard that one of the councilors has told the leadership of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina "You can make as many deals as you like - I intend to walk through the city without shame."
Also, one councilor of the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina will make the decision whether the expected coalition of the SDA and the HDZ in Vares (!?) will produce a mayor from the ranks of the SDA. The SDP will most likely stay out of all combinations even though it has only one councilor less than the SDA. In Visoko the SDA has a relative majority with ten seats, and the SDP is the second strongest party with nine. Of course the decision regarding the future local authorities will be made by four Silajdzic's councilors, and well informed sources claim that the locals from Visoko have had enough of the Cengic dynasty and see in that a chance for the SDP.
The situation in Vitez is rather complicated. There the HDZ is the largest party in the local council (9 councilors), followed by the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina (7) and the SDP (6). If the relations in the Federation remain the way they are now, in spite of everything that has happened in Vitez [site of fierce fighting between Croats and Bosniaks during the war], a deal between the HDZ and the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina is very likely. Due to an alleged decision of the leadership of the NHI in the Central Bosnian Canton to support only the SDP, in Busovaca, the HDZ can count on the mayoral post only if the candidate of this party, besides ten HDZ councilors, receives the support of the councilors from the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina. In Fojnica as well, the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina expects one of four votes from the HDZ in order to take control of the local authorities, and in Konjic the coalition SDA and SBiH has 15 seats and it needs the votes of two HDZ councilors or one from the LGK.
Thus, the democracy in the Bosnian-Hercegovinian manner is getting a totally new dimension: all those who believed in a more fortunate civic future of Bosnia-Hercegovina, the rule of law and hoped that an end of aunt-uncle-nephew dynasty has arrived, have been unpleasantly surprised. The guardians of the national fortress will not give up their keys that easy. May opposition politicians have perished at the doors of this bastion, why would Slajdzic be an exception? Besides he has a long time ago tasted the sweetness of Alija's hand. And between sweetness and honor, a principled approach in politics does not stand a chance. As far as November is concerned, it is too close, but also sufficiently far away: the voters will decide whether they support the option of three war-time pals and their political legacy, or whether they sometimes wish to punish their politicians for corruption, looting and shameless plunder. No matter what their name may be and no matter with whom they enter in (un)principled coalitions.
Denying the existence of any general agreement between his party and the Party of Democratic Action, Halilovic responded to the question how it is possible that his party during the election campaign fiercely criticized the SDA and then entered a coalition with the SDA after the election: "The Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina had a critical attitude with respect to everything that does not function regardless of who was to be blamed for that, the SDA or some other party. The party criticized even its members who were at high positions if they failed to meet the needs. Since there is no general agreement of the national leaderships of the two parties, not even on the cantonal level, the Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina let its councilors in the field decide which local authorities would best meet the needs of the citizens and vote accordingly. And, as you can see, the situation in the field varies. There were situations where the SDP, with 30 or 40 percent of votes, put forward their candidate and they feel that everyone was supposed to vote for him. If you don't then you are in an alliance with the other. The SDA has made similar accusations."
However, Halilovic could not deny that the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina, made up from his party and the SDA, has entered into a post-election arrangement with the HDZ in certain municipalities of the Central Bosnian Canton. Nevertheless, the Minister in the Government of the Sarajevo Canton has an explanation for everything: "The Party for Bosnia-Hercegovina has from the start condemned the intention of the SDA to form local authorities together with the HDZ. We even issued a statement in which we stated that the tendency of the SDA to preserve power at all cost, even at the price of forming a post-election alliance with the HDZ, is worrisome. Our councilors in the Central Bosnian Canton mostly do not vote, regardless of whether they ran in the elections in the ticket of that so-called alliance."
To the question why it was necessary, after all, to form the Alliance for Unitary and Democratic Bosnia-Hercegovina, since he himself referred to it as "the so-called", secretary general of the SBiH responded: "We formed the Alliance to make sure that the HDZ does not win. There was no other motivation..."