Jelavic Proclaimed “Croat Self-Government”

Illegitimate and Illegal Decision

AIM Sarajevo, March 5, 2001

This weekend a gathering of the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ) was held in Mostar – intentionally called the Croat People's Assembly of B&H – where the leaders of this party, assisted by political like-minded persons from neighbouring Croatia and a part of B&H Federation, proclaimed the so-called Croat self-government, that is, revived the incriminated “Herzeg-Bosnia”.

The assembly of 538 representatives (the manner in which they were selected is known only to HDZ) unanimously reached the decision on the establishment of inter-district and inter-municipal council as a form of temporary Croat self-government which should represent self-defence of the Croat people “from all assaults on their rights and freedoms and permanently damaging consequences of action of the authorities established against their democratically expressed will”. Marko Tokic (of HDZ) was elected president of Croat self-government, and Ivo Andric Luzanski (HDZ, of course) was elected chairman of the legislative council. With its decision, this assembly does not recognise the authorities of B&H any more on the territory under Croat self-government (the territory of “Herzeg-Bosnia”) and at the same time it bans the implementation of decisions of the international community in that part of B&H?! This, as explained by the leaders of this gathering, means that all laws, regulations, general enactments which are in force at this moment in B&H and B&H Federation will be in effect only to the extent to which they are not contrary to the decision on the establishment of Croat self-government. In other words, everything that the creators of HDZ policy do not happen to like from now one will not be effective on “their” territory. They demand that the international community withdraw “the unconstitutional decision on the manner in which deputies are elected for the Chamber of the Peoples of B&H Parliament”, and remind of “its obligation to respect the manner of the vote in the Chamber of the Peoples with all the protective guarantees for every people”. For the sake of clarification, this refers to last-year's decision of the head of OSCE in B&H, Robert Barry, according to which the election of Croat deputies for the Chamber of the Peoples can be carried out even without majority of Croat votes which was the direct cause of the refusal of HDZ's elected representatives to enter the federal parliament.

Croat self-government consists of the legislative council formed of deputies from the ranks of the Croat people elected in the last-year November elections into the state, entity and district parliaments. This council, among other, is entrusted with the duty to vote on the budget of the self-government and other regulations needed for financing, which means that HDZ decided to set aside from the federal budget all the money from customs, taxes, charges, contributions and donations and use it independently! The self-government will have its administration department, and the judiciary. The seat of the self-government is Mostar (the left bank, of course), the official language is Croat, the script is Latin (other languages, they say, may be used as a means of communication and teaching) and this creation has its own coat-of-arms, flag, seal and other symbols. The assembly also announced that the Croat Defence Council (HVO-one of the components of the Army of B&H Federation) would become independent again, and president of B&H HDZ who is, of course, also the president of this assembly, Ante Jelavic (but also a member of B&H Presidency) said that “the president of the temporary Croat self-government, in case the legitimately elected member of B&H Presidency from the ranks of the Croat people is prevented to do it, takes over the duty of the civilian commander of the HVO”.

On the eve of the session of the assembly, international officials, but also the parties which do not belong to the ten-year ruling nationalistic block in B&H, clearly estimated that this was a party gathering and that all the documents that would be passed at it would not have any obligatory force in B&H. Reportedly, the leaders of HDZ were made aware of all the possible sanctions in case of further segregation and blockade of work of legitimate authorities. Whether due to that or not, but the assembly at this gathering cautiously “concluded” that all the passed decisions on Croat self-government would be “suspended” for another 15 days, that they would be withdrawn if “political partners from the other two constitutive peoples make a firm commitment that they would respect the election will of the Croat people as their equals and the equality guaranteed by the Constitution”. The condition for withdrawal of the decision on proclamation of Croat self-government, they stress, is respect of the principle of parity in power, rotation and consensus in all the joint bodies and institutions. The condition on “withdrawal of the anti-constitutional decision on the manner of election of deputies in the Chambers of the Peoples of B&H parliament and that of B&H Federation” was also set to the international community.

“If political partners in B&H and the international administration do not meet within 15 days the stated conditions which are in accordance with the constitutions of B&H Federation and B&H, all decisions on the establishment of Croat self-government, and the regulations and decisions of the temporary legislative council shall be proclaimed effective”, it was warned at the gathering.

They also said that the assembly would send their document and the reached decisions to representatives of the Bosniac and the Serb people in the administration, signatories and witnesses of the Dayton Accords and international institutions in B&H. In other words, the paper with the conditions HDZ has set will reach the representatives of the international community who consider this gathering illegitimate, and HDZ's ten-year partners in power – Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Serb Democratic Party (SDS) which, like Jelavic's party, have not the power of decision-making in the country any more. Those who are nowadays taking over power from the three-nation coalition, that is the Alliance for Changes, are of no concern of the chairman of the assembly and the HDZ Ante Jelavic. For him, “the post-election engineering has created the Alliance thanks to the majority in the parliament”: “This Alliance is nothing but an anti-Croat coalition which does not respect the election will of the Croat electorate and its legitimate representatives... The arrogance of the international community and political self-deception of the leaders of the Alliance disregarded our demand that constituting of authorities past the will of the Croat people would be prevented”, said Jelavic at the gathering and added that he rejected “the puppet, illegal, anti-Croat authorities of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) which is doing its best to make B&H a shaky, crisis and conflict stricken area, a state in which the Constitution, laws, election mechanisms and parliamentary institutions which protect and guarantee ethnic equality are not worth a cent”.

Jelavic, however, denies that proclamation of Croat self-government means re-establishment of “Herzeg-Bosnia”, in other words, according to him, it is the result of the platform for democratic and self-sustainable B&H, and on the territory of the self-government it will allegedly (at least that is what the documents of the Assembly say) be banned to act, encourage, organise any activities that could endanger the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H, the survival of any ethnic community or minority, cause ethnic hatred, lead to discrimination or put anyone in an unequal position.

“As you can see we don't advocate any form of radicalism, no exclusive administrative and territorial solutions for the Croats, but solely common complex defence of their dignity and Croat political, national, social, cultural and religious identity”, Jelavic explained to about 160 journalists, mostly from B&H and neighbouring Croatia, but partly from foreign media, as well. Apart from the interested journalists the gathering was also attended by much more interested guests, from representatives of the Catholic Church in B&H (“The Croat people does not wish to be in anybody's chains”, Ratko Peric, Bishop of Herzegovina), opposition politicians from neighbouring Croatia (“The Croat people are no Kalimero (a chicken - cartoon character) to yell 'it's unjust' but to take its destiny in its own hands”, Ante Djapic, president of Croat People's Party), but also representatives of the ruling six in Croatia (Zdravko Tomac, deputy chairman of the Assembly of the Republic of Croatia who met with disapproval when he said “we have reservations concerning unilateral decisions, because that is not realistic. It is realistic to demand amendments of the constitution, and if you choose any other way you will become Palestinians and it will also be very difficult for us in Croatia”).

Of course, the gathering was full of ardent speeches against everybody who does not love HDZ. Certain Anto Jakic concluded that Tomac had come to Mostar “on a mission and was not speaking from his heart” and for all the troubles of the Croats in B&H he accused the current president of the Republic of Croatia Stjepan Mesic. According to him nobody can become an official of the international community if he did not hate the Croats first. In front of the building where the gathering was held, Jelavic himself shouted to the gathered citizens of Mostar that “the Croats will not accept traitors like Prlic, Zubak and Matic” (Croats at posts in the Alliance for Changes) and certain Zdravko Hrstic claimed that OSCE had changed the rules just in order to rule the Croats in B&H and that B&H was not threatened by the demands of this gathering but by “projects of Greater Serbia, the green transversal and the Red gang”.

In any case, Jelavic's gang said and did what they had to say and do. They are waiting for the moves from Sarajevo, primarily of the representatives of the international community in B&H. The reactions are known already – the Office of High Representative consider him personally responsible, as they say, for this provocative action, OSCE claims that these are unilateral decisions which undermine the Dayton Accords and therefore cannot be implemented, and similar is the stand of the American Embassy in B&H which considers this gathering illegitimate and illegal. The main board of the strongest party in B&H, SDP, says that for the sake of its own power and privileges B&H HDZ is pushing a part of B&H Croats and members of other peoples who live on the territory where HDZ exercises executive power into isolation and hopelessness. But despite clear reactions, people are with impatience and feeling of uncertainty, eagerly expecting – action.

Ivana DRAZIC

(AIM Sarajevo)