REFLECTIONS OF CROAT ELECTIONS ON BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

THREAT TO B&H SOVEREIGNTY?

AIM, Sarajevo, October 26, 1995

Elections in Croatia and its Election Law which enable the Croats from B&H to vote, stirred - with good reason - political passions in Bosnia. A series of legal and political issues related to vital interests of Bosnian sovereignty was raised on the occasion, which is quite understandable in view of the delicate political timing of this recent event.

Certain reactions that could be heard in Sarajevo on the occasion are, however, less understandable. Namely, the official authorities, that is, the Presidency and the Government, were at first silent for an intolerably long time about particiation of Bosnian Croats in the elections of a different state, and then they gave a statement that this act was an attack on the sovereignty of the state, and finally, on the very eve of the elections, mitigaging tones could be heard from the leaders of the ruling party (SDA), indicating that the official Sarajevo, after all, agrees to Croat elections organized around Bosnia, which seem to be a fait accompli anyway. Whether the first negative statement was, therefore, made in haste and with bad judgement will soon be known, since a hint that there is such a possibility can be suspected on the basis of a statement given by the Croat National Council (HNV) which followed the official one, which claimed that the Presidency had not even met on the occasion of the Croat elections in B&H and least of all reached any conclusions. This can very well be believed since the President of the HNV, Dr Ivo Komsic, is at the same time a member of the Presidency of B&H, so he is probably well informed of what the Presidency of the state has or has not discussed. Who and why has written the by now disputable statement of the Presidency still remains unclarified.

Majority of the opposition parties also made their opinions concerning this issue public, even some of those with the Croat prefix, such as the local Croat Party of Right, denying the right of the Bosnian Croats to elect and be elected in the Croat Assembly. A series of experts in law reacted similarly. Professor Dr Kasim Begic should be singled out from the rest at least for two reasons. First, he is a respectable expert in the field of law, and second, stances of Dr Begic mostly reflect stances of the ruling party, regarding how close this lawyer is to the SDA. Generally speaking, Dr Begic is against the decision of the Croat Assembly which enables Bosnian Croats to vote in the elections of the Republic of Croatia, but his arguments do not make an impression of great reliability for the simple reason that all legal arguments against voting of the Bosnian Croats are in fact a function of political needs of the party Begic is inclined to. "In this way the electorate of B&H is divided into three parts", Begic claims, adding that such Election Law of Croatia "is a perecedent in the world, because it enables representatives of the diaspora to elect directly and be elected in the Croat Assembly". Dr Begic absolutely denies the right of diaspora "to participate directly in the highest authorities", claiming that this too was unprecedented. According to this lawyer, the right acquired on the basis of dual citizenship in "B&H may have short-term and long-term consequences, if some order and system is not introduced in this sense". Prof. Begic considers the fact that the Croats are a consituent nation in B&H a more powerful collective right than the minor right to elect and be elected in the Croat Assembly, which is judicially speaking absolutely right, but Prof. Begic, nevertheless, does not go into legal interpretation why such elections threaten their being a constituent nation in B&H.

Obviously, unresolved political questions which exist between exclusive partners in the Federation B&H are in the background of these understated stances. Obviously, this is also a matter of the most delicate issue of total relations between the two countries which, one should not forget, were practically until yesterday at war due to hegemonistic aspirations of Croatia towards parts of B&H. After the end of the war and models of peaceful coexistence defined by the Washington Agreement, the case of elections emerged, which, according to the opinion of many, undermines the Agreement and revives these aspirations, but in a new way. Undoubtedly, this is how majority of the Bosnians, but especially Herzegovinians (although from different standpoints) feel about the Croat Election Law. Due to this very fact, one may claim that adoption of this Law was politically precipitate, obviously with the intention of the ruling HDZ in Croatia to insure the largest possible number of votes for itself, since in the territory of B&H controlled by the Croat Defence Council (HVO) only one party, the HDZ of course, exists, so the results of the voting there are mildly speaking, quite predictable. The power-wielding greediness of the HDZ was evidently stronger than political wisdom which should have taken into account the feelings of the Bosnians and political consequences which might result from these elections. It was with good reason that Alija Izetbegovic, in Fojnica recently, among the twenty items which expressed stances of the SDA and the state delegation of B&H before the newest peace negotiations, stressed the one which demands from the official Croatia and Serbia to pledge that they would neither state nor stimulate territory aspirations against Bosnia & Herzegovina. The expericence of this war shows that this is the most delicate question in the global relations in the region, and if the mentioned pledge should be effectuated, it will be much easier to resolve (or eliminate) all disputable issues, such as the Croat elections. Although it may seem that such a pledge would have no executive power, it would nevertheless publicly oblige the official Zagreb and Belgrade not to make moves such as this one which is the subject of disputes in B&H nowadays, and not to irritate additionally the already strained relations among these three states. Naturally, not even at the cost of power-holding interests of the ruling parties in these countries.

Since the elections in Croatia will take place before signing of a peace agreement, one should face the fact that this time the Bosnian Croats will vote for the Croat Assembly. It seems that this is just another bitter pill B&H authorities will have to swallow for the sake of a compromising regulation of the global relations with Croatia. If there is a silent secret agreement between the SDA and the HDZ behind all this - has not been publicized, but nor is it completely unthinkable. Judging by the lukewarnm and somewhat understated reaction of the SDA concerning this whole issue, most probably - there is!

As concerning the Bosnian Croats and their votes, hardly anything epoch-making or unexpected could happen. The opposition inside Croatia against which this Election Law was probably conceived, can hardly change anything significant. The votes from B&H have already been calculated as part of the price of political relations and the newly-established democracy in the Balkans. This price will have to be paid, until better times come to this space.

STRAJO KRSMANOVIC