REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY IN SESSION

THE OPPOSITION SEIZES ITS OPPORTUNITY

AIM Sarajevo, January 10, 1996

"Our deputies are taking a walk around the city, while we are having laws rejected over here", Bekrem Junuzovic, a deputy of the ruling Party of Democratic Action (SDA), protested. His anger probably referred to deputies of the same party who might have been absent from the last session of the Republican parliament where after quite some time certain draft laws initiated by this party were rejected. Deputies have actually refused to adopt four draft laws, which was quite an unexpected and unpleasant surprise for the ruling party. Rejection, of course, was neither the result of absence of certain deputies of the SDA nor their "chatting in the assembly cafe during voting", as Juzunovic thinks, but on the contrary, of a surprisingly large number of deputies present at the session, but those from parties other than the SDA.

Namely, after the return of the second ruling party, the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ) into the republican parliament (which has thus resumed its job of reaching decisions and dividing power, which the HDZ has no wish to let slip by), the inviolable SDA has lost the power to outvote the few members of the opposition. Until recently - with deserted benches of the deputies of the HDZ and ever since the beginning of the war of rebellious deputies of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) - the party of Alija Izetbegovic, with nonchalance and mockery, rejected all criticism of the opposition, and carried out all the orders coming from the Party headquarters. In moments of sincerity (or weakness) certain deputies of the SDA, like the singer of oriental love-songs Safet Isovic, even publicly admitted that they were only "used as dusters, while decisions were made elsewhere". That is how it was possible, by following instructions of their party headquarters and by simple outvoting, that deputies of the SDA adopted even such laws as the one on fusing the executive and the legislative power into one, which the Constitutional Court of B&H flatly repealed. In this sense, this parliament, used to long arbitrariness, will remember the declaration of Avdo Campara, Secretary of the Assembly (the post which is acquired by party nomination, not by election) addressed to the opposition when it tried to deny legality of some decisions of the ruling party: "We can do anything we like, remember that!"

But, it seems it is not like that any more. This last session of the parliament when four draft laws were rejected (on housing, on temporarily deserted realestate, on election of members of committees and deputies in assemblies of socio-political communities, and on safety of traffic on roads) showed that any pluralism could if not win then at least slow down single-party dictatorship. Naturally, "love" between the coalition partners in the Federation, the SDA and the HDZ, which is reflected in the fact that they cannot agree almost about anything, greatly helped the opposition to reject these draft laws. Namely, the associated votes of deputies of the HDZ and the opposition were decisive this time.

The whole course of the session was accompanied by sharp polemics between the opposition and the ruling SDA. Having assumed the role of the "neutrals", deputies of the HDZ tried to return the discussion to specific proposals, but leaving enough space to the opposition in the struggle with the SDA. On the other hand, the ruling SDA, feeling that it was losing ground, even accused the opposition of its arbitrariness and dictatorship!?

Concerning rejection of the Draft Law on Housing, Vice-President of the SDA, Edhem Bicakcic (the man who also holds the exotic post of "Acting member of the Presidency", although Ejup Ganic whom he is replacing has appeared alive and healthy in Sarajevo), annoyed called out to the opposition:

"This is a case of terrorism of the minority over the majority, because this minority would like to enjoy privileges nowadays just as they did in the former system! Perhaps we ourselves are guilty for not having completed it before", Bicakcic concluded.

Reacting to his words, Boro Bjelobrk, head of the Group of Deputies of the Social Democratic Party, demanded more respect from the parliament platform, remarking: " I am telling this especially to our esteemed colleague Bicakcic who has enjoyed the benefits of the former system together with me while we were studying at the same faculty!"

Sejfudin Tokic, head of the Group of Deputies of another opposition party with a social democratic prefix, the UBSD, started an additional storm of protests when he reacted to the disputable Draft Law on Election of Committee Members and Deputies in Assemblies of Social-Political Communities. Tokic accused the ruling SDA that it applied different criteria in implementation of law depending on its preferences, and reminded of numerous tangles concerning this Law. Namely, when in the pre-war year 1991, his party demanded that seats in the Assembly left vacant because some of the deputies who had left the then Reform Party to join the Serb assembly, be left to this party, in other words to be filled by some of its other members, the SDA objected claiming that the mandate was given to persons not to parties, gloating over the reduced number of oppositionists in the Assembly. But, again, when at the time of good cooperation of the SDA with the HDZ, they needed to replace and eliminate Stjepan Kljuic (the at the time already former President of the HDZ) from the Presidency), the SDA claimed that the mandate belonged to parties not to individuals, and Kljuic was replaced. After the conflict between the SDA and the HDZ, the ruling party from Sarajevo brought Kljuic back to the Presidency categorically claiming to the partners in the HDZ that the mandate nevertheless was given to an individual, not to a party. And finally, after the traffic accident Ejup Ganic experienced, the SDA "changed its opinion" again, and replaced the absent Ganic by Edhem Bicakcic, this time explaining that the presidential mandate belonged to parties, disregarding the fact that Ganic had joined the Presidency as a Yugoslav from the list of "other nationalities" and with no party membership!

Such summarizing of inconstancy in implementation of the law, and all for the sake of party and personal profiteering, raised a storm of laughter among the opposition deputies, and even among some from both ruling parties. Nevertheless, the controversial draft laws were not approved of, at least at this session. Comments heard in the lobbies during the intermissions of the session could be brought down to the following: if it was so interesting and full of unexpected turns after the return of the Croats into the parliament, what it would be like once the Serbs showed up?

Unfortunately, the course of this session which often reminded of those at the time of peace, was interrupted by the news about a new attack of Karadzic's Serbs on a Sarajevo tram and killing of a civilian. The next day, foreign Minister, Muhamed Sacirbegovic, stated that due to renewed insecurity of Sarajevo, American President Clinton whose visit was expected, would probably cancel his visit to the capital of B&H. Yet, for days already, rumour goes here that Clinton had no intention to pay a state visit to B&H, nor to any representatives of the authorities in Sarajevo, but solely to see his boys in Tuzla. Whether it wished it or not, Tuzla gained advantage again.

RUSMIR SPAHIC