AN EXCESSIVELY OPEN PREMIER

of Srpska, Rajko Kasagic, Relieved of Duty

Rajko Kasagic, Prime Minister of the RS Government

Relieved of Duty

Radovan Karadzic reckoned that responding to the isolation under which the world has placed him, with the self-isolation of the RS he could produce another wave of the already exhausted Serbian xenophobia and close his ranks and thereby put the overall "entity" under an even stricter control.

AIM, Banjaluka, May 17, 1996

Rajko Kasagic, Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Srpska (RS) was relieved of duty on May 15. The decision on Kasagic's release was brought by the RS President Radovan Karadzic, "with a view to protecting the constitutional order, implementing the adopted policy and preventing the further deepening of the crisis in the functioning of the Government", as he had put it.

By declaring his presidential will the forgotten Radovan Karadzic showed that he was still there and that the basis of his functioning were dogmatism and obstinacy. For, by his latest decision Karadzic provoked negative reactions of the international political factors. The Spokesman for the United Nations (UN) in Sarajevo Aleksandar Ivanko stated that the UN are "extremely disturbed by the release of Mr.Kasagic from the Prime Minister's office", Karl Bildt, high representative of the international community for civil affairs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) said that Karadzic's measure was "null and void", while the German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel agreed with Bildt, adding that Karadzic should be "isolated" and brought before the International Tribunal for War Crimes. "The relieving of the Bosnian Serb Prime Minister proves once again that with Karadzic the Dayton Agreement cannot be implemented" said Kinkel a day before his departure for Belgrade.

The "released Prime Minister" couldn't have dreamed that one day the highest ranking diplomats of almost all centers of the political power would stand behind him. And even less that it would happen precisely in a conflict with Karadzic who six months earlier nominated him, as his man, for Prime Minister designate.

Radovan Karadzic made the decision on relieving the Prime Minister on the day on which the session of the RS Government was scheduled at Pale. At that session the Prime Minister intended to raise the issue of the reconstruction of his cabinet. Talking about this after his "dismissal", M.Sc. Rajko Kasagic stated that he had demanded the removal of some ministers and the Vice-Premier with the intention to create a cabinet of men "with which the world could cooperate". Those well versed in the RS situation claim that he was primarily referring to the Vice-President of the Government Velibor Ostojic and the Foreign Minister Aleksa Buha, as the man in charge of the sector which should, naturally, be most exposed to the world.

But, since things are not natural, Karadzic by his decree, among others, protected a Foreign Minister which the world does not want and excluded a Prime Minister, the only representative of Pale administration which the representatives of the international political factors count on. Radovan Karadzic reckoned that responding to the isolation under which the world has placed him, with self-isolation of the RS he could produce another wave of the already exhausted Serbian xenophobia and close his ranks and thereby put the overall "entity" under an even stricter control which is a gratifying position both as regards the coming political campaign as well as another round of evading the pursuers of the International Tribunal for War Crimes. In this the leader of the RS lost sight of the fact that by sacrificing the man from Banjaluka he lost touch with the Head Office of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and the overall Banjaluka region, which can cause a radical split in the Serbian entity.

Unexpectedly, and not only for Radovan Karadzic, the Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic opposed self-isolationist intentions of his President. He, who was considered an extended arm of the Pale regime in Banjaluka, where he was President of the Executive Committee, matured in his fifty-four year and became a personality. (He was born on October 15, 1942 in Razboj, the commune of Srbac). In contrast to other representatives of the Pale administration and some of his ministers, he understood the reality, as well as that Bildt was practically President of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that IFOR was the only military force in B&H. An authentic story says that Kasagic was not aware of this from the very beginning, but that he learned fast. According to the same story, representatives of a British IFOR regiment came to Rajko Kasagic and asked him for a hall for some regiment services. The still new minister answered that he had to consult with the military authorities at Pale, to which the British responded: "Here, we are the only military authorities". Kasagic was left speechless. After his initial surprise, the Prime Minister of the Bosnian Serbs demonstrated increasing sober-mindedness and independence, which obviously irritated Radovan Karadzic.

In contrast to his President, the Prime Minister was in favour of Serbs staying in Sarajevo; he was for Banjaluka as a new capital of the RS; for cooperation with the Croats and Moslems and, above all, for cooperation with the world. "I think that the RS, with something over one million inhabitants, cannot confront the entire world, but cooperate with it, as no country can survive if it isolates itself from others", are the words he frequently repeated. Others repeated his words on "the shame every nation should feel if it hides war criminals in its ranks" and "the world which endeavours to remove a team of politicians, expecting a more moderate one which could cooperate with the Moslems".

To Prime Minister's eloquence Karadzic responded with the accusations that with their irresponsible statements "some Serbian politicians" were pushing Serbs into a joint state with the Moslems and Croats, and remarks on the international community "wasting its time looking for more moderate Serbs". As it turned out, Rajko Kasagic was both an "irresponsible politician" and a "more moderate Serb".

Despite these replies, Karadzic's radical move - the dismissal of the Prime Minister, was unexpected. Few were those in the Belgrade public, in which the Bosnian topics still rank high, who bet on such denouement as it was considered that the leader of the Bosnian Serbs needed a man who would maintain communications with the world and Belgrade. Kasagic himself contributed to the opinion that a latent conflict would never end tumultuously as he did not make it a secret that his political moves did not meet with the understanding of the RS political top, but interpreted this as a "normal thing", denying that there was anything dramatic. This is how he presented an initiative for his removal launched at the early April session of the RS Parliament by two deputies of the ruling Serbian Democratic Party, which Karadzic himself forestalled.

Today, the "dismissed Prime Minister" himself is trying to forestall the decision on his deposing, saying that he will not leave the post of the first man in the Government until the Assembly has its say. The RS Assembly should soon meet in session in Banjaluka, where Kasagic, a day after his removal, received Xavier Solana, NATO Secretary General and the Pact Supreme Commander for Europe General George Joulwan. Both Kasagic and his guest refuse to accept this "deposition".

Still, future destiny of the RS Prime Minister will be decided by supportive forces from Belgrade much more than by his own or the will of his guests. Judging by the statement of Ivica Dacic, Spokesman of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SRS) given in the first moments of the open conflict between Karadzic and Kasagic, that support was half-hearted, since the Spokesman characterized the conflict as internal daily-policy affair of the Republic of Srpska. It is possible that the Spokesman is not familiar with the stands of his presently very busy boss Slobodan Milosevic. And when that is found out, it will be clear whether Rajko Kasagic was sacrificed so that the implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia would be blocked. The transformed Prime Minister of the RS was perhaps the most ardent supporter of the Dayton Agreement and therefore this sacrifice is not necessarily of only local character.

(AIM) Perica Vucinic