MOSTAR AFTER THE ELECTIONS

THE NERETVA STILL DIVIDING THE CITY

AIM Mostar, July 3, 1996

After the elections, the Neretva is still flowing between the hostile eastern and western part of Mostar. The border between the Bosniacs and the Croats symbolized by this river for more than three years has remained unchanged. The names of the politicians who have been deciding about the war and peace in Mostar in the past few years have not changed either.

Nevertheless, after the elections, and especially after publicizing the preliminary results, everybody in Mostar was satisfied. The administration of the European Union did not hide satisfaction with the fact that the voting had passed without major incidents, and in euphoria because of this, they were ready to overlook obvious defficiencies of electoral registers.

Mayors of the eastern and the western part of the city, Safet Orucevic and Mijo Brajkovic, respectively, are not dissatisfied either. Before the elections - as the first names on the lists on the eastern (List of Citizens in Favour of United Mostar) and the western part of the city (List of the Croat Democratic Community - HDZ B&H) - they were absolute favourites, and counting of votes only confirmed full domination of political options they advocate.

If anyone should be disappointed with the outcome of the election race in the city on the Neretva river, it is the United List of B&H headed by the former Director of the Aluminium Complex Josip Jole Musa. Although this coalition had offered numerous prominent names to the voters, including Milivoj Gagra as the only legally elected mayor, and promised union of Mostar, it did not manage to win even the percentage of votes necessary for ensuring a seat in the future city council. Stjepan Kljujic, president of the Republican Party which is one of the members of the coalition which made up the United List, resignedly declared that those who had waged war and divided Mostar had won. To a question whether they can unite the city, Kljujic says: "Had there been any political willingness for that, Mostar would have been reintegrated before the elections".

The winners, however, do not share his opinion. Especially Safet Orucevic (SDA), the first on the List of Citizens for United Mostar. He commented on winning of the majority of votes as "the beginning of the victory of reason and justice". But, after the first counting of votes, it turned out that Orucevic had won 48.9 per cent, which does not give him absolute power. Although the HDZ won three per cent less (45.8), in the final distribution of seats in the City Council, this party will get a significant portion and it will certainly have a possibility to affect the decisions. In other words, it will be impossible to do anything in Mostar if the HDZ does not approve of it.

In the very first speculations about the elections of the future mayor, it turned out that both Orucevic and Brajkovic would have problems in ensuring the suifficient number of votes to be elected. For the one or the other to be elected, it is necessary to have support of at least two thirds of the deputies from the other (Oruvecic of the Croat, and Brajkovic of the Muslim) ethnic group. If no agreement is reached, president of the City Council will take over the post of the major. But, in order to be elected, the President of the City Council needs to have support of the majority of 37 city deputies.

In view of the fact that the City Council of Mostar consists of 16 Bosniac and 16 Croat deputies, it is obvious that noone will be able to ensure the majority among deputies of his own nation and that the remaining five deputies elected from among other ethnic groups will be decisive. But, As AIM learns, intolerance between the two until recently warring parties, the HDZ and the SDA, offers the United List a new opportunity: in case of disagreement about the name of the future mayor of Mostar, the post will probably be offered to Josip Musa himslef, as a representative of the opposition!

The procedure concerning the election of the mayor is a specific illustration of the toilsome forthcoming job of establishing joint city authorities. It will by no means be easy, because the relation of forces in Mostar has been balanced in the war, and it was just legalized by the elections. Due to that, there should not be too much reason for satisfaction, except if such a divided city was what all had actually wished for.

In the Croat Democratic Community, although in the final sum they fared worse than in the elections six years ago, they do not think they had lost anything. Mijo Brajkovic says that he had got a large majority of votes of the Croat people. It is even more significant for him that the Croats got their own municipalities in Mostar where they will confirm their national and cultural identity. The Croats, therefore, have no reason for concern. For them the elections were a confirmation of what the politicians had previously agreed about, and that is division of Mostar into Croat and Bosniac blocks.

Elections in Mostar attracted attention because of the fact that they are an introduction into general elections in B&H. Their epilogue, for those who are in favour of united and democratic B&H is not encouraging. They confirmed total national dominatiion and homogenization. But also, that the people are convinced that the policies pursued by national centres of power during the war are the proper thing. The picture of Mostar, transferred on B&H implies just further complication because to the Bosniacs and the Croats, one should add the Serbs. Civic-society oriented parties will have to find a way to parry the national concepts.

SEAD LUCKIN