PREELECTION COMPETITION IN TUZLA

LONG HOT SUMMER

AIM Tuzla, July 28, 1996

This summer, citizens of Tuzla are visiting the nearby lake Modrac which is their substitute for the seaside and which welcomed them completely ready - the approaches to the lake were arranged, numerous restaurants opened, men who like fishing mostly return home satisfied, pupils and students are getting a suntan. In the evening all city garden restaurants, cafes and disco-clubs are full of young people. A few of them, those more fortunate and skillful will at least for a little while even go to the seaside.

It seems that there will be no holiday this year only for the local politicians, because the preelection struggle between the parties, regardless of the latest threats that there is a possibility of boycott of September elections, is getting into full swing in Tuzla.

Observed from the angle of political marketing - the most active are in the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), both the municipal and the cantonal. The city is decorated with party posters, a "promotional gathering of members and sympathizers of the SDA" is scheduled to take place on Friday at the Crystal Hall of Hotel Tuzla, where among other, Izudin Kapetanovic, Prime Minister of the Federation will make a speech. The municipal and the cantonal organization of the SDA have already publicized lists of candidates for the forthcoming elections and advertising them intensely... Regardless of the total fiasco which this party has experienced at the latest gathering of people from Podrinje organized in Tuzla's Pinga (speakers, especially President of the Tuzla-Podrinje Canton, Izet Hadzic, had tomatoes and other cheap vegetables thrown at them), its members are not wasting energy and they remain persistent in their allegation that in September they will surely "win" Tuzla. The main political premiss and election slogan of this party is that the past war is its greatest capital: that this part of Bosnia was defended by the Army of B&H and that its creator is the SDA, that the war has made many aware, especially among representatives of Tuzla intelligentsia, who are in great numbers joining this party. with a little less arguments, protection of combatants and disabled veterans is promised, as well as care for families of jihad warriors, although there is no firm promise concerning payment of sums of money entered in military foreign currency savings accounts.

What are the other parties doing?

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) which is locally recognizable primarily for frequent press conferences of its Vice-President Sead Avdic, has also publicized its lists of candidates for September elections. At the latest press conference, Avdic accused RTV B&H that it worked for the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), that it still did not give enough room to opinions which differed from stances of the ruling party. He also characterized the latest performance of the President of Presidency B&H Alija Izetbegovic on this media as party propaganda and abuse of the post of the head of the state. The SDP expressed support for the women of Srebrenica and condemned political instrumentalization of the latest gathering of people from Podrinje in Tuzla. This party also supported demands of health workers and reminded that a year ago it demanded for them recognition of war years as years of service for the veterans. There were a couple of promotional gatherings in the region, and the leaders claim that they will "win" even some of the towns from the Tuzla Canton which voted for the SDA in the last elections.

Occasional public appearances of heads of the Croat Democratic Communits (HDZ) in local media or at press conferences, although somewhat rare, at least at first sight reek with self-confidence and certainty that, as one of the first men of this party said, "all the Croats here will vote for the HDZ". The other characteristic of this party's activities is a persistent demand for creation of a Croat municipality Soli in Tuzla. In the past few days, a new refusal of this demand arrived from the Inter-Partisan Council of the Tuzla Municipality. The Council has, in fact, accepted the answer to the initiative on constitution of the new municipality initiated by the HDZ, and the answer was written by the chairman of the municipal Council Marijan Simic. Among other, the answer reads as follows: "Pursuant the decision on equal criteria for constitution of municipalities or change of borders of the existing municipalities in the Federation B&H... the initiative of local communities or other forms of social and political organizing of citizens is considered to be valid if more than half of the population from the region concerned declares to be in favour of consituting of a new municipality... As far as we are informed, there has been no referendum on the territory of local communities which are poposed to be incorporated in the new municipality... In the end, it should be stated that we are in a period of implementation of the Dayton accords and elections, as one of the segments of the accords. We believe that conditions have not been created for formation of new municipalities, because this would jeopardize organization of the elections and implementation of the Dayton accords", it is stated in the answer of the Chairman of the Municipal Council Marijan Simic. The HDZ has already scheduled a press conference in which they will certainly comment on this "refusal".

The Party for Bosnia & Herzegovina has also publicized its lists and its other motors of the election campaign have been started at full speed. There is no doubt that this party already has many sympathizers in the territory of this Canton and that it will be one of the parties-favourites in the September elections. This especially refers not only to the city of Tuzla, but also to the surrounding places, among which is the territory of Brcko where this party, along with the SDP and the Union of B&H Social Democrats (UBSD), has the greatest numbers of followers. The issue many are racking their brains about is the dilemma, artificial or perhaps justified, what the President of this party, Haris Silajdzic will do after the elections: will he form a coalition with the SDA, the United List or will he continue on the road to winning power on his own? All things considered, noone will find an answer to this question until after the elections.

And in the end, a few words about the Tuzla ruling party - Union of B&H Social Democrats (UBSD). Its pre-election propagandist machinery, it is more than obvious, is still inactive. Whether this is the result of too much self-confidence and certainty that they will win the elections again, or of the belief that it is still too early to begin a sharp party competition, remains to be seen. The first man of this party and this city, Selim Beslagic, is instead diligently doing things which are very important for this city and the Canton. Among other, he managed to convince the IFOR to allow opening of the civilian airport in Dubrave, a few days ago he signed with the Mayor of Osijek, Zlatko Kramaric, a charter on fraternization of the two cities which will bring specific benefits in the future, from economic and cultural to the sports, with special stress on cooperation between the two universities. The issue at stake here is - in view of the mentality of our people, and therefrom the unpredictable will of the electorate - to what extent these things along with the other achievements this party headed by Beslagic has so far accomplished will be sufficient for the election race. Obviously, both Beslagic and the leadership of this party will have to pay more attention in the forthcoming perios to political marketing and promotion of new ideas of this party.

Undoubtedly, the political struggle for Tuzla has begun. Who will be the winner, it is impossible to forecast at the moment. The only thing certain is that this will be "a long, hot summer" in Tuzla.

KONSTANTIN JOVANOVIC