- Title: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Election campaign heats up ahead of Sunday general election
- Date: 3rd October 2010
- Summary: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (OCTOBER 1, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS PARTY CAMPAIGNERS IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) SANEL HUSKIC OF THE SARAJEVO-BASED ACIPS CIVIC GROUP SPEAKING, SAYING THAT THERE ARE THREE NATIONALIST CAMPAIGNS IN BOSNIA UNDER THE SAME ROOF "The first campaign is run in Serb Republic by Serb parties only and they talk about secession and against the presence the of international community while Bosnian Muslim and Croatian parties ignore it, Croatian campaign is about who will win more votes and who is a legitimate representative of Croats, the third campaign run by Bosnian Muslims is about who will unite Bosnian Muslims. All three are totally separated and it is bizarre that all these parties want to take seats on the state level and do not challenge each other." STREET IN SARAJEVO PEOPLE IN STREET TRUCK WITH BILLBOARD OF FAHRUDIN RADONCIC IN STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST POSTER IN STREET HUGE BILLBOARD OF MARTIN RAGUZ, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR HDZ 1990, IN STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST POSTERS ON WALL ELECTION POSTER ON BANK OF RIVER
- Embargoed: 18th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9JMZZT644NBUNZI2G9W9H6AUG
- Story Text: Bosnians vote on Sunday (October 3) in a parliamentary election that might break the reform deadlock in the ethically divided country or deepen the divisions to the point of making it virtually unvialble.
They have to choose Serb, Muslim and Croat candidates from 39 parties, 11 coalitions and 13 independent candidates.
Deep Muslim-Serb tension has stalled reform in Bosnia, which the Dayton deal divided into Muslim-Croat and Serb led entities and where politicians have thrived by playing to sectarian concerns since the 1992-95 war that killed more than 100.00 people.
SNSD (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats), the party of Serb Republic Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, is Bosnia's biggest, and swept the last elections with an absolute majority. It is expected to remain the strongest party in the Serb Republic.
"Our programme is not a conflict, our programme, political programme, is the Serb Republic forever and Bosnia-Herzegovina as long as necessary", Dodik told a rally on the Bosnian town of Doboj this week where he was joined by the Serbian President Boris Tadic.
Dodik's strongest opponent is member of the the Bosnian Presidency and leader of Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SZBH) Haris Silajdzic. He insists on a continued international presence to counter threats of secession of the Serb Republic.
"One should love one's country and care for it. Anyone who cares about Bosnia and Herzegovina is our friend and we will cooperate with him. Anyone who works against Bosnia and Herzegovina is not our friend and we cannot cooperate with him", Silajdzic told his party rally in Sarajevo this week.
Silajdzic, Bosnia wartime foreign and prime minister, has been the loudest advocate of the abolition of the ethnic setup and the two regions, which the Serbs hotly oppose.
Fahrudin Radoncic, a Muslim tycoon running for high office, believes he can pursue development together with the Bosnian Serb leader.
The two men share a distaste for a continued presence of international powers in Bosnia, a legacy of the 1995 Dayton peace accord which some analysts say has given regional leaders little incentive to bridge dysfunctional ethnic divisions.
Radoncic is the owner of the largest media group in Bosnia which publishes the best-selling Dnevni Avaz daily. He is campaigning to become the Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency in the upcoming election.
The main Muslim party is the Party of Democratic action (SDA) is founded by late wartime president Alija Izetbegovic, whose son Bakir Izetbegovic is running for the presidency's Muslim seat.
The party is led by current parliament deputy Sulejman Tihic who turned it into a popular party of the centre seen by diplomats as a rare voice of reason calling for compromise with the Serbs.
The biggest opposition multi-ethnic party in the country, Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate is the presidency's Croat member Zeljko Komsic.
"I don't want my child to worry about what will happen in the future Will he be blamed for his name and surname, for where his father and mother come from, for being citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I will not let that happen," Komisc told the rallly in Sarajevo on Friday evening.
Komsic is running again for the job despite the calls for his boycott from Croatian nationalists parties who say he cannot represent Croats' national interests.
Since the last polls in 2006, nationalist Muslim, Serb and Croat leaders have only deepened ethnic and political mistrust in the country divided by Dayton peace accords into the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb Republic.
Some 5,000 supporters gathered at the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) rally at a soccer stadium in the city of Mostar.
The smallest of the main ethnic groups Ethnic Croats say they feel sidelined in Bosnia and want more political representation, but are arguing between themselves who is the legitimate Croat representative.
Although it was forced to share power with several smaller Croat parties after the 2006 vote, HDZ is still the the largest Bosnian Croat party and considers itself the only legitimate Croat representative calling for the for the boycott of the current Croat member in the Bosnian presidency, Social Democratic Party 's Zeljko Komisic, who, they say, cannot represent Croat's national interests.
But the Party's candidate Bojana Kristo is unlikely to pose a serious challenge to Komsic, a divisive figure amongst the Croatian community due to his reliance on Bosniak support.
"Croats have to have a say in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina is ours although we are the smallest ethnic group.in Bosnia -Herzegovina. And I would like to send a message to Mr. Inziko ( International community High representative in Bosnia - Herzegovina), whom I talked to today, that we want a change in Bosnia- Herzegovina. . Dr. Inzko we want changes in Bosnia - Herzegovina and we support your plan for the changes. We want to change Bosnia-Herzegovina", Dragan Covic, HDZ president told the rally.
Mostar was divided between its Catholic Croat inhabitants in the West and Muslims in the East during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war and inspite of intense efforts by the federal government to reunite them, the two communities are still deeply divided.
Civic groups monitoring the election campaign have described it as dirty and based on attacks on political rivals, with few viable economic platforms presented to weary electorate.
"The first campaign is run in Serb Republic by Serb parties only and they talk about secession and against the presence the of international community while Bosnian Muslim and Croatian parties ignore it, Croatian campaign is about who will win more votes and who is a legitimate representative of Croats, the third campaign run by Bosnian Muslims is about who will unite Bosnian Muslims. All three are totally separated and it is bizarre that all these parties want to take seats on the state level and do not challenge each other," Sanel Huskic of the Sarajevo based Acips Civil group told Reuters Television on Friday in Sarajevo.
Since the 1992-95 war, the country has held five geenral elections but has lagged in political and economic reforms and remains near the end of the queue of Western Balkan nations striving for NATO and European Union membership. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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