Haris Silajdžić
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Haris Silajdžić
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| In office 7 March 2008 – 6 November 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Nikola Špirić |
| Preceded by | Željko Komšić |
| Succeeded by | Nebojša Radmanović |
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| In office 25 October 1993 – 30 January 1996 |
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| President | Alija Izetbegović |
| Preceded by | Mile Akmadžić |
| Succeeded by | Hasan Muratović |
| In office 3 January 1997 – 6 June 2000 Serving with Boro Bosić (1997 – 1999) and Svetozar Mihajlović (1999 – 2000) |
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| President | Alija Izetbegović Zivko Radisić Ante Jelavić Alija Izetbegović Zivko Radisić |
| Preceded by | Hasan Muratović |
| Succeeded by | Spasoje Tuševljak |
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| Assumed office 6 November 2006 |
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| Preceded by | Sulejman Tihić |
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| Born | 1 October 1945 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia |
| Political party | Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBH) |
| Religion | Muslim |
Dr. Haris Silajdžić (born on October 1, 1945, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Bosniak politician and academic. In the 2006 elections, Silajdžić was elected as the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years in the rotating presidency.[1]
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[edit] Political career
From 1990 to 1993 he served as the foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina and as the prime minister from 1993 to 1996. During the war in Bosnia, starting in April 1992 and finally ending with the Dayton Accords, he was perceived as the most visible advocate for self-defense and military assistance to Bosnia, insisting Bosnia faced foreign aggression. He also spoke on the issue of "ethnic cleansing" of Bosniaks and Bosnian-Croats by Bosnian-Serb forces. He continuously visited Western and Islamic capitals, as well as to the UN, raising the issue of injustice and ethnic cleansing.[2]
In 2007, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, (as it didn't have the evidence for the extent of Belgrade's control over the Bosnian Serb army which the International Criminal Tribunal had) acquitted Serbia of the charges of complicity in genocide brought against the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" by the Bosnian government.[3] Silajdžić expressed disappointment at the court's ruling, but welcomed the fact that the court "ruled that Serbia and Montenegro had violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by not preventing or punishing the perpetrators of the genocide.".[4]
Silajdžić has been a member of the Bosnian delegation which negotiated the US-brokered Dayton Accords. He continues stressing that the document was essential in ending the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but now sees it as an obstacle in reunifying the country. Making strong steps and claims in 2006 and 2007 towards canceling certain parts of Dayton accords, he directly opposes the constitution of the country, thus being a very controversial political figure, famous on the Bosniak and infamous on the Serbian side. His main directions are abolishing the existence of Republika Srpska, breaking certain relations with Serbia and reforming the country towards unity. He continues to be a key figure in Bosnian politics. Originally, he was a member and vice-president of the Party of Democratic Action, but broke away from the party in 1997 by funding his own Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5]
At this time, Haris Silajdžić is the last Bosnian war-time politician who still actively impacts public life, in addition to Zlatko Lagumdzija who was Bosnia's Deputy Prime Minister during the war and who has held, and continues to hold, various public offices since that time. Silajdžić had a strong political comeback in the 2006 elections. He is backed by authorities and organizations throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina that voice dissatisfaction with the Dayton Accord provisions and oppose autonomy of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina.[6][7]
[edit] Quotes
| “ | The Allies did not bomb the railway tracks leading to Auschwitz, because they feared it would arouse the wrath of the Nazis; six million people died. In our case, an arms embargo led to "only" a quarter of a million deaths - an embargo that penalized only the victims, for the aggressors already had more arms than they could handle.[8] | ” |
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- - Addressing the Stockholm International forum on the Holocaust, January 27, 2000.
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| “ | The origins of this horrific human tragedy lay not in Bosnia itself, but in the policies conducted by demagogues in her neighboring countries, especially the Milosevic regime in Belgrade - policies that led to the violent dissolution of former Yugoslavia and the near-destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its most plural republic.[9] | ” |
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- - Addressing the Stockholm International forum on the Holocaust, January 27, 2000.
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| “ | If you kill one person, you're prosecuted. If you kill ten people, you're a celebrity; if you kill a quarter-of-a-million people, you're invited to a peace conference.[10] | ” |
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- - Commenting on Karadzic's U.N./E.C./U.S. invitation to New York.
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| “ | The state cannot block the entity, but the entity can block the state.[11] | ” |
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- - Commenting about the power relations between the Bosnian entities, the Bosnian parliament and central government during a lecture at the School of Law of UCLA, February 17, 2009.
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[edit] References
- ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/06/europe/EU_POL_Bosnia_Presidency.php
- ^ hhttp://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1077525.html
- ^ Court clears Serbia of genocide, BBC news
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6401583.stm
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/balkans/bosnia-herzegovina.html
- ^ hhttp://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1077525.html
- ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ahF.pC15vn6Y&refer=europe
- ^ http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Affinity/SIF/DATA/2000/page940.html
- ^ http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Affinity/SIF/DATA/2000/page940.html
- ^ http://www.mediamonitors.net/francis5.html
- ^ Sound Governance, Justice Elude Bosnia and Herzegovina, UCLA International Institute website, February 20, 2009
[edit] External links
- Interview from the BBC's Hardtalk current affairs program
- An interview with Haris Silajdžić
- Haris Silajdžić interview with Tim Sebastian
- Bosnia's new leadership takes shape
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Željko Komšić |
President of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2008 |
Succeeded by Nebojša Radmanović |
| Preceded by Sulejman Tihić |
Bosniak Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2006 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Hasan Muratović |
Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina With Boro Bosić (1997 – 1999) and Svetozar Mihajlović (1999 – 2000) 1997 – 2000 |
Succeeded by Spasoje Tuševljak |
| Preceded by Mile Akmadžić |
Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993 – 1996 |
Succeeded by Hasan Muratović |
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