Through Bosnian Eyes: The Political Memoirs of a Bosnian Serb

VII The Presidential Platform and Its Destiny

M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES VII. THE PRESIDENTIAL PLATFORM AND ITS DESTINY The Platform of the Presidency was a document developed in the early days of the war with the aim of providing ~asic answers to the questions of war and peace: how to safeguard Bosnia's character and integrity, its plural culture, and its democratic growth.34 We needed to establish a unified concept of what kind of Bosnia we were fighting for. The opposition bloc insisted on this as part of the package for our accession to the Presidency: as soon as Kecmanovic and I became members, it was settled that the document would be drafted. An initial debate was held on what this document would signify, and what its goals should be. We all agreed it would be a platform for the work of the Presidency in wartime and would seek to answer _ the fundamental questions 9f the state's destiny. These were the issues of preserving its integrity, sovereignty, independence, and the equality and constitutionality of the three nations, which, along with numerous other nationalities, live together in this country. The document would also ad 1 dress the perennial question of what political structure would most fully implement the principle of the equality of the Bosnian nations. The Platform should also address the questions surrounding the formation of armed forces for the defense of Bosnia: the character of these forces, their structure and ideological basis (for until now, Bosnia had never, as an independent sovereign state, maintained a standing army). Finally, the Platform was supposed to define the Presidency's attitude to the crimes now being committed by the _ extremists of the Bosnian Serb Army (BSA). 34 The Platform of the Presidency was adopted on 26 June 1992. 51uibeni List Republika Bosne i Hercegovine, I (2 July 1992),237-8. 73 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES It was suggested that a working group should form to draft this Platform, which should primarily consist of a representative from each nation: Kljuic on behalf of the Croats, Kecmanovic for the Serbs, and Fikret Abdic for the Bosniak nation. The group met one afternoon and agreed that first a working text should be prepared for consideration at an upcoming session of the Presidency. Kecmanovic undertook this task. However, he felt unwell that day, and begged me to prepare a first draft. I devoted a whole day to staying at home and drafting a text, which was presented for discussion at the next Presidency session. President Izetbegovic played a big part in the editing of this draft, making additions in several places, in particular inserting definitive terms for the aggression and crimes then already current. After receiving these first suggestions, we reviewed the text 6f the. Platform in full. The Platform was then adopted, presented to the public, and printed. Public expectations of the Platform were high, It was well received as the product of special historic circumstances, and because it gave answers to the questions then being asked about the defense of a unified, multiethnic, democratic Bosnia. What was especially of value about this Platform was that all members of the Presidency, from all nations, showed a high degree of accord over its contents. I remember best the part of the Platform that regulated a long-standing question - the status of Bosnia. The document gave us a vision of this country, defining it as a citizenstate of its constituent peoples, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, together with members of other nations. Listing the names of the constituent nations was the suggestion of Mariofil Ljubic, then a deputy member of the PPesidency and acting Speaker of Parliament. The Platform asserted that the internal structure of Bosnia should be neither a unitary state nor partitioned into regions on an ethnic basis. Instead it should be structured on those criteria which are accepted in contemporary European states: local and regional self-government based on communities that had developed over history and formed according to geographic and economic, as well as ethnic, criteria. These two premises were especially significant, for all peace negotiations held later started from this view of Bosnia, as opposed to the preference of ethnic criteria. Finally, this Platform was drawn up at a time of political evolution, and incorporated a certain measure of theoreticconstitutional development, and it remains as a historic, seminal 74 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES document. In the decisive battle for a multiethnic...