Through Bosnian Eyes: The Political Memoirs of a Bosnian Serb

III The Election Coalitions

M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES III. THE ELECTION COALITIONS The DSS entered into a coalition with the SDP for the election campaign, and together we held pre-election rallies in the majority of Bosnian municipalities.IS I managed to be personally present at rallies in 60 municipalities, and Nijaz Durakovic of the SDP visited all 109 municipalities of Bosnia. The preparations were jointly carried out on what could be called a high political and professional level, and in most places we gathered impressive crowds of local supporters. Examples are the pre-election rallies in Teslic, Mostar, Gorazde, and the final pre-election rallies in Sarajevo and Brcko. At that time a change could be felt in the political mood of the public, parts of which were moving away from the concept of civic interests and towards the desire for national homogenization. The first seeds of the latter concept were sown in Bosnia by the "spontaneous gatherings of the people" in Serbia. These seeds found fruitful soil in those municipalities where Serbs were in the majority, in Gacko, Drvar, Vlasenica, and several others. The same process followed the formation of the HDZ in Croatia, in Bosnian municipalities with a Croat majority, particularly those of West Herzegovina. The growth of nationalism could already be felt, despite the efforts of the former Socialist Alliance to transform itself into a democratic party within which new processes and new interests could develop. For example, near Sanski Most, when we were IS "Municipality" is the typical translation of the word for the local unit of government, "opstina." Many opstina's, however, were rural districts with their headquarters in small towns and thus were not "municipalities" in the sense that they were urban areas. 33 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES discussing the projects and goals of the party the Socialist Aillance would become, an old woman of Bosniak nationality asked if we could hang a portrait of Alija Izetbegovic in the conference room. (At the time Tito's portrait still had pride of place in all our offices.) Izetbegovic was by then a leading figure in the movement to create a Bosniak national party, the future SDA. It became obvious that the political arena of Bosnia was undergoing radical division. Monopolies were starting to appear and grow, inherited from the power .bases of the SK and the like. Some time after the Socialist Alliance had become a party, for example, we started holding debates in West Herzegovina. We found in several municipalities, notably Citluk, that people had plenty to tell us privately after the meetings that they had been reluctant to reveal in public. They told us they saw no hope in their region for the future of a reformed League of Communists, a reformed Socialist Alliance, or any other such party for that matter. The only party that could succeed, they said, was the HDZ, which was already holding its promotional campaign in Croatia. The spirit of this party, and all it carried with it, was easy to recognize everywhere it spread. Its presence was evident not only in the municipalities of West Herzegovina but in every settlement, however small, from the banners, slogans, and the manner in which people had started to think. One civic leader who took part in a debate we organized told us explicitly that in his region, only one party could win the elections, the HDZ. This was to be confirmed by subsequent events. There was the time when Nijaz Durakovic and I arrived together in Ljubuski for a pre-election rally, hosted in an auditorium. This was not a suitable environment for holding a public rally, given the presence of hard-line groups of HDZ supporters. The latter were politically extreme, and had little tolerance for the cultivation of political interests that were other than their own. We could sense their hostility, from the atmosphere and other indications, as soon as we entered the hall. In the event, a local worker delivered the most notable speech. He talked about the most important values of a society like Bosnia, and the values of the society that we wanted to build: modern and plural, with a market ~conomy capable of integration into the community of the peoples of Europe. The meeting thus ended on a positive note in spite of numerous attempts at provocation. However; there was a constant sense of tension, 34 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES suggesting strongly...