SARAJEVO, June 7 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina's Presidency chairman and a Moslem leader, Alija Izetbegovic, on Tuesday evening announced that he was going to withdraw from the office of the Bosnian collective Presidency's member this
October. He cited his age (he is 75), his impaired health condition, physical and mental tiredness as reasons for his resignation. In an interview to the Bosnian Television last night, Izetbegovic, however, admitted that there was one more reason for such a move - primarily, "unprincipled conduct of the international community." That international community, according to Izetbegovic, is interfering everywhere and in everything, exerting pressure on bodies of authority, influencing the work of courts, imposing censorship on the media and explicitly sending messages that it is high time Izetbegovic retired. "The international community is pushing a Bosni
SARAJEVO, June 7 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina's Presidency chairman
and a Moslem leader, Alija Izetbegovic, on Tuesday evening
announced that he was going to withdraw from the office of the
Bosnian collective Presidency's member this October.
He cited his age (he is 75), his impaired health condition, physical
and mental tiredness as reasons for his resignation.
In an interview to the Bosnian Television last night, Izetbegovic,
however, admitted that there was one more reason for such a move -
primarily, "unprincipled conduct of the international
community."
That international community, according to Izetbegovic, is
interfering everywhere and in everything, exerting pressure on
bodies of authority, influencing the work of courts, imposing
censorship on the media and explicitly sending messages that it is
high time Izetbegovic retired.
"The international community is pushing a Bosnian project, but it
seems to me this is sometimes to the detriment of Moslem
people...They think (the international community) that it will be
easier for them to do their job if parties are treated equally and if
they ignore the fact of the aggression," evidently tired
Izetbegovic said last night.
He said he had no strength for such trench warfare and that it is
high time he was succeeded by a younger person.
The question remains how to carry out the replacement.
Bosnia has no legal mechanism for the replacement of a member of the
three-man Bosnian Presidency before the expiry of their term of
office.
The Bosniak (Moslem) side will certainly want to find Izetbegovic's
successor through voting in the state parliament. This proposal
will hardly find the support of the international community that is
more and more resolute to cease the practice of backroom deals in
appointment of senior officials, the only goal of which is to
maintain the status quo.
The head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia, Robert Barry, has recently
said that the only way is to elect Presidency members directly and
this implies that the election can be a part of general elections,
scheduled for November. It is on the OSCE (Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission to make a final
decision.
(hina) ms