NEW POLITICAL GAMES AROUND IZETBEGOVIC'S SUCCESSOR

( Editorial: --> 4596 ) SARAJEVO, Oct 1 (Hina) - Claims that the current Chairman of the Bosnian Presidency Alija Izetbegovic would soon be withdrawing from the presidency were officially denied however, the denial and reactions which have followed have just opened up a series of questions rather than offering any answers. Three days ago, the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodenje" released a cover story about Izetbegovic's withdrawal from the state presidency. Based on sources from the Party of Democratic Action's (SDA) leadership, the daily claimed that Izetbegovic would formally remain in the Presidency however, the position would actually be filled by Haris Silajdzic. At first glance, this does not change matters as it has been known that deputies in the presidency have presided over government sessions in the past. Often enough Silajdzic had stepped in for Izetbegovic as had the deputies for the Croatian and Serb members of the presidency. This time however, following his recent election to the Presidency, Izetbegovic would de facto hand over the position to his second man. Izetbegovic himself had last summer hinted at this as a possibility. He had often stated that he did not "believe he would not await the end of his mandate". In its editorial, Oslobodenje notes that the SDA was aware that there were biological and political reasons which could bring to Izetbegovic's withdrawal. For years now the 73-year-old Izetbegovic has suffered from heart problems and has experienced two heart attacks and probably would not survive a third attack. He believes that the party would be made stronger with him acting in the background. As there is no legal mechanism to accommodate this situation, the SDA discretely confirmed that they had approached the Office of the High Representative (OHR), seeking a solution to the situation. There is no constitutional base for the move and SDA has rejected the possibility of putting in a replacement as was done during the war when the Bosnian parliament inaugurated lower rating candidates following the 1990 elections. If this was to occur then the new state leader would be second rating Fikret Abdic. It is difficult to imagine that new elections will be held because the Muslim and Croat candidates to the presidency are elected from the Federation of B-H as one electoral unit. The Croat side does not have any reason to approve of such elections and the Bosniak side fears that new elections could bring to steps of electoral engineering. The "Dnevni avaz", which is close to the ruling Bosnian Muslim structures, adamantly condemned the claims made by "Oslobodenje" saying that they were unfounded and untrue. Izetbegovic's advisor for the media, Adamir Jerkovic on Thursday made a statement to the "Dnevni avaz" saying that the claims about Izetbegovic's withdrawal were being made with the aim of bringing disorder amongst Bosnian Muslims. Jerkovic confirmed that enquiries had been made about possible methods of replacing members of the presidency but that these could not be tied to Izetbegovic's possible withdrawal. Izetbegovic did not make any comments himself but Haris Silajdzic did however. Speaking on the TV B-H news report on Wednesday, Silajdzic said that "these speculations were probably being made by those who did not want to see him in the presidency". "These are games with no boundaries and it appears that we have nothing better to do than discuss who will go where and who is against whom", said Silajdzic. Asked whether he and Izetbegovic had discussed the possibility of a replacement in the presidency, Silajdzic replied, "it is true we discuss everything". It is not hard for observers to come to the conclusion that speculations about his replacing Izetbegovic in fact flatter Silajdzic. He has never tried to deny his ambitions and has even said that some high ranking party members of the SDA were preventing him from these aspirations and that they were his main reason from leaving the party. Even the "Dnevni avaz" concluded that Silajdzic had not been "very precise" compared to Izetbegovic's advisor, who stated that the issue would require "further political analysis". There is not doubt however, that the issue of the muffled struggle for Izetbegovic's successor is still quite current. (Hina) sp/rml 011400 MET oct 98