non-nationalist political actors in bosnia-herzegovina

420 Pages·2015·2.42 MB·English

DEPARTAMENT D’HISTÒRIA MODERNA I CONTEMPORÀNIA
PROGRAMA DE DOCTORAT EN HISTÒRIA COMPARADA,
POLÍTICA I SOCIAL
UNIVERSITAT AUTÒNOMA DE BARCELONA
“JUST A FEW YEARS LEFT FOR US”.
NON-NATIONALIST POLITICAL ACTORS
IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (1989-1991)
Tesi doctoral presentada per
ALFREDO SASSO
Director: Francisco Veiga Rodríguez
2015
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Ai miei nonni, Angelina e Aldo
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Acknowledgements
The research was granted by the International Catalan Institute for Peace-Institut Català
Internacional per la Pau(ICIP)-in the framework of the scholarships’ programme FI-ICIP 2012-
2015. The development and completion of this work would not have been possible without it and
I am deeply grateful for that support.
My deep gratitude to all the people who have accepted to be interviewed for the research
purpose, for patiently sharing with me their knowledge, experiences, memories and stories related
to a period which inevitably evokes delicate and painful circumstances of their private life.
To Professor FranciscoVeiga, mí maestro, for his invaluable scientific, professional and
human contribution, support and patience granting to me, since the day when an unknown Italian
student came to his classroom with some vague ideas about a research on Bosnia-Herzegovina.
To all the staff of the Institute for History at the University of Sarajevo (IIS-UNSA),
especially Prof.Husnija Kamberović and Edin Omerčić, always present with their kind, brilliant
and inspiring support, recommendations and suggestions during my stay there.
To Amar, Elma and the whole staff of the Historical Museum of BiH, for being so
generous and available in allowing me to consult the library and its journals at any time of any
day.
To the staff of the SABNOR in Sarajevo Centar, especially Mr. Ladislav, one of the
guardians of the Anti-Fascist memory(ies) which must be conserved and promoted in Bosnia-
Herzegovina as everywhere.
To the people who have supported me during my stay in Belgrade: the Professors Dalibor
Soldatić, Mile Bjelajac and Slobodan Pajović; Trivo Indjić and Mirjana Tomić; Federico, Vera
and Giovanna.
To the colleagues of Modern and Contemporary History Department at the Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona, the ones of the Research Group in Present History (GReHA) and of the
Eurasian Hubassociation for their ideas and helps.
To Javier Romero, for hisinvaluablecontribution and patience with the text revisions.
To East Journal staff, especially Chiara Milan, Caterina Guidi, Davide Denti, Giorgio
Fruscione, Christian Costamagna and “herr Director” Matteo Zola. They represent a daily and
essential presence in these years, an excellent and unique space of debate, collaborative work,
reflection and friendship.Un luogo comune.
To Carlos González Villa, amigo, colega, compagno, who has shared with me his
irreplaceable knowledge, inspiration, friendship and understanding.
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To Virtuts Sambró, who came first in the study of contemporary Bosnia-Herzegovina at
our Department and has been extremely kind and inspiring offering me her ideas, suggestionsand
the access to her invaluable library.
To Marco Abram, for his immense experience, support and friendship.
To Mamma, Papà, Lara, Andrea, Giacomo, Lucia, Alessio, Francesca e Roberto. Always,
everywhere, with me.
To Marta, the person who has trusted andsupported me the most along these years, since
those days when this tocho did not have a single page written and seemed very unlikely that it
could ever had. She convinced me that “the thesis must be enjoyed” even in the more obscure and
difficult moments, until the very last (and worse) ones.Pues sí que ha salido el tocho!
To drugarica Chiara, još jednom, for all the talks, chats, concerts, smiles, walks, hikes
and drinks which we had in this peculiar year-ni na nebu ni na zemlji.
To Nicola,company,forourendless talksand hisencouragement.E dai dai dai.
To my Sarajevska raja: Nedim, moj cimer, extraordinary source of knowledge and
debates. Miroslav and Istok for their constant presence, kindness and understanding. Ervin,
always assisting thisbambino.Marc i Vanessa, who made me feelentre nosaltresin Rajvosa.
To myBarcelonska raja: Enrico, Miriam, Laura, Marco, David.
To my bcn/ju raja: Slavko, Dejan, Dražen, Matea and the whole Cal Cirera, who made
me feelkod nasin Barna.
To myTorinska raja:sistaSibilla, Trusci, Sara, Sonia e il Professor Meotto.
To Boris,essential presence during the locurastage. And to Caterina,još jednom, forher
extra-revisions and for understanding the locura.
To Milan, Margi and Vlada, everywhere you are, for being the irreplaceable soundtrack
at all the stages of this work.
To Prof. Eugenio Vattaneo: my passionate journey to the Contemporary History and to
the Balkans started thanks to his lessons at the Liceo Classico Baldessano in Carmagnola, fifteen
years ago.
To the old Nemafrontiera raja, a “fools’ association” of young volunteers spending their
summers in some magnificent places with some magnificent people in Eastern Bosnia. Thanks to
them, that journey has lasted years and is still ongoing.
To Luca Rastello, in memoriam. La Guerra in casa is one of the books that drove me
going to Bosnia and to never come back again. His moral, methodical and intellectual strictness
were and will always be exemplary.
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Prijatelj i ja sedimo na klupi My friend and I sit on abench
gledamo zvezde wewatch the stars
slušamo vesti što su upravo stigle we listen to the news just arrived
kažu da imamo they saythat we have
još samo par godina za nas just a few years for us
Imali smo igračke i živeli smo sve We had toys and we lived all
sve one igre na sreću all those games of chance
one igre za ljude those games for people
što je smislio neko that someone invented
pre samo par godina za nas only a few years ago for us
Ekatarina Velika, “Par godina za nas”.
Song from the album Samo par godina za nas, Belgrade: PGP-RTB, 1989
Moja prva i najveća želja Myfirst and biggest wish
bi bila da se probudim would be to wake up
i da ustanovim da je 1990. godina and establish that we are in the year 1990
da kažem: “Ja sam nešto ružno sanjao” and say: “I had abad dream”
Milan Mladenović, singer of Ekatarina Velika
TV interview byRTS, Belgrade, February 1994.
Kako vjetar puše mjenjaju se dresovi As wind blows people changeallegiances
bile su petokrake Thereused to befive-pointed stars
sad moderni su fesovi Nowfezzes are in vogue
Kratak je put od druga do gospodina It’s a short way from Comrade to Sir
traje dok se nije uhljebila rodbina It lasts until youprovide foryour relatives
Hej, brate dragi, vidi šta se radi Hey, dear bro,look what they are doing
Reklamne kampanje zaneko novo sranje Advertising campaignsfor some newcrap
neku novu kremu što otklanja dilemu for a new cream that removesdilemma
Teško je odlučit' kad je širok asortiman Hard to decide when the assortment is wide
dal' je bolje biti Srbin, Hrvat il' Musliman? Is it better to be Serb, Croat or Muslim?
Hej, brate dragi, vidi šta se radi Hey, dear bro,look what they are doing
Tranzicija svima prija Transition pleases everybody
[…] […]
Tranzicijauspjela Transition has succeeded
pacijent je podleg'o patient has succumbed
ostao jeizjeban ko god nije pobjeg'o Whoever did not escape remained screwed
Stari sistem nije valj'o došao je novisamo The old system was not OK, a new came
ne kapitalizam, već feudalizam But it’s not capitalism,it isfeudalism
Dubioza Kolektiv, “Tranzicija”.Song from the album Apsurdistan, Sarajevo: DK, 2013.
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Table of Contents
List of acronyms.............................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................15
PART I-TRANSITION................................................................................................23
1. THE BOSNIAN COMMUNISTS AND THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS...................25
1.1. Inter-ethnic relations and decline of the regime...............................................36
1.2. The first national mobilizations.......................................................................41
1.3. National or institutional conflicts? Sarajevo vs. Belgrade via Srebrenica.......48
2. THE FINAL CONGRESSES.................................................................................57
2.1.The 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Bosnia-Herzegovina......57
2.2. The ZAVNOBiH Initiative: a “Partisan” and democratic way out?................62
2.3. Yugoslav framework, national question and political reforms: tacit
(dis)agreements.......................................................................................................65
2.4. The 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.....................72
2.5. “The doors are open”: the failure of the Bosnian Initiative.............................76
2.6. Conclusions......................................................................................................80
3. THE BOSNIAN COMMUNISTS BETWEEN PLURALISM AND REFORM...83
3.1. The slow separation from the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.............83
3.2. The uncertain path to a multi-party system and the postponement of the
elections...................................................................................................................94
3.3. The Bosnian Communists before the electoral campaign: strengths and
weaknesses............................................................................................................104
4. THE CONSTITUTIONAL DILEMMAS OF POLITICAL TRANSITION........115
4.1 The constitutional definition of Bosnia-Herzegovina.....................................116
4.2 The ban on ethnic parties................................................................................119
4.3. Institutional structure and electoral engineering............................................127
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4.4 Conclusions.....................................................................................................130
PART II-ALTERNATIVES.......................................................................................133
5.THE GENESIS OF NATIONAL OPTIONS........................................................135
5.1. Mobilizations in Herzegovina. Explosion of the “Croat question”................135
5.2. From mobilization to political organization: the HDZ in Bosnia-Herzegovina
...............................................................................................................................139
5.3. The Bosnian Muslims renaissance and the creation of the SDA...................147
5.4. The (late) articulation of Serb nationalism into a political party...................152
5.5. From “rumours” to mobilization: national tensions in Eastern Bosnia..........159
5.6. Cohesive identities? The debate on “Bosnian” and “Bosniak” identities......164
6. THE IMPOSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES? CIVIC AND NON-COMMUNIST
MOVEMENTS.........................................................................................................173
6.1. The alternative within the regime: the Socialist Democratic Alliance (SSRN-
DSS)......................................................................................................................173
6.2. Youth activism and liberal democracy: the SSO BiH....................................180
6.3. “Athird way, there is no other”. The UJDI in Bosnia-Herzegovina.............192
7. “SAINT ANTE WILL SAVE YUGOSLAVIA”. ANTE MARKOVIĆ AND THE
REFORMIST OPTION............................................................................................207
7.1. “Marković’s times”: From economic solutions to institutional deadlocks....216
7.2. Marković and the “Third Yugoslavia” in the international environment.......223
7.3. The political capital of Ante Marković..........................................................228
7.4. Conclusions....................................................................................................237
8. CREATION AND SETBACKS OF A GOVERNMENT PARTY. THE
ALLIANCE OF REFORMIST FORCES OF YUGOSLAVIA (SRSJ)...................239
8.1. Government Party: foundation and reactions.................................................239
8.2. A flexible organisation for a fragmented (non-)multiparty system:
The SRSJ in the Yugoslav republics.....................................................................249
8.3. Great expectations. The SRSJ in Bosnia-Herzegovina..................................255
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