The battle for the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency in the next election could be the most uncertain in history, and by all accounts, already in the weeks ahead there will be exhibited an unprecedented political struggle, investigation by Patria shows.
Although officially no one has received their party’s green light to candidate, neither has anyone announced that they are entering the race, the majority of serious candidates have tested the public and are prepared to campaign.
Ceric’s challenge
The first to stir up the political scene was Mustafa Ceric, former Reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic Community, who in an interview with Al Jazeera Balkan confirmed he is considering a candidacy as an independent candidate.
His entry into the political arena would be a major event in the political history of BiH and a great challenge to all possible candidates. Ceric is a strong personality, very well known to the polity in BiH and one of the rare prominent Bosniaks who have connections and influence on the international scene.
As leader of the Islamic Community, he gained the respect of East and West, and testing this respect among his own people would apparently be an insurmountable challenge for him.
Ceric’s entry to the race is being monitored carefully by Bakir Izetbegovic, deputy president of the SDA and current Bosniak in the BiH Presidency. Izetbegovic hopes and expects a new candidacy. Before this, Izetbegovic wants to use the incapacity of Sulejman Tihic to take over the duties of president in full and take over the party. Candidacy would then come on its own.
It is another story whether a new candidacy would be successful, because Ceric would directly threaten Izetbegovic’s relatively small voting body and could be an insurmountable obstacle.
A third option that the public expects is the candidacy of Fahrudin Radoncic, leader of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB). He has still not publicly defined his electoral plans.
Earlier it was learned that his political philosophy is not to take a seat at the highest level, but to grab the strongest and most effective levers of power, in order to take advantage of his superior activity and energy in relation to the other candidates.
Privately, Radoncic is not in a hurry to the Presidency, and would candidate only if he sees that this is a way to enable his political project to have the right place in an electoral campaign.
One of the key electoral mysteries is what the SDP will do. Whether they will even candidate for the BiH Presidency.
The party of such political force itself cannot afford to give up the race, but a candidate like Denis Becirovic wouldn’t engage in an arena with Ceric, Izetbegovic, and Radoncic. The wild card thus far, Zeljko Komsic, is now an independent political subject whose intentions are also undefined.
Surprises
Whether the SDP has a Bosniak for the BiH Presidency, or will once again enter an adventure with a Croat candidate, is a question without an answer. Slavo Kukic is close to the SDP and has already announced he will campaign if Dragan Covic, the HDZ BiH leader, does the same.
In addition, no great surprise is excluded. A split in the political scene in BiH could bring strong independent candidates into the race who could confound the plans of all. An example of this would be in the initiative of several political parties from Bosnia’s Krajina, to put forward General Atif Dudakovic. They have not obtained his consent, and apparently dropped it. But BiH has other well-known, capable and influential people and patriots who could be serious competitors, NAP reports.(NAP)
