Is Monday D-Day for the University of Sarajevo: Force over law or legal force

Written by: Amra Vrabac

The Rector of the University of Sarajevo, Tarik Zaimović, sent another letter to the members of the UNSA Senate after sending them a first letter on Friday informing them of the request for holding an emergency session of the UNSA Senate, which was requested by 13 deans, and offered them two dates.

The new letter arrived following information that the 13 deans intend to hold an emergency session on Monday, disregarding the rector's letter, at which they would elect an acting rector.

However, for these 13 deans, legal norms apparently do not apply, so they have set out to overthrow Rector Zaimović outside the procedures prescribed by the UNSA Statute.

To clarify the current situation and how this turmoil within the UNSA Senate came about, we will go back a few months.

Two candidates were registered for the position of UNSA rector: Almira Hadžović-Džuvo and Tarik Zaimović. During the pre-election period, a full-scale operation was launched against Zaimović. It should be noted that Zaimović was Vice-Rector for Finance of UNSA during Rifat Škrijelj's term and, until applying for the rector competition, was not subject to any checks. The Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs, i.e., higher education inspectors, combed through Vice-Rector Zaimović's documentation, his diploma, and his academic promotion, all with the aim of eliminating him from the rector race. On the other hand, education inspectors did not check how the other candidate, Professor Hadžović-Džuvo, returned to UNSA after leaving the Faculty of Medicine several years ago, where she was dismissed from the position of dean, and who enabled this.

After the rector election concluded and Zaimović defeated Hadžović-Džuvo in the second round of voting by a margin of three votes (24:21), the decision on the election of the rector was made by the UNSA Senate on July 3, 2024. Within the 30-day period, no lawsuit was filed with the competent court to annul that decision. Rector Zaimović precisely reminded the deans and Senate members of this in his letter.

Although the actions of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo regarding why the registration of the rector as an authorized representative in the court register was rejected could be questioned, it is important to note that this procedure has not yet been concluded. As confirmed to Patria by the Municipal Court on December 9, the case, along with the University of Sarajevo's appeal, has been forwarded to the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, and action is expected as early as next week.

In his letter, Zaimović also informs the Senate members that decisions made outside the provisions of the Statute could result in unforeseeable consequences for all of us, and that all open issues should be resolved together in the Senate. That is precisely why he offered dates for holding an emergency session.

Incidentally, the Senate's decision on the election of the rector can only be annulled by the Court or the Senate itself, but in a clearly prescribed procedure, not by the KUIP and the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of the Sarajevo Canton, as they did by issuing decisions ordering the annulment of the election of Rector Tarik Zaimović and the competition for the election of the rector.

„We must not allow the Senate's decisions to become a political marketplace that some minister accepts or rejects, and decides to accept or not. If we, as the Senate, without legal basis, accept that the 'enforceability' of a decision, without a special decision of the body that made the decision, automatically means that the decision itself has been invalidated, we introduce legal uncertainty with unimaginable consequences. And in court proceedings, the court will assess the provisions of the Statute, and the issue of 'enforceability' solely within the narrative of the inspection decision itself – and not through the opinion of the minister who is not competent for these matters“, Zaimović stated.

What should be highlighted is that the inspection began acting during September, after receiving several 'anonymous submissions' regarding the rector election itself. The question is what the KUIP was waiting for so long and why, after the UNSA Senate's decision on the election of the rector, the move to oust Zaimović began.

„On December 6, the KUIP conducted a control inspection in which it stated that the Inspector would act in accordance with Article 89 of the Law on Inspections, issuing a conclusion on the permission of forced execution of the decision in the administrative matter, against which the University has the right to appeal to the Ministry, as the second-instance body, as well as subsequent judicial protection by initiating an administrative dispute. To date, no 'conclusion on forced execution' has been issued“, Rector Zaimović further stated in the letter to the Senate members.

After the plan to remove Rector Zaimović with the help of KUIP and the Ministry failed, repression was applied to all employees of the University of Sarajevo by blocking the payment of salaries for 2,700 employees. The goal was to provoke the anger of the employees and tactically direct it at Rector Zaimović, which was attempted by the Minister of Higher Education, Adna Mesihović, at the session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly on Wednesday, December 11.

Aware of the political games surrounding the University of Sarajevo and certain centers of power whose ministers blocked salary payments (Minister of Higher Education Adna Mesihović and Minister of Finance Afan Kalamujić come from the movement For New Generations, led by Damir Marjanović), the UNSA Trade Union clearly emphasized that it is unacceptable for problems between the founder and the University to be taken out on the backs of employees. They clearly warned the Sarajevo Canton Government that if salary payments are blocked again, they will organize a warning strike and a general strike, and file criminal charges against those responsible.

When looking at the list of deans who signed the request for holding an emergency session, it is noticeable that the Dean of the UNSA Faculty of Law, Zinka Grbo, is not among the signatories. If such a request was not signed by the UNSA Faculty of Law, which educates lawyers and, logically, can be the true interpreter of legal regulations, then the question arises whether this is an application of force by a minority over the law and the Statute.

UNSA Senate members have previously had the opportunity to hear Dean Grbo's opinion on certain procedures initiated in court, so the question arises whether the deans of FASTO, the Faculty of Dentistry, or traffic, mechanical engineers understand the law better than the Dean of the Faculty of Law.

Former Rector Rifat Škrijelj, in an interview with Patria at the end of September, spoke about attempts to problematize the election of Rector Tarik Zaimović, as well as certain blockades and obstructions of projects extremely important for the development of the University of Sarajevo and staff strengthening. He also spoke at the time about the attempt to amend the 2022 Law on Higher Education of the Sarajevo Canton again.

"A team was formed that was supposed to change this law from 2022 or even pass a new law in 2024. That is the idea of that political option led by Damir Marjanović. He wanted to reshape the destiny of the University of Sarajevo in the way he sees it through political eyes. In doing so, he ignored the University and its bodies and institutions where he was educated. A public university like UNSA cannot be a victim of anyone's individual political intention. Marjanović and the ministers he proposed, who also manage the Sarajevo Canton Employment Service, stopped another important project of the University. That was the recruitment of 150 assistants. We asked for a special project to be created. Not employment incentives, but funding from the Service's money. They did not want that, and to this day that project has not seen the light of day. That project is in the archives, having been sent and supplemented twice to the minister. Including a fiscal assessment of how much money we need for one year, and how much for four. And every day professors retire, we also have people leaving UNSA, not so often, but someone gets a better opportunity. The last time we hired 150 assistants was in 2018", Škrijelj said in September.

The University of Sarajevo has taken all legal steps to protect UNSA from various attacks, so in any case, we should wait for final court decisions, rather than creating legal chaos with violent removals and elections of acting officials. However, while various tools are being used in the clash of individuals with the leadership of the University of Sarajevo, the parties that make up the government in the Sarajevo Canton remain silent about the dismantling of the oldest university in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of which they are the founder.