Eight months before elections, SDA in crisis in at least three cantons

BiH, (Patria) - Eight months remain until the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018. The largest Bosniak political party - the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) is shaken by internal damaged relations in at least three cantons; in Sarajevo Canton, in Tuzla Canton, and in Una-Sana Canton.

The Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, Elmedin Konaković, recently resigned from all party positions. This showed that SDA is in trouble in the largest canton in the Federation as well.

Since the death of SDA President Sulejman Tihić, the party has never had a peaceful period, but internal party turmoil has intensified in recent months. SDA members are fighting for positions, as well as influence within the party. These are mostly personal interests. SDA President Bakir Izetbegović is failing to control all these different interests.

The latest developments in Sarajevo Canton, namely Konaković's resignation from all party positions, showed that the crisis in SDA has reached its peak.

Asim Sarajlić, president of the Cantonal Board of SDA Sarajevo, has not yet held talks with Konaković, and unofficially, in the corridors of the BiH Parliament building, he claimed that he had not received any resignation letter.

In the race for dominance in Sarajevo Canton are Huso Ćesir, Mahir Dević, Fikret Prevljak, and Jasmin Terović. Almost all of them, including Sarajlić, belong to different factions within the party leadership.

The problem in Tuzla Canton arose in September 2017 when the SDA Presidency dismissed the then leadership and introduced trusteeships in three municipal organizations; in Gračanica, Kalesija, and Tuzla. Trusteeships in Gračanica and Kalesija were introduced after the 2016 elections, which SDA lost in those municipalities.

There was no official explanation as to why SDA is introducing trusteeships in Tuzla as well. Unofficially, the trusteeship was introduced because the president of the City Board of Tuzla, Sabahudin Imamović, refused to sign a letter of dissatisfaction against the president of the Cantonal Organization of SDA in Tuzla, Mirsad Kukić, which a part of the Tuzla SDA members sent to the party president Bakir Izetbegović.

Hazim Rančić was appointed as the SDA trustee in Tuzla. However, it is said that the main word in Tuzla SDA is currently held by the advisor to Aljoša Čampara, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the FBiH, Salko Zildžić, and the executive director of Elektroprivreda BiH, Admir Andelija. This trusteeship functioned until a conflict arose between Zildžić and Andelija, as both allegedly want the position of president of the City Board of SDA Tuzla.

Tuzla Prime Minister Bego Gutić also left Kukić and supported Kukić's opponents, state representative Safet Softić, as well as the influential businessman from Živinice, Abdurahman Hodžić. Gutić recently sought support from the SDA Vice-President and Federal Minister of Internal Affairs, Aljoša Čampara, as well as from the wife of the SDA President, Dr. Sebija Izetbegović. Gutić's goal is to introduce trusteeships in the new Cantonal Organization of SDA in Tuzla as well, which would certainly cause new divisions in the party in that canton, between those who are for Gutić and those who support Kukić.

Turbulence is also shaking SDA in Una-Sana Canton. Trusteeships have been introduced in Bužim, Bihać, and Ključ. The situation in Ključ has somewhat calmed down after elections were held in December last year and a new president was elected. A similar scenario is expected in Bihać during February. Internal party conflicts in Bužim have been ongoing since the local elections, when the SDA mayor Agan Bunić lost. SDA accused him of having "driven out" a large number of party members, after which they formed independent lists and took votes. On the other hand, Bunić accuses the leadership of the Cantonal Board of the party of betrayal. In the next elections, he could appear as an SBB candidate for the Federal Parliament, along with several other former SDA cadres from Bužim.