Spaho was the first Bosniak in the Government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, serving as Minister of Transport

Historians from Bosnia and Herzegovina warn that it is shameful that Bosniaks as a people do not adequately commemorate the anniversary of Mehmed Spaho's birth.

Spaho was a Bosniak politician and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization (JMO), the first Bosniak in the Government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, who was born on this day, March 13, 1883.

He died in 1939 in Belgrade under unexplained circumstances.

- Very symptomatic for Bosniaks is their attitude towards personalities and the past. And, it is certainly interesting that on this day nothing is said or insufficiently said about Mehmed Spaho - historian Admir Mulaosmanović previously criticized in an interview for the Patria news agency.

Mehmed Spaho was born in Sarajevo. His father was a great connoisseur of Sharia law, and a qadi in Jajce, Sofia, Damascus and Cairo. Mehmed completed elementary school and high school in Sarajevo (1902), and the Faculty of Law in Vienna (1906).

He took his doctoral exam at the end of 1907, and was promoted to Doctor of Legal Sciences in 1908. Initially, he devoted himself to the judicial profession, serving as a court intern from 1906 to 1908, and as a legal trainee until 1910.

When the Chamber of Commerce and Crafts was founded in Sarajevo, he was elected its secretary. He remained in that position until entering political life. He was a member of the Muslim National Organization, a member of the National Council after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, and a minister in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1921 to 1939.

Mehmed Spaho was the first Bosniak in the Government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and one of three ministers from Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the ethnic-religious key: Croat Dr. Tugomir Alaupović was Minister of Religion, Serb Uroš Krulj was Minister of Health, and Spaho was Minister of Transport.

Spaho was also one of two recognized representatives of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization among 11 Bosniaks out of 42 representatives of the National Council of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes for Bosnia and Herzegovina. At that time, the Yugoslav Muslim Organization sought 15 representative seats.