Disposable national politics

By: Sead Omeragic

'What I'm particularly worried about is the situation in our communities in the RS. The last elections brought our people into inferior political position. This is not just about a momentary weakness but longtime negligence of serious debate in our politics about that part of our country and our people. A comprehensive solution has never been offered, as well as an action plan relating to economic, social and cultural work', BH Grand Mufti, Husein Kavazovic warned. He is absolutely right. Getting hold of power in Federation and in a part of RS has become the only aim of so-called Bosniak national strategy led by SDA.

Unfortunately, the question is how late Kavazovic's warnings are. Our political strategists are late for all trains running towards the future. The core of that strategy relating to the state formation has been lost for a while now. The return of the internally displaced population has become an obsolete concept of that 'national politics'. National parties do not seem to notice either the segregation or the discrimination of the Bosniaks in RS. Those parties treat Bosniaks the same way Dragan Covic treat the issue of disappearance of the Croats in RS: federally nonchalant and with a respect for the leader who advocates for dissolution of the ethnically clean territory.

Equally so the international humanitarian organizations do not treat with seriousness the obvious discrimination and segregation of the returnees to RS. Those people have been left on their own – nationally, socially and culturally. What is more, they constantly get accused of fictitious terrorism.

Srebrenica is the example of an ill treatment of the Bosniak tragedy. Srebrenica saw some chaotic investments without strategy. Most of the donated money was left to local political powerful men to manage – the results were terrible. Why was do difficult for this government to separate money from the local politics? Why was so difficult to appoint a competent person, a coordinator for Srebrenica, someone who would bear the responsibility for any possible illegal spending or any other malversation? That could have been done in relation to the strategic return to all RS towns.

The ad hoc investing ran in parallel with a complete declining of the Bosniak politics in Republika Srpska. The RS required true political wisdom and not some mediocre national politics as the one SDA and some other national parties have preached for decades

Pro Bosnian politics is the only politics that would make sense in the long term. Luckily, it's never too late. As we said, SDA as an expression of the national politics in half of the Federation became unnecessary and almost sickly dead at its core. It makes sense only if our goal is to put a fence around it and make our ghetto, something like: Our party is our land.  

The politics that Kavazovic talks about, failed to build a state even on this federal territory with Bosniak majority. That part of the country could have served as the example of a functioning state with rule of law and rule of the competent. It didn't work out.

Economic, social, cultural and every other strategy ought to be built on moral foundations and moral values. The moral responsibility presumes the existence of an undisputable moral authority. What kind of moral principles is Bosniak politics towards RS then founded?

Two decades after the war and horrid crimes over Bosniak people, the politics of the return has to be reexamined. Where normal people finish, we begin.