October 13, 1996 Vreme News Digest Agency No 262

Sandzak's Pre-Election Postcard

SDA vs. SDA

by Uros Komlenovic

There are two theories on why the authorities let Sulejman Ugljanin back: to divide Muslim voters in two fractions and to stop the possible Muslim cooperation with Zajedno coalition

In Novi Pazar's Lejlek mosque, a smallish, yet as the initiated claim, the most beautiful Islamic place of worship in the city, mevlud was "taught" on Saturday, October 5 of this year. Word is of a religious ritual of a family nature which is most often held on the 52nd day following somebody's demise, yet also on much happier occasions such as weddings and births... The above mentioned mevlud was arranged in honor of the president of the Muslim National Council (MNVS) Sulejman Ugljanin's return to the country.

Two days later and two to three kilometers further off, in front of the ancient church of St. Peter, on the spot where state assemblies were held during the Nemanjici times, Seselj's radicals were holding a rally. The meeting was late due to the fact that the speakers and their escorts had a car crash on their way there. In front of less than a thousand gathered people (among them were found a rather large number of inquisitive Muslims and plainclothes policemen), accompanied by beer, patriotic music and lukewarm applause, Dr. Vojislav Seselj and Maja Gojkovic were hitting left and right, attacking the ruling coalition ("Yugoslav United Thieves" and similar), the "traitorous" bloc "Zajedno", the New World Order, the "evil" of America and Europe, Croatia and the Muslims...

"It is no accident that the meeting of the radicals was held directly following Ugljanin's return," claims a member of the main board of the Serbian Renewal Party and until recently, the first man of this party in the region, Branislav Ivanovic. "The government's intention to polarize the population and sneak their way into the gap in such a manner lies at the back of everything . It was like that in 1990 as well."

Sulejman Ugljanin's political rivals among Sandzak's Muslims are of a similar belief. There is a thesis which is in circulation by which the authorities have allowed Ugljanin to return due to two reasons: to divide the Muslim electorate and to prevent a possible cooperation of the Muslims with the coalition "Zajedno" which simply cannot "swallow" Sulejman Ugljanin, even "toned down".

Which is how in Sandzak, besides the ruling coalition, two national blocs shall fight for the Muslim votes: the List for Sandzak and the Bosniac List of Sandzak. The List for Sandzak is headed by Sulejman Ugljanin. It is made up three Parties of Democratic Action (SDA): SDA of Yugoslavia, SDA of Sandzak and the Real SDA. Alongside them we come upon the Liberal-Bosniac Organization of Sandzak (LBOS), while the Reform-Democratic Party of Sandzak (RDSS) has left the coalition in the last moment prior to the legal time limit for submitting the "federal" lists.

The fourth (their members claim the "first and only real") party bearing the name of SDA (devoid of the geographically valuable term of reference) shall present the backbone of the Bosniac list of Sandzak on the federal elections, which is comprised of the Party of Sandzak's Bosniacs and the Social-Democratic Union as well. The head of the list is Rasim Ljajic who claims that, regardless of the conflict between his party and Ugljanin's parties (of which VREME wrote on a number of occasions), he was prepared for cooperation in name of a mutual interest.

At this moment it is difficult to assess the power of the two Muslim political blocs in Sandzak. It is a known fact that Sulejman Ugljanin can count on the support of most of the priests and most of the rural population which he had fascinated with his "fighter" style and image of a "people's man". Beside that, his coalition is more prosperous - during his residence in Turkey he was assisted financially by Erbakan's Islamics, various international organizations for human rights and, most important of all, by Sandzak's numerous "guest workers". Ljajic has legitimacy on his side (at the time of the separation most of the municipal boards of the then joint SDA had supported him) and the fact that his restraint, avoidance of harsh words and efforts not to rouse tensions, fit in well with the climate of appeasement in Sandzak.

And while the "grapevine war" is stirring up in Sandzak's alleys amongst Ugljanin's and Ljaljic's followers, Sarajevo, that is Izetbegovic and central SDA are wisely keeping quiet and for now are not publicly declaring support to anybody. The Serbian authorities are acting in a similar manner, since, naturally, such a situation suits them. Even the Serbian electorate of Sandzak is divided - the ruling coalition, the "Zajedno" bloc and the radicals are in the game.

Otherwise, when authorities are spoken of in Sandzak, the first party that comes to mind is the Yugoslav United Left (JUL) which is on the offensive here. Many claim that on the lists of the ruling coalition in electoral units 19 (Uzice) and 21 (Kraljevo), besides the "regular" JUL members, "SPS members" can also be found who are actually loyal to the president's wife. Lacking a stronger civil party (RDSS practically has only Muslim members), JUL is threatening to take over the votes of the nationally "moderate" Muslims, and even of a few Serbs. Those who are spiteful ask themselves why JUL didn't stand up for peace and inter-national tolerance when terror over Sandzak's Muslims was at its most extreme and why they failed to "protect public property" when corruption (especially in relation to office space in the cities) was in full swing. Talking to VREME, the president of JUL's municipal board for Novi Pazar denies the accusations:

"We are the first JUL municipal board in the country - we were founded in April of last year. Our board is made up of people who had, even in 1990, spoken out against nationalistic euphoria, and who were quieted down in the meantime, so it is not true that we have only now thought to condemn nationalism of the right-wing parties and the passivity of the ruling one - we simply didn't have a chance to publicly express our stand."

Alongside the "responsible claim" that JUL does not blackmail people and that it has no privileges ("on the contrary"), Zuhra Mumdzic ticks off all that she resents in their coalition partners:

"What we condemn most has to do with inter-nationalistic relations, primarily acts of ethnic cleansing in certain institutions, especially in the police department and municipal bodies where almost all Muslims have lost their jobs. There is also the question of passivity in the housing-public utility services issues, non-reactions to illegal construction, the selling off of public property for mere trifles..."

Which is how JUL is slowly taking over even the little left-over space for any kind of political "beliefs" which transcend nationalism in Sandzak. The immediate dangers of serious conflicts have diminished here, yet distrust is still high. This point is best illustrated by the recently completed vaccination of children against poliomyelitis - infant paralysis. By the action of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, all children up to five years old were to be encompassed in it from 15 municipalities from Kosovo and an additional 14 from Serbia, mainly those which border Kosovo. The fact that the municipality Novi Pazar was included in it yet not the neighboring Raska (municipality with a marked Serbian majority), brought about an unbelievable reaction in Novi Pazar - on the portal of the mosque a warning somehow appeared stating that it was all part of a treacherous conspiracy with the intention to sterilize Muslim children. Persuasion and explanations didn't help a single bit - slightly more than half the population was vaccinated in Novi Pazar.

Uros Komlenovic

Interview : Sulejman Ugljanin

Trade Has No Religion

"The war policy is now out of the picture and a peaceful option is discernible"

Journalists who have nothing against "digging" through documentation have had a brilliant time in the last few days comparing statements which the same man on the same subjects had given a few years ago with his newest public stands. Word is of Sulejman Ugljanin, the president of the Muslim National Council of Sandzak and the head of the List for Sandzak on the forthcoming federal and local elections, who has, by general public belief, after a three-year (non)voluntary exile from the country "mellowed out" to such an extent that he is recognized only with difficulty. Talking to VREME, Sulejman Ugljanin claims that he hasn't changed:

"During the days of massacres, camps, shelling and, generally, the worst evil in Bosnia, people in Sandzak were expecting the same fate to befall them each and every day. All was prepared: the army was present in massive numbers in Sandzak, cannons were positioned on the hills, the police was behaving in a despotic way... People were arrested and banned, their houses were burned down, there were murders and, later, three mass kidnappings were carried out in Sjeverin, Bukovica and the Strpci station. In such an atmosphere I could not talk of violets and the moon - I spoke of the things these people felt. Now that the atmosphere has changed and when a peaceful option is in sight, I again speak of the things these people are thinking of. I only speak from the soul of these people."

VREME: Therefore, you can see that certain things have changed?

UGLJANIN: In relation to 1993 this is a different world in which a completely different climate reigns. Back then we had a sword which was hanging over the heads of the Bosniacs in Sandzak, the war option was the starting point of the official policies, the state was infringing laws which it had adopted, and which presents the worst kind of tyranny. However, the war policy is now out of the picture and a peaceful option is discernible. Which is why I came back - I believe I can contribute to a large extent for the peace option to prevail.

How do you comment on the fact that the coalition "Zajedno" has refused your offer for cooperation in the federal elections in electoral units no. 19 (Uzice) and 21 (Kraljevo)?

I sent people to Belgrade for negotiations, however, there wasn't enough time. We asked for two MP seats in each of these electoral units. If we had reached an agreement, together we would have taken all seven MP seats. Instead, the List for Sandzak expects to have one MP in both of these units, despite the fact that the units were impudently formed so that Bosniacs would be the minority in both (Novi Pazar and Tutin are part of the Kraljevo unit, while other Sandzak municipalities in Serbia belong to the Uzice unit)."

Is there any possibility for cooperation with Ljaljic's Bosniac List of Sandzak on the local elections?

There are absolutely no chances of that - they have neither membership nor a program.

It is estimated here that SPS and JUL shall try to make use of the cracks in the Muslim electoral body, especially in municipalities with marked Muslim majorities (Novi Pazar, Sjenica and Tutin). Do you agree with that?

Nothing will come of that: neither JUL nor SPS, nor their satellites have memberships here. The Bosniac parties which are not encompassed by our list shall stand, in accordance with orders from the government, in order to try and take away the Bosniac votes, yet that is a futile task since their influence is minor. SPS and JUL will not be able to attract the Bosniacs, since people know that, in case they give them their vote, they shall have to submit their bank accounts to them as well.