Hamdija Pozderac

Infobox Person
name = Hamdija Pozderac


birth_date = birth date|1924|1|15|mf=y
birth_place = Cazin, Bosnia and Herzegovina
death_date = death date and age|1988|4|7|1924|1|15|mf=y
death_place = Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hamdija Pozderac (pronounced: h'amdiya po'zděratz) (January 15, 1924- April 7, 1988) was a Bosnian politician and the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1971 - 1974. He was also a vice president of the former Yugoslavia in late 1980s, and was in line to become the president of Yugoslavia just before he was forced to resign from politics in 1987.

Pozderac was considered one of the most influential and powerful politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the communist era. His removal from the political scene in late 1980s is today considered one of the most controversial events that preceded the Bosnian War. He was removed through a so called The Agrokomerc Affair of 1987, which the Yugoslav press compared to the American Watergate scandal. It is widely believed that the scandal was fabricated in Belgrade so as to remove Hamdija Pozderac, who was at the time the head of the Federal Constitutional Commission of Yugoslavia, in order to disturb the political power balance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brka, Amina. 2003. Bosnjacki Front. Hamdija Pozderac (Bosnian only). [http://www.bosnjacki-front.com/index.php?docid=380457112301] ] Stojic, Mile. Ally of Bosnia's unity. 2004. Bosnian Institute [http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=1060&reportid=163] ]

Biography

Hamdija Pozderac was born in Cazin in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He came from an established Bosnian family which exerted strong influence in the western-most part of the Bosnian region of Bosanska Krajina known for its strong resistance to the fascist regime during the WWII. During World War II, Pozderac joined at the time illegal Alliance of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) and the anti-fascist Partisan movement. He held various military and public posts in Bosanska Krajina region during the war and was ordained with several military and public honors.

Following the advent of communist rule, the Pozderac family affirmed its strong position in the Yugoslav politics with Nurija Pozderac and Hamdija's brother Hakija Pozderac, both of whom held high positions in the Yugoslav government during and after WWII. Hamdija was by many considered as one of the closest allies of Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia for almost 40 years.

He was highly educated, holding a philosophy degree from the University of Belgrade. He also studied in Moscow, published several sociological studies, and was a professor of political science at the University of Sarajevo.

He died allegedly of a stroke shortly after his resignation in April 1988 in Sarajevo. However, actual circumstances of his death were never officially clarified and there is some suspicion that foul play may have been involved.

Political activity

The politics of Hamdija Pozderac centered on his involvement in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia that he ideologically followed. He held various high positions in the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia in 70s and 80s and exerted considerable influence on the politics of the communist party. His perhaps most important position was as the president of the Federal Constitutional Commission of Yugoslavia which he held for nearly 20 years.

His political ascendance began with economic revitalization of Bosanska Krajina region, than impoverished region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pozderac provided the political backing to Agrokomerc at the time small local food manufacturer which would later become one of the largest food manufacturing corporations in former Yugoslavia. Agrokomerc proved to be the key to the economic prosperity of the region.

While his primary goal was economic reform of then impoverished Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he relatively successfully implemented, he also played an important role in confronting nationalists from Serbia through a series of controversial and risky political moves.

The reason he is today considered one of the most important Bosnian politicians is his significant role in constitutional amendments in 1970s which recognized Bosnian Muslims (later named Bosniaks; hereafter Bosniaks) as one of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. Although his political orientation was left of center, and while he continually confronted nationalist politics of ethnic groups in former Yugoslavia, he inevitably contributed to the establishment of the process that led to the emergence of the modern Bosniak nation.

Following his involvement in the constitutional amendments, series of political attacks were staged against him by the Serbian lobby in Bosnia and Hercegovina who tried to discredit and remove him from the political scene. One of the attempts was made by Vojislav Seselj in late 1970s, who has learned that one of the students of Pozderac at the University of Sarajevo, copied (plagiarized) parts of his dissertation, but was not punished for by Pozderac. Because the student Brano Miljus, has risen to a very high position within the communist party, a big controversy was born, whose goal was the removal from power of Hamdija Pozderac. The attempt was however unsuccessful. Borogovac, Muhamed; Analysis and Studies About the War Against Bosnia, The War in Bosnia - part two [http://www.hdmagazine.com/bosnia/articles/book-2.html] ]

arajevo process

Most controversial process however was the so-called Sarajevo process in 1983 where, under significant pressure from Serbia's political leadership, he used his political influence to secure convictions for several Muslim nationalists as a type of a political sacrifice to gain political points in the fight against Serbian nationalists.

The Sarajevo process centered on convicting Alija Izetbegovic for writing the "Islamic Declaration", a literary work which was in the Yugoslav communist regime considered a radical approach towards socialist ideals of former Yugoslavia that were based on suppression of nationalism and any violation of that doctrine was punishable by law. Such trials in the communist regime were quite common and a typical practice of suppressing the right to free speech (see:Croatian Spring). Pozderac had used this practice to reaffirm his political opposition to Serbian nationalist tendencies and in particular opposition to the politics of Slobodan Milošević who was trying to revert the constitutional amendments of 1970s that awarded the Bosniaks the status of a constituent ethnicity.

The process also backfired as the Serbian lobby insisted that Bosnia was a "dark nation" where all those who oppose the government will be prosecuted, where Bosnian Muslim communists were prosecuting Muslim believers. That kind of propaganda attracted many Bosnian Muslims to their way of thinking. Others were interpreting the Sarajevo process as Pozderac's way of removing the political amateurs who could end up disrupting the process of Bosnian independence.

Ironically, Alija Izetbegovic will in later years supersede Hamdija Pozderac becoming the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990. The issue of the controversial Islamic Declaration by Alija Izetbegovic is still cited today as a method of gaining political points. Sells, Michael. Crosses of blood: sacred space, religion, and violence in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The 2002 Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_3_64/ai_109568881/pg_34] ]

The Agrokomerc Affair

Attacks on Hamdija Pozderac culminated with a so called The Agrokomerc Affair that started in mid 1987.

In 1980s Agrokomerc, one of the leading food manufacturers was engulfed in questionable banking deals where the corporation issued numerous high interest promissory notes without the proper financial equity. Such practices were very common in the Yugoslav communist system and many corporations utilized this practice. The difference with Agrokomerc was that the director of the corporation Fikret Abdic lost the sense of scale as the corporation issued in excess of $500 million in "worthless" promissory notes. The problem became more acute as the press reported on it as the biggest economic affair in former Yugoslavia triggering the 250% inflation rate in Yugoslavia.

Hamdija Pozderac, who contributed to initial growth of Agrokomerc, was indicted of being aware of financial dealings of the Agrokomerc. However such accusations were never proven. The political blow to Pozderac came from Fikret Abdic's statement that he was in possession of audio tapes with conversations that would prove Pozderac's involvement in the scandal. While tapes were never actually presented the political pressure on Pozderac culminated in late 1987 at which point he resigned from the politics.

Again ironically, Fikret Abdic will later join Alija Izetbegovic in 1990 to form Party of Democratic Action (Stranka Demokratske Akcije, SDA) and win the popular vote for the Bosnian Herzegovinian presidency in 1990 democratic elections.

Legacy

Historical significance of Hamdija Pozderac for the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina is today still debated among historians. He is criticized for his ideological following of the communist doctrines and for setting processes that did not honor certain liberties viewed in the western world as the core democratic principles such as the freedom of speech. He was also criticized for being a cog of nepotism and although he did not subscribe to that tactic himself he certainly took advantage of it. As a result he was criticized for contributing to the continued presence of Pozderac family on the political scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One however needs to view these issues from the context within which Pozderac operated. Being part of the communist system Pozderac saw political ascendance possible only within the system. If one adds to this the patriarchic nature of the Balkans, his strong leadership was proven to be the only potent power that could make the difference in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the communist era. He was the follower of the conviction that political, legal, philosophical, religious, literary, artistic and other progress is based on the economic progress. He is credited for implementing processes that led the economic revitalization of Bosnia and Herzegovina that contributed to strengthening of the cultural independence and identity of Bosnia within Yugoslav federation.

Pozderac cannot be viewed as a movement leader but as a patient and principled politician who saw the opportunity for change by working within the system.

His legacy certainly can be credited with contributions to the constitutional recognition of Bosniaks as a constituent people within Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the already recognised Croats and Serbs, and his persistent position in protecting those rights. He has also continually worked on protection of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Yugoslav federation and while he did begin some processes for which he would be criticized, many consider that without his involvement in the Yugoslav politics at the time Bosnia may have not had the political nor other potency to pursue the independence in the 1990s.

References

External links

* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-14905.html Bosnia in 1980's]
* [http://www.aimpress.ch/dyn/trae/archive/data/200108/10807-001-trae-sar.htm Relations to Fikret Abdic]
* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,965639,00.html 1987 TIME magazine article about Agrokomerc scandal]