BOSNIA: TIHIC AND THE SDA POWER STRUGGLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 000100 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR FOR DICARLO, EUR/SCE (HOH,FOOKS,STINCHCOMB); NSC FOR BRAUN; OSD FOR BEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINR BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: TIHIC AND THE SDA POWER STRUGGLE Classified By: CDA Judith Cefkin for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The Party for Democratic Action (SDA) is in the midst of an internal power struggle between Sulejman Tihic, the party president, and a faction led by Bakir Izetbegovic, the son of the party's late founder. Recently diagnosed with colon cancer, Tihic hopes to retain his position as party president while he undergoes medical treatment. The diagnosis is the latest in a series of developments that have left Tihic in a weakened position since his failed October 2006 presidential bid. Public support for Tihic has been whittled away by a year-long critical media campaign in the pages of influential Bosniak daily Dnevni Avaz at the direction of its owner, and ally of Haris Silajdzic, Fahrudin Radoncic. Bakir Izetbegovic acknowledges dissent within the party and criticizes Tihic for poor leadership and seeking an alliance with SDP "communists." For the first time, Izetbegovic has suggested that he would be willing to follow his father's footsteps and assume the party's leadership. Tihic's medical and political problems raise troubling questions about the direction of a post-Tihic SDA. If Tihic resigns or is forced out, an Izetbegovic-led SDA would almost certainly adopt a more nationalistic stance to compete with Haris Silajdzic and his Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and would likely result in a more radicalized Bosniak electorate. End Summary. Tihic Cancer Diagnosis -------------- ¶2. (C) On January 10 Sulejman Tihic, the President of the Party for Democratic Action (SDA),the largest Bosniak party in Bosnia, was diagnosed with colon cancer. Tihic's Tuzla-based physician initially believed that he would require radiation therapy followed by surgery and suggested that Tihic obtain treatment in the United States. Although members of his inner circle told us he could cover the cost of this treatment, others more candidly told us that money would be an issue and expressed the hope that the USG could pay. However, after additional consultations with his oncologist, Tihic subsequently decided to undergo a month-long course of treatment in Slovenia. He will then decide where to pursue further treatments. He has also approached the Germans and the French who have proposed several treatment options in Germany and France, but SDA may get back to us at some point to reengage on the possibility of U.S. treatment. SDA Power Struggle -------------- ¶3. (C) The diagnosis comes at a time when the party is in the midst of a prolonged internal power struggle. On January 11, Tihic convened the SDA collegium, consisting of the party presidency, vice presidents and secretary general, to underscore his intention to retain his position while he undergoes treatment. Tihic also assembled RS-based SDA members on January 10 to consolidate support among that wing of the party. Sadik Ahmetovic, SDA presidency member and state House of Representatives delegate, informed us that there were no attempts to challenge Tihic's leadership at the collegium meeting but that there was a widespread acknowledgment among party members that Tihic is vulnerable. Federation Vice President Mirsad Kebo, a member of Tihic's inner circle, expressed confidence to us that Tihic is firmly in control. Kebo said that Tihic will travel back to Sarajevo for a few days every week, and said that on January 18 he will chair a meeting of the SDA collegium. Nonetheless, whether his stamina will hold remains a big question. ¶4. (C) Tihic, who chose to eschew Bosniak nationalism during his 2006 presidential campaign, continues to be blamed for a disappointing SDA showing in the election and the loss of the Bosniak Presidency seat to Haris Silajdzic, President of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH). Since that time, Tihic has faced increasingly serious challenges to his party leadership by prominent SDA members. For example, Federation Prime Minister Nedzad Brankovic recently appointed a new BiH Telecom Director, a key SDA political patronage position, without Tihic's knowledge. Brankovic is also moving forward with no-bid contracts for power plant construction, an initiative Tihic has publicly disavowed. ¶5. (C) The long-standing power struggle between Tihic and Bakir Izetbegovic, son of the late SDA founder Alija Izetbegovic, has been the subject of increased media focus over the past three months. Izetbegovic heads a wing of the SDA that supports a platform based on Bosniak nationalism and Islamic identity, which includes Hasan Cengic, Edhem Bicakcic and Halid Genjac. Over the past year the group has cultivated ties to Grand Mufti Reisu-l-Ulema Mustafa effendi Ceric, an influential figure among Bosniaks and the key to Islamic Community support. The Izetbegovic wing of the party also shares a common history of corruption, suspect business practices and associations with organized crime circles and Islamic fundamentalist organizations. Both Izetbegovic and Cengic were key figures in wartime weapons smuggling during which time they cultivated close ties to organizations in Iran and the Gulf states. Izetbegovic and his associates frequently allude to these ties in an effort to highlight their Bosniak nationalist pedigrees. Provincial SDA Revolts -------------- ¶6. (C) Over recent months Tihic has faced revolts in provincial SDA chapters. Tihic disbanded the SDA municipal board in Cazin in remote Una-Sana Canton on November 5 after it publicly challenged his authority over municipal coalition arrangements. Municipal party members publicly asserted that Tihic had attempted to force the party,s leaders to cooperate with SDP "communists." However, an SDP insider told us that his party had never intended to participate in a coalition government and suggested that the event in Cazin was staged by SDA members with the goal of weakening Tihic. Roughly one thousand participants reportedly took part in a December 14 anti-Tihic protest in Cazin, with the prominent participation of Hasan Cengic. ¶7. (C) On November 14, two low-level SDA members officially registered a breakaway party named SDA 1990 with a municipal court near Bihac in Northwestern Bosnia. Bihac SDA members told us that the ostensible SDA members who founded the splinter party have long maintained close ties to SBiH and asserted that the revolt was engineered by Hasan Cengic. The Role of Avaz -------------- ¶8. (C) Each of these challenges to the Tihic mandate have been closely covered, and in many instances sensationalized, by the influential Bosniak daily Dnevni Avaz. The paper, and its owner Fahrudin Radoncic, are well known to have close ties to Haris Silajdzic. Radoncic has adopted an editorial position that seeks to appeal to a Bosniak nationalist readership and has used the pages of the daily as a cat's-paw to exert a political price for Tihic's moderate policies. Tihic has long complained to mission interlocutors of the political damage inflicted on him by Avaz and, on occasions, has told us that he is unable to act for fear of potential negative coverage in the paper. Avaz has regularly afforded Tihic critics within SDA, such as Adnan Terzic, Bicakcic, and Cengic, with editorial opportunities to air grievances against him. The paper has also been highly critical of Tihic in the wake of the Cazin and SDA 1990 revolts and attributed both events to his poor leadership. Izetbegovic Reaction -------------- ¶9. (C) In separate conversations with us, Izetbegovic and General Secretary Amir Zukic acknowledged internal SDA dissension but characterized it as a sign of democracy within the party. They contrasted SBiH, which they termed a one man party, with SDA, which they said encourages debate. Both disavowed and downplayed the events in Cazin and the formation of SDA 1990, maintaining neither threaten the party and that the instigators are "unknown and uneducated." Nonetheless, Izetbegovic took the opportunity to criticize Tihic for poor leadership skills, a lack of strategic vision, and his decision to seek a coalition government with SDP "communists." Although he has long claimed he would never use his father's name to assert control of the party, Izetbegovic told us that he would not reject his &destiny.8 His comments bolster the assessment of many observers that Izetbegovic may invoke noblesse oblige to attempt to unseat Tihic in the run up to October 2008 municipal elections or before the 2009 SDA party congress. Tihic and Cengic -------------- ¶10. (C) Despite the clear challenge to his leadership presented by Cengic's participation in the Cazin protest, Tihic refrained from taking any disciplinary measures against him. The lack of action against Cengic suggests that Tihic believed he could not afford to instigate an open conflict with a prominent political adversary such as Cengic. Cengic has not only escaped sanction, but he has drawn Tihic into a war of words in the media. Cengic has portrayed Tihic as an insecure leader asserting that, &he is trying to find a formula that will help him secure survival in the government and make up for his lack of work.8 Cengic has also claimed that he had given Alija Izetbegovic his word that the party would not ally with SDP, and has vowed to remain in SDA. In an uncharacteristic show of distemper, Tihic raised corruption allegations against Cengic and claimed that Alija Izetbegovic had been troubled by Cengic's failure to account millions of dollars he had supposedly paid for weapons during the 1992-1995 war. Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) In November 2006 Sulejman Tihic weathered a direct challenge to his leadership by Zenica and Sarajevo-based SDA members. At that time Tihic managed to retain his presidency through shrewd political maneuvering. However, his medical problems have now raised the possibility of a prolonged absence or incapacitation. Although Tihic's political opponents are unlikely to risk negative public opinion by being perceived as exploiting his illness, Izetbegovic and others are clearly considering succession plans. Even if Tihic survives, Izetbegovic is likely to step up attempts to wrest control over the party from a weakened Tihic. Given his father's legendary status among Bosniaks, there is currently no member of SDA who could challenge Bakir Izetbegovic for leadership of a post-Tihic SDA. A party under the leadership of Izetbegovic could have negative consequences for U.S. interests in Bosnia as the party would likely tack to the hard right in an attempt to beat Silajdzic at his own nationalist game. Sulejman Tihic has used his tenure as SDA president to ensure that the party works towards the goal of a modern, secular Bosnia. Regrettably, however, there are no young up-and-coming SDA members, who have been groomed in the moderate Tihic mold, who could challenge the Izetbegovic faction for leadership of the party. Therefore, the end of the Tihic era could also spell an end to this outlook and will make it far more difficult for the USG to find like-minded partners among the Bosniak political elite. End Comment. CEFKIN