Ugljanin vs. Ljajic

Sulejman Ugljanin made the first move at the alleged meeting of the Muslim National Council of Sandzak (MNVS) held on 8 January in Turkey, when the decision on the dismissal of the general secretary was adopted. Ljajic learned of his dismissal on 16 January when the decision made at the meeting in Turkey was announced by the "coordinating body", a political body directly responsible to the party president, another invention of Ugljanin's, which saw light at another meeting in Turkey.

The political action which started in Turkey was carefully planned but carried out carelessly, which is typical of politics conducted from afar. The "coordinating body" announced the decision reached by Ugljanin and his associates on 16 January, the day that Ljajic was supposed to travel to England for a longer stay. The party membership would have been faced with a fait accompli.

However, an amateurish slip-up spoilt the plan: they didn't check "available information". Ljajic had postponed his trip, and so learned from the papers that he had been "dismissed" and accused of breaking up the party, holding secret meetings with regime representatives and of conducting "activities linked to the political liquidation, the persecution and arrest of legitimate representatives of the Bosnjak-Muslim people".

The coordinating body's announcement was answered by the SDA Executive Committee loyal to Ljajic, which concluded at a meeting held on 18 January that Ugljanin's activities as party president were not in harmony with the party's political actions, and that "he was totally destructive" at times. Apart from cooperating with the SDA's legal organs, Ugljanin was ordered to submit a report on the spending of party funds during the past 18 months, since he had left for Turkey. Otherwise, the Executive Committee would suggest to the Main Committee that his further status in the party be considered.

In order to take over the initiative, Sulejman Ugljanin would have to come to Sandzak. In that case he risks being arrested. On 13 July 1993 (seven days after he had fled to Turkey) the police came to his house with an indictment naming him the key figure in the arming of Sandzak Muslims. Even those who are very loyal to him do not believe that a miracle could take place, while those who are not, remember that he said at a SDA rally, that if the Muslims had to leave Sandzak, he would be the last to go. He left shortly after this statement.

After the definite break up, Rasim Ljajic (31) a doctor and former Sarajevo student will finally move out from under Ugljanin's shadow. "We believed that Ugljanin's absence should not be used for political battles. We wished to preserve his moral dignity, reducing all differences to the usual political disagreements. For this reason we didn't enter into a polemic with the members of the coordinating body," said Ljajic.

In order to preserve peace at home, Ljajic and his associates (best known are Smajo Polimac, Alija Mahmutovic, Rizah Gruda, Zevdzo Huric) did not make a big thing out of party differences. It became clear in early August 1994 at a meeting of leading Muslim figures in Sandzak, pretentiously dubbed a symposium, that a break was imminent. Ugljanin used his influence to bring about the reactivating of the decision on the introduction of a state of emergency in the SDA, dated February 1993. The decision was made in order to bypass statutory party institutions, thus enabling Ugljanin to lead the party and party politics single-handedly. The five-member coordinating body came into existence then. It was the executive body in the field, and its first task was to disseminate slogans about Ljajic being a Sandzak Fikret Abdic (the leader of Muslims in the Autonomous Region Western Bosnia). Ljajic reacted by calling a session of all SDA community committees (the Sjenica and Tutin committees were the only ones which didn't show up), and the decision on the introduction of a state of emergency was rejected, while Ugljanin was called to respect legal party organs. At the time (August 1994), there was still hope for a reconciliation.

Even though the clash has taken on the form of a personal showdown, at the party level it is a break between the president's authoritative approach and Ljajic's democratic way of conducting SDA affairs. With regard to Serbia, it is a clash between Ugljanin's undefined policies with frequent militant outbursts, and Ljajic's realistic view of Sandzak as part of Serbia.

It would seem that Rasim Ljajic cannot back out now, even if he wished to. He is being offered a chance of correcting a mistake he made when still a student. Namely, five years ago, at the SDA founding assembly in Sarajevo, Ljajic proposed Ugljanin for the post of president of the SDA Sandzak branch.