VZCZCXRO7113
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVJ #1169 1450843
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 250843Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3574
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 001169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO), D (SMITH), P (BAME), EUR/SCE 
(ENGLISH, SAINZ, FOOKS), NSC FOR BRAUN, USNIC FOR WEBER, 
GREGORIAN, OSD FOR FLORY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: SILAJDZIC OFFICIALLY ELECTED HEAD OF SBIH 
PARTY 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR DOUGLAS MCELHANEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B), (D). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Haris Silajdzic officially returned to the 
Bosnian political scene on Sunday May 21st, when he succeeded 
Safet Halilovic as the Chairman of the Party for Bosnia and 
Herzegovina (SBiH).  Silajdzic was unanimously elected by the 
delegates in attendance at the second SBiH party congress in 
Sarajevo.   Following the party congress, Silajdzic confirmed 
that he will run as the SBiH candidate for the Bosniak seat 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) tripresidency in the 
October national elections.  With Silajdzic's official 
return, SBiH will likely have a much stronger showing in 
October and will present a significant challenge to SDA head 
and current Bosniak Presidency member Sulejman Tihic. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SBiH held its second party cngress in Sarajevo on 
Sunday May 21st.  Close to700 delegates attended the 
session, called specilly to facilitate Silajdzic's election. 
 Not surprisingly, delegates unanimously voted for Silajdzic 
to succeed Safet Halilovic as SBiH's new chairma (a position 
from which Silajdzic resigned in 2001).  Silajdzic ran 
unopposed.  Although Silajdzic has not been involved in 
Bosnian politics in an official capacity for a few years now, 
he has exercised a great deal of influence over SBiH in 
recent months, particularly in the party's rejection of the 
constitutional reform package in the BiH House of 
Representatives. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In public statements, Silajdzic claimed that party 
members "asked him to return" to fight against the concept of 
a divided Bosnia and Herzegovina.  He denied that SBiH is an 
obstacle to constitutional reform, saying instead that the 
party will launch radical reforms that will bring Bosnia's 
institutions in line with Europe.  Silajdzic hopes to present 
himself to the public as a moderate fighting for a unified 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he is unquestionably positioning 
himself as the candidate who will fight for the interests of 
the Bosniaks -- his core constituency. 
 
¶4. (C)  COMMENT. Silajdzic's return to official politics is a 
calculated move to raise his own and SBiH's profile in the 
run-up to national elections.  Without what many voters see 
as Silajdzic's charismatic leadership, the party probably 
would not garner enough support to be an effective player on 
the national scene.  Silajdzic's return means that SBiH will 
be a much more significant electoral force, especially in the 
race against Sulejman Tihic's increasingly divided Party for 
Democratic Action (SDA). 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED.  While Silajdzic uses pro-reform 
statements to appeal to the voters who want to see BiH join 
Europe, he relies on an overall Bosniak nationalist subtext 
to ensure support. After years of standing in the wings, 
directing SBiH parliamentarians and ministers from the 
sidelines, Silajdzic has returned to deliver the party's 
message himself.  His real goal -- election to the BiH 
presidency -- made his opposition to constitutional reform 
inevitable; the changes to the method of electing the 
presidency would have doomed his chances.  We can expect him 
to continue running a campaign directed at Bosniak voters -- 
and against the backers of constitutional reform, including 
the international community, and more specifically the U.S. 
END COMMENT 
MCELHANEY