Taraniš: Bosniak Parties Will Not Run on a Joint List, Unity Talk Is an Election Strategy

Bosniak parties in Sandžak will not contest elections on a single joint list, political analyst Teo Taraniš says, describing the talk of unity as part of a pre-election strategy.

Taraniš said the campaign should be viewed alongside discussion about the so-called unification of two Islamic communities. In his assessment, the political parties used the atmosphere around that initiative to signal to voters that they, too, might be ready to unite.

But what initially appeared unlikely has now proved impossible, he said. Taraniš explained that the Islamic-community agreement involved representatives from Novi Pazar and surrounding areas, while excluding the part of Serbia’s Islamic community based in Belgrade and largely associated with the Jusufspahić family.

The initiative began with the Sandžak Democratic Party of Sulejman Ugljanin and was later taken up by the Bosniak National Council. Two rounds of talks took place over the past month with different political actors, but no agreement followed. Each of the three strongest Bosniak parties in Sandžak arrived with its own proposal.

The SDP suggested that unity could come after the elections. Usame Zukorlić’s SPP proposed that a forum and dialogue among Bosniak political representatives should also take place after the vote. “But there was no substantive unification, in the sense of forming an electoral list that would run in the elections,” Taraniš said. He argued that focus groups had indicated voters should be offered a message of unity to help calm the region after two years marked by a student movement, tensions at the State University of Novi Pazar and a generally negative atmosphere toward the regime. He also noted that two of the three strongest Bosniak parties are part of the government.

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But there was no substantive unification, in the sense of forming an electoral list that would run in the elections.