Bogić Bogićević

Bogić Bogićević (Serbian Cyrillic: Богић Богићевић; born 15 May 1953) is a Bosnian politician. He served as the 6th Bosnian member of the Yugoslav Presidency from 1989 until its abolishment in 1992. Following the 2020 Bosnian municipal elections, he was chosen as the next Mayor of Sarajevo.

Bogić Bogićević
39th Mayor of Sarajevo
Designate
Assuming office TBD
Succeeding	Abdulah Skaka
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 14 October 2000 – 28 October 2002
2nd President of the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 1997–2001
5th Member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia for SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 15 May 1989 – 27 April 1992
Preceded by	Raif Dizdarević
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	15 May 1953 Ugljevik, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Political party	Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–present)
Other political affiliations	League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina (until 1992)
Residence	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Biography

Bogićević was born into an ethnic Serb family in the Eastern Bosnian town of Ugljevik.

He was elected member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia by a referendum of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 25 June 1989, among five candidates, thus becoming the first democratically elected member of the collective Yugoslav Presidency. In addition, he served as President of Yugoslavia's Federal Council for the Protection of the Constitutional Order.[1]

On 12 March 1991, Bogićević famously defied fellow Presidency members from Serbia on a vote which would have imposed martial law in Yugoslavia. Formally, the military leadership proposed raising combat readiness, but the real goal was to introduce military rule in Slovenia and Croatia and to overthrow the new political leaderships of Kiro Gligorov in Macedonia and of Alija Izetbegović in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina. [2][3] The pro-Milošević faction, which already controlled the Presidency votes from Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, counted on his vote as a fellow Serb. Bogićević rejected the proposal, and thus by one vote, the Yugoslav Presidency rejected the imposition of martial law.[4] He reportedly commented on his vote, which historians deemed "fateful": "I am a Serb, but not by profession".[5] His decision was decried by the Serbian Democratic Party, who claimed that Bogićević did not represent the Serbs,[6] and he was deprived of his presidential salary as a punishment. He later started working for the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP BiH).[2]

Together with Macedonian Presidency member Vasil Tupurkovski, In July 1991 Bogićević mediated negotiations between the Slovenian government and the JNA Supreme Command on the release of recruits and the unblocking of barracks during the Ten-Day War between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army. [3]

Bogićević spent the wartime period between 1992 to 1995 in Sarajevo under siege. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and vice president of SDP BiH.[5]

In post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bogićević was the vice-president of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and president of the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5] A poll conducted by the Dani newspaper in 1998 to survey the population of Sarajevo, Banja Luka and West Mostar found that Bogićević was among the most popular politicians in West Mostar and Sarajevo.[7] In 2003 he founded the consulting company Fides, dealing with market research.[8]

On 20 November 2020, Bogićević announced he would accept the appointment as mayor of Sarajevo by the four-party liberal-leftist coalition set to govern the City Concil after the local elections.[9]

Awards and medals

• In 1999 he received a Plaque of Humanism, award given by the Permanent Committee of the International League of Humanists.
• In 2002 the Croatian President Stjepan Mesić has awarded him the "Order of Prince Trpimir with necklace and Danica" for his significant contribution to the independence and integrity of the Republic of Croatia and the efforts to achieve a peaceful solution among Yugoslavian republics during the struggle for independence.
• In 2004 he received Silver Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia with the following explanation: "for his contribution for the benefit of Slovenia at the time of struggle for independence, the personal contribution to friendly cooperation between Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the strengthening of economic relations".[10]
• In 2006 International Centre for Peace Sarajevo awarded him with traditional award "Freedom".

References

1. Spasojević, Svetozar (19 June 1992). "SVEDOČENjE GENERAL-MAJORA ALEKSANDRA VASILjEVIĆA (2)" (in Serbian). NIN. p. 55. Spasojević: Još u vreme vladavine Staneta Dolanca Jugoslovenskim obaveštajnim službama, mislim na vojne i civilne, Savezni savet za zaštitu ustavnog poretka privlačio je posebnu pažnju građana. Njegovo ime izgovarali smo šapatom. To je mesto gde se stiču najpoverljivije informacije u zemlji. Vi ste, po funkciji, bili član tog famoznog saveta? Vasiljević: Da, bio sam član Saveta u vreme kada je predsednik bio Bogić Bogićević. Sada je to Jugoslav Kostić.
2. Nenad Pejić ČOVJEK KOJI JE REKAO NE - Intervju iz radio Archived 19 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine Slobodna Evropa 7 April 2014
3. Vlastimir Mijović Hrvatsko-srpske političke nagodbe i danas prijete BiH - intervju s Bogićem Bogićevićem iz avaza učitano 7 April 2014
4. Interview with Bogićević Free Europe.org Archived 19 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine bosnian
5. Al Jazeera Balkans, November 2020
6. Mahić, Derviš (2003). Kojim putem ide Bosna (PDF). Oslo: Univerzitet Oslo. p. 19.
7. "KO SU NAJ(NE)PRIHVATLJIVIJI BOSANSKI POLITICARI IZ DRUGIH NARODA?". Arhiva Dani broj 73. 13 April 1998. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
8. Vildana Selimbegović,Intervju Dana: "Bogić Bogićević Da se nisam povukao, i mene bi otjerali" Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine orbus.be, objavljeno 14 February 2007, prsitupljeno 12 December 2014 (in Bosnian)
9. "Bogić Bogićević prihvatio kandidaturu za gradonačelnika Sarajeva". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 20 November 2020.
10. Up-rs.si - Seznam vseh odlikovancev od leta 1992 do decembra 2007 Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine