Hamdija Pozderac

Pozderac was born in Cazin to an established Bosnian Muslim family which exerted strong influence in the westernmost part of the Bosnian region of Bosanska Krajina known for its strong resistance to the fascist Independent State of Croatia regime during World War II. During the war, he joined the illegal Alliance of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) and the anti-fascist Partisan movement.

He held various military and public posts in the Bosanska Krajina region during the war and was ordained with several military and public honors. Following the advent of communist rule, the Pozderac family affirmed its strong position in Yugoslav politics with Nurija Pozderac and Hamdija's brother, Hakija, both of whom held high positions in the Yugoslav government during and after World War II. His younger sister Hasnija was a Mayor of Cazin and also a prominent political figure.^[2] Pozderac was a close ally of Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia for 27 years.^{[citation needed]}

Pozderac was highly educated, holding a philosophy degree from the University of Belgrade. He studied in Moscow, published several sociological studies, and was a professor of political science at the University of Sarajevo.

Pozderac's politics centred on his involvement in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia that he ideologically followed. He held various high positions in the government of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and SFR Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s. He exerted considerable influence on the politics of the communist party. He was president of the Federal Constitutional Commission of Yugoslavia, which he held for nearly 20 years. His political ascendance began with the economic revitalisation of the Bosanska Krajina region, which was impoverished in the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pozderac provided political backing to Agrokomerc, a small local food manufacturer that would later become one of the largest food manufacturing corporations in the former Yugoslavia. Agrokomerc proved to be the key to the economic prosperity of the region. ^{[citation needed]}

While his primary goal was economic reform of then impoverished SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he relatively successfully implemented, Pozderac also played an important role in confronting nationalists from Serbia through a series of controversial and risky political moves. The reason he is today considered one of the most important Bosnian politicians is his significant role in constitutional amendments in the 1970s, which recognised Bosnian Muslims as one of the constituent ethnic groups of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and SFR Yugoslavia. Although his political orientation was left of centre, and while he continually confronted nationalist politics of ethnic groups in former Yugoslavia, Pozderac inevitably contributed to the establishment of the process that led to the emergence of the modern Bosniak nation.^{[citation needed]}

A series of political attacks were reportedly staged against Pozderac by the Serbian lobby in Bosnia, who tried to discredit and remove him from the political scene. One attempt was made by Vojislav Šešelj in the early 1980s, who learned that one of the students of Pozderac at the University of Sarajevo plagiarized portions of his dissertation, but was not punished for by Pozderac. Because the student Brano Miljuš was a high-ranking individual within the Communist party, controversy ensued but Šešelj's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.^[3]

The most controversial process, however, was the so-called "Sarajevo process" in 1983. The Sarajevo process centred on convicting Alija Izetbegović for having written the Islamic Declaration. Pozderac reaffirmed his political opposition to Serbian nationalism and in particular to the politics of Slobodan Milošević, who was allegedly seeking to revert the constitutional amendments of the 1970s that awarded the Muslims the status of a constituent ethnicity.

The "Sarajevo process" backfired as the Serbian lobby insisted that Bosnia was a "dark vilayet" where all those who oppose the government will be prosecuted and where Bosnian Muslim communists were prosecuting Muslim believers. Others interpreted the "Sarajevo process" as Pozderac's way of removing political amateurs who could end up disrupting the process of Bosnian independence.^[4]

Izetbegović would later supersede Pozderac becoming the President of the Presidency of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990.^[5]

Attacks on Pozderac culminated with the "Agrokomerc Affair" that began in 1987. In the 1980s Agrokomerc, one of the leading food manufacturers, was engulfed in questionable banking deals where the corporation issued numerous high interest promissory notes without the proper financial equity. Such practices were reportedly common within the Yugoslav system. The difference with Agrokomerc was that the director of the corporation, Fikret Abdić, lost the sense of scale as the corporation issued in excess of $500 million in "worthless" promissory notes.

The problem became more acute as the press reported on it as the biggest economic affair in former Yugoslavia triggering the 250% inflation rate in Yugoslavia. Pozderac, who contributed to the initial growth of Agrokomerc, was indicted of being aware of the financial dealings of the company. However such accusations were never proven.

The political blow to Pozderac came from Abdić's statement that he was in possession of audio tapes with conversations that would prove Pozderac's involvement in the scandal. While tapes were never actually presented, the political pressure on Pozderac culminated in September 1987, at which point he resigned from politics.^[6]

Abdić would later join Alija Izetbegović in 1990 to form the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and win the popular vote for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990 Bosnian general election.