Bogicevic definitely refused the Position of Mayor of Sarajevo

Bogic Bogicevic rejected his candidacy for mayor of Sarajevo. In his letter to the chairman of the City Council, Jasmin Ademovic, he stated: “Mr. Chairman, don’t expect my statement on today’s “election” for mayor of Sarajevo, because that vote was completely pointless. Two days ago, I publicly and irrevocably withdrew my candidacy and informed both the proposer and the public. Irrevocable withdrawal means a final decision, which cannot be discussed further. Therefore, I did not agree to remain a candidate, so I could not be elected. It is very incorrect that not a single word at today’s session even mentioned my IRREVOCABLE withdrawal of the candidacy.”

”In order to stop further manipulations with my name, please inform the public about the real facts, first of all about the fact that I irrevocably withdrew my candidacy on March 24, and that today’s vote on me in the Sarajevo City Council was completely pointless and superfluous. It would be fair for you to take responsibility for today’s events in the City Council, instead of trying to shift the blame on me, giving me some new deadlines for declaring something I have already irrevocably stated,” he concluded.

Bogić Bogićević, born on 15th 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. 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. 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. 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. He reportedly commented on his vote, which historians deemed “fateful”: “I am a Serb, but not by profession”.

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).

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.  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. The councilors of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo elected Dragan Stevanović from the ranks of the Serb people (Centar Municipality) and Mirela Džehverović from the ranks of Others (Novi Grad Municipality) as deputy chairs of the City Council. In the continuation of the session, the election of members of the Commission for Election and Appointment of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo was determined.