Post by Bozur on Nov 12, 2005 23:14:44 GMT -5
THE NEW YORK TIMES
November 5, 2005
Can an Iron Fist Put Power in Bosnia's Hands?
By NICHOLAS WOOD
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
PADDY ASHDOWN sipped his tea, stretched his arm over the back of his chair
and looked out his office window at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, a
country over which he has held almost absolute authority for three and a
half years.
As Bosnia's high representative, he has had the authority to fire public
officials and impose laws, powers invested in his office by the
international community to uphold the peace between Bosnia's three main
ethnic groups since the end of the war in the former Yugoslavia, which
lasted from 1992 to 1995.
But of all the figures to have been appointed to this post - he is the
fourth - Lord Ashdown has been the subject of the most discussion, using his
powers more extensively than any of his predecessors in an attempt to make
Bosnia a more united country. He will also probably be the last to exercise
such wide-ranging authority; the powers of any successor, expected to be
appointed early next year, will almost certainly be curtailed.
He is widely credited with being the most effective official to have
occupied his post. Yet there is a growing consensus among those same
officials that Lord Ashdown's office, and perhaps even his forceful
character, may be doing as much harm as good by holding back the development
of democracy here.
It is not a view he entirely agrees with. He acknowledged in a recent
interview that his authoritative position "would appear at first sight to be
outrageous, undemocratic and inconsistent with the modern democratic age."
But he quickly added, "Not really."
He argues that the extensive powers at his disposal have been essential to
Bosnia's recent progress. "Frightening" though that authority might seem to
any democrat, he said, there are precedents. In both Germany and Japan,
international officials had similar authority after World War II, he said,
adding that states that suffer long wars need a firm hand to help them
return to normal.
A former member of the Royal Marines who is tall and physically imposing,
Lord Ashdown came to his job in 2002, on the recommendation of Prime
Minister Tony Blair. The former leader of Britain's third largest political
party, the Liberal Democrats, he quit the British Parliament in 2001 after
18 years, saying it was time for a change. His experience has brought a far
more visible and tough-talking approach to an office that had been dominated
by diplomats.
LORD ASHDOWN - who picked up the name Paddy at a British boarding school, in
not-so-polite recognition of his Irish upbringing - appears to enjoy the
rough and tumble of Bosnian politics. He is a public presence here,
appearing frequently on television cajoling or berating politicians as he
tries to persuade them to adopt the changes he favors. "Let me tell you, the
criminals are winning and the police are losing," he warned a group of
Serbian politicians in a speech advocating police reforms. "It is as simple
and as brutal as that." He has used that tough talk to try to unify Bosnia's
three primary ethnic groups, Croats, Muslims and Serbs.
The current government consists of three presidents, one for each of the
three largest ethnic groups; two "entities" - one Serb, the other a
Muslim-Croat federation - each with its own Parliament; a state Parliament,
a prime minister and 10 regional authorities or cantons, each with its own
police force and education, health and judicial authorities.
More often than not, resistance to the changes that Lord Ashdown advocates
has come from Bosnia's politicians, most notably its Serbian leadership; the
Serbs fought the war to carve out their own ethnic state and are reluctant
to cede powers to federal institutions.
Nevertheless, Lord Ashdown has forced through laws creating centralized
customs, defense and intelligence structures, replacing those run separately
by the three ethnic groups. While he prefers Bosnia's politicians to pass
the measures themselves, he has the power to impose the laws when he sees
fit.
Last year he fired 59 Serbian politicians, police officers and public
officials, all of whom he accused of preventing the handover of war crimes
suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in
The Hague. Since then, Serbian officials have begun to cooperate with the
tribunal. Most recently, Bosnia's politicians have agreed after nearly six
months of intense lobbying by diplomats and Lord Ashdown's office to unite
the country's 13 regional police forces under one authority.
BOSNIA is now "set irreversibly on the path to statehood," and will soon be
in a position where it no longer needs substantial international oversight,
Lord Ashdown said. European Union officials appeared to recognize those
achievements last month when they recommended that Bosnia start talks on
establishing political and economic ties, a step toward membership in the
group.
"I don't know a country in the entire world that has made faster progress
from war, let alone such a terrible war, to peace," he said. With over a
million refugees having returned to their homes, and most towns
substantially rebuilt, he added, Bosnia has made a speedier recovery than
any country in Europe did after World War II.
His says his work is the culmination of a long-term commitment to Bosnia. In
Britain, he was one of the few advocates of early military intervention to
bring an end to the war. Bosnia, he says, is now his home. "I'm the first
high representative to have bought a house in Bosnia," he said, speaking of
his lakeside villa between Sarajevo and Mostar, in the southwestern part of
the country.
But Lord Ashdown's extensive intervention in Bosnian political life has
drawn deep criticism from Bosnian politicians, who accuse him of basking in
what should be their limelight. "Local people have the perception he does
everything," said Zlatko Lagumdzija, Bosnia's prime minister between 2001
and 2003, and now an opposition party leader. "He's not running for
re-election. His job is not to be on prime-time news every night, like
Tito."
Many politicians, Serb, Croat and Muslim, say that they feel patronized by
the intervention in their affairs, that it weakens Bosnia's fledgling
democratic institutions. "The role of Parliament is being handicapped," said
Nevenko Trifkovic, a Bosnian Serb M.P. "When we face our voters they say,
what can you do, when you can be dismissed at any moment?"
It seems probable now that Lord Ashdown will be the last international
official to wield such authority in Bosnia. In April a commission headed by
a former Italian prime minister, Giuliano Amato, concluded that the office
had "outlived its usefulness." The United States also believes it is time
for the high representative's powers to be scaled back. The Bush
administration hopes Bosnia's leaders will work on a new constitution to
replace Bosnia's complex political system with one president, one prime
minister and a stronger federal parliament.
"The present Europe is unfinished business unless the Balkans are a part of
it," said Lord Ashdown, who is also the European Union's special
representative in Bosnia. "It is very simple. Improve stability in the
Balkans or you will import instability and crime into Europe."
November 5, 2005
Can an Iron Fist Put Power in Bosnia's Hands?
By NICHOLAS WOOD
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
PADDY ASHDOWN sipped his tea, stretched his arm over the back of his chair
and looked out his office window at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, a
country over which he has held almost absolute authority for three and a
half years.
As Bosnia's high representative, he has had the authority to fire public
officials and impose laws, powers invested in his office by the
international community to uphold the peace between Bosnia's three main
ethnic groups since the end of the war in the former Yugoslavia, which
lasted from 1992 to 1995.
But of all the figures to have been appointed to this post - he is the
fourth - Lord Ashdown has been the subject of the most discussion, using his
powers more extensively than any of his predecessors in an attempt to make
Bosnia a more united country. He will also probably be the last to exercise
such wide-ranging authority; the powers of any successor, expected to be
appointed early next year, will almost certainly be curtailed.
He is widely credited with being the most effective official to have
occupied his post. Yet there is a growing consensus among those same
officials that Lord Ashdown's office, and perhaps even his forceful
character, may be doing as much harm as good by holding back the development
of democracy here.
It is not a view he entirely agrees with. He acknowledged in a recent
interview that his authoritative position "would appear at first sight to be
outrageous, undemocratic and inconsistent with the modern democratic age."
But he quickly added, "Not really."
He argues that the extensive powers at his disposal have been essential to
Bosnia's recent progress. "Frightening" though that authority might seem to
any democrat, he said, there are precedents. In both Germany and Japan,
international officials had similar authority after World War II, he said,
adding that states that suffer long wars need a firm hand to help them
return to normal.
A former member of the Royal Marines who is tall and physically imposing,
Lord Ashdown came to his job in 2002, on the recommendation of Prime
Minister Tony Blair. The former leader of Britain's third largest political
party, the Liberal Democrats, he quit the British Parliament in 2001 after
18 years, saying it was time for a change. His experience has brought a far
more visible and tough-talking approach to an office that had been dominated
by diplomats.
LORD ASHDOWN - who picked up the name Paddy at a British boarding school, in
not-so-polite recognition of his Irish upbringing - appears to enjoy the
rough and tumble of Bosnian politics. He is a public presence here,
appearing frequently on television cajoling or berating politicians as he
tries to persuade them to adopt the changes he favors. "Let me tell you, the
criminals are winning and the police are losing," he warned a group of
Serbian politicians in a speech advocating police reforms. "It is as simple
and as brutal as that." He has used that tough talk to try to unify Bosnia's
three primary ethnic groups, Croats, Muslims and Serbs.
The current government consists of three presidents, one for each of the
three largest ethnic groups; two "entities" - one Serb, the other a
Muslim-Croat federation - each with its own Parliament; a state Parliament,
a prime minister and 10 regional authorities or cantons, each with its own
police force and education, health and judicial authorities.
More often than not, resistance to the changes that Lord Ashdown advocates
has come from Bosnia's politicians, most notably its Serbian leadership; the
Serbs fought the war to carve out their own ethnic state and are reluctant
to cede powers to federal institutions.
Nevertheless, Lord Ashdown has forced through laws creating centralized
customs, defense and intelligence structures, replacing those run separately
by the three ethnic groups. While he prefers Bosnia's politicians to pass
the measures themselves, he has the power to impose the laws when he sees
fit.
Last year he fired 59 Serbian politicians, police officers and public
officials, all of whom he accused of preventing the handover of war crimes
suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in
The Hague. Since then, Serbian officials have begun to cooperate with the
tribunal. Most recently, Bosnia's politicians have agreed after nearly six
months of intense lobbying by diplomats and Lord Ashdown's office to unite
the country's 13 regional police forces under one authority.
BOSNIA is now "set irreversibly on the path to statehood," and will soon be
in a position where it no longer needs substantial international oversight,
Lord Ashdown said. European Union officials appeared to recognize those
achievements last month when they recommended that Bosnia start talks on
establishing political and economic ties, a step toward membership in the
group.
"I don't know a country in the entire world that has made faster progress
from war, let alone such a terrible war, to peace," he said. With over a
million refugees having returned to their homes, and most towns
substantially rebuilt, he added, Bosnia has made a speedier recovery than
any country in Europe did after World War II.
His says his work is the culmination of a long-term commitment to Bosnia. In
Britain, he was one of the few advocates of early military intervention to
bring an end to the war. Bosnia, he says, is now his home. "I'm the first
high representative to have bought a house in Bosnia," he said, speaking of
his lakeside villa between Sarajevo and Mostar, in the southwestern part of
the country.
But Lord Ashdown's extensive intervention in Bosnian political life has
drawn deep criticism from Bosnian politicians, who accuse him of basking in
what should be their limelight. "Local people have the perception he does
everything," said Zlatko Lagumdzija, Bosnia's prime minister between 2001
and 2003, and now an opposition party leader. "He's not running for
re-election. His job is not to be on prime-time news every night, like
Tito."
Many politicians, Serb, Croat and Muslim, say that they feel patronized by
the intervention in their affairs, that it weakens Bosnia's fledgling
democratic institutions. "The role of Parliament is being handicapped," said
Nevenko Trifkovic, a Bosnian Serb M.P. "When we face our voters they say,
what can you do, when you can be dismissed at any moment?"
It seems probable now that Lord Ashdown will be the last international
official to wield such authority in Bosnia. In April a commission headed by
a former Italian prime minister, Giuliano Amato, concluded that the office
had "outlived its usefulness." The United States also believes it is time
for the high representative's powers to be scaled back. The Bush
administration hopes Bosnia's leaders will work on a new constitution to
replace Bosnia's complex political system with one president, one prime
minister and a stronger federal parliament.
"The present Europe is unfinished business unless the Balkans are a part of
it," said Lord Ashdown, who is also the European Union's special
representative in Bosnia. "It is very simple. Improve stability in the
Balkans or you will import instability and crime into Europe."