[wzslider]By: Medina Malagic
It began in Tuzla last Wednesday and quickly spread throughout B&H, and the ongoing protests now represent the collective rage of the citizens of B&H against the ruling political elites. For the first time in nearly 20 years, citizens took to the streets with clearer and more robust demands, demands that for the first time mention the word ‘privatization’, one of the many indicators that the general social uprising has its roots in the neoliberal attack on a country ‘in transition’ with the full and willing participation of B&H’s politicians and the subsequent detrimental impact on the livelihood of many of its citizens. Combine this with the establishment of the political structure of this country in 1995 that set the stage for the hijacking of the state by the same political elites that employ ethno-nationalist rhetoric as their camouflage, this rotten core has finally started to come apart.
When the Violence Began
While the protests were fueled by genuine economic, political and social grievances, it was the violent turn of the protests in the major cities in the FB&H-Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar and Sarajevo that turned the international media’s attention once again on B&H.
The violence on Friday in these four cities took the form of physical attacks directed exclusively against government institutions. What needs to be underlined is that the attacks were confined and did not spread beyond the locations of where government buildings were located. This is important to note because the burning of government buildings was a symbolic act that resonated with the citizens of B&H and was the culmination of the totality of the rage and loss of complete trust in their political leaders.
In a press conference on Friday evening, politicians hid behind their thick walls and blamed the acts on ‘hooligans and vandals’, as they labeled them, for attacking the state. By doing so, they effectively belittled their citizens even further, implying that the attacks had no justification.
By calling the people who set fire to the headquarters of the cantonal buildings as hooligans and offering no explanation for their behavior, they implied that their acts were induced by a natural instinct, and hence there was no justifiable reason to attack government property. They placed themselves in a position of legal and moral superiority by placing the primary focus on finding and punishing those responsible. With this attitude, they are either unaware, or acting as if they are unaware of what their citizens are trying to tell them.
While citizens did not laud the violence, they understood where it was coming from. The rage that was manifested by mostly young men was seen as a reflection of the type of society that was cultivated by the political predators. Unlike the politicians, citizens did not focus on only criticizing the behavior of the rioters and attempt to derive an explanation based solely on their behavior. Rather, they understood the underlying causes, because the rage of the rioters is their rage.
It also reveals another tragic outcome of the nearly 20 years of the plundering and pillaging of this country by its ruling political classes. Even though the violence was not applauded, it was seen by many as a necessity to shake the politicians out of their slumber, to make the power of their presence known and felt. People are aware that elections have not produced a single positive outcome; so setting the government institutions on fire was welcomed as a necessary spark to invoke fear in their politicians.
These are the tragic circumstances in which the people of B&H have been mired in for nearly two decades. Thankfully, citizens did not fall for the same political tricks that have been used many times, where political elites have demonized those who they have oppressed and humiliated, depriving them of their basic life necessities.
A state that prioritizes the burned government buildings over listening to the grievances of their citizens, who are desperate, starving and have had enough shows a state made up of incompetent buffoons who seem to be under the illusion that their tired old tricks can still have the same efficacy as it once did. The citizens’ revolt that began last Wednesday has proved them wrong.
What Led to the Protests?
The protest began in the former industrial town of Tuzla and was organized by the workers of formerly state-owned companies that underwent a process of privatization, which led to the loss of jobs for thousands of workers and added fuel to the fire by contributing to the overall economic stagnation in the entire country. The protest in Tuzla started as a list of grievances by workers against privatization and quickly spread to other parts of the country, with protests turning violent in Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar and Sarajevo last Friday.
There is a strong link between repressed rage, humiliation and anger with violence. When people are placed in a situation where they have nothing left to lose, where they have exhausted all their attempts to obtain their basic human rights through the existing legal and institutional framework, rage expressed as violence is one of the outcomes. The protests that erupted throughout several cities in the FB&H have given voice to thousands of citizens who have had enough. Now, they are not merely waiting for their leaders starts doing their jobs. They are articulating their own demands.
A Citizens Revolt
What is taking place in B&H now can be truly labeled as a citizens’ revolt. Thousands of citizens took to the streets in cities in B&H starting last Wednesday in a united stance to voice that their government officials have lost all credibility.
Now that the violence that took place on Friday is over and peaceful protests are still taking place, politicians cannot point to ‘hooligans’ any longer. The protests are composed of citizens who are bravely addressing their demands to their officials. One of the demands included the resignation of government officials. So far, the Prime Ministers of the Una-Sana, Tuzla, Sarajevo and Zenica-Doboj Cantons have resigned, and citizens in Sarajevo vowed to remain on the streets until the Prime Minister of the FB&H and the entire FB&H government resigns. A list of the citizens’ demands from cities in B&H, as well as other news, statements and documents on the protests in English can be found here: http://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/page/4/.
The revolt of the citizens is centered exclusively on obtaining universal and fundamental human freedoms and rights. They are not centered on ethnic interests. What we are witnessing here is a rebellion by citizens to take back what was stolen from them.
While there are political machinations currently at play here, what should be focused on here is the mass mobilization of the people and the demands that they are robustly setting forth to their politicians. What is new is the magnitude of the protests and the use of alternative strategies with the goal to leave this choking dungeon into which they have been placed, while elites profit from their misery. Behind the surface of the nationalist, emotionally driven rhetoric that has been characteristic of the B&H political scene for almost two decades, the shadow of the true enemy has always lingered, waiting for that breaking point to be finally revealed.
To put it simply and clearly, these protests are an attack against a state whose institutional foundations are set up to NOT function. There is no more pretending that the next election could herald a change and there are no more illusions that the international community is here as a friend that would facilitate the transition of B&H into a prosperous country. It was the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina who have sparked the beginning of a lively movement towards change, one that is based on their terms.
Hypocrisy of the International Community
The international community has been actively present in B&H since the end of the war, so it is worthwhile to mention their role in and response to the events over the past few days.
First of all, the international community has continually reiterated the same stance in B&H over the past few years-it calls on B&H leaders to come to agreements and end their political squabbling, particularly focusing on the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci case. The international community has thus been pushing B&H leaders to reach a consensus within the confines of an institutional framework that from the very beginning was set up to fail. The appeals of the international community on B&H politicians has not produced the desired results, since the political system here is set up to benefit the few and disenfranchise the majority.
The remarks of representatives of the international community involved in B&H has markedly showed their utter removal from the reality of the situation in B&H. Their acts and statements are counterproductive, and they have become collaborators with the very people they continue to criticize as ineffective. High Representative to B&H Valentin Inzko said that the citizens’ protests are legitimate, but condemned the use of violence, and calls on B&H politicians to solve the problem. Yes, High Representative Inzko focused his attention on the political leaders to solve the crisis, the very people that the citizens of B&H are protesting against, who can be rightly labeled as a ‘legal mafia’. He also raised alarms when he mentioned the possible use of EU troops if the situation were to escalate.
Once again, here we can draw a parallel between the responses of B&H politicians with that of B&H’s international overseers, which is focusing attention on the destruction of property and the ‘maintenance of public order and security’ instead of attacking the root of the problem.
On Sunday, the President of the RS Milorad Dodik and leader of the Serb Democratic Party Mladen Bosic went to Belgrade for a meeting with the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to discuss the situation in B&H. At a press conference, Dodik unsurprisingly politicized the social unrest and said that the protests that took place in the RS were ‘’organized by representatives of Bosniak Associations in the RS’’, and that ‘’B&H is in an institutional crisis and it shows that the country cannot survive’’. These most recent remarks by Dodik are symptomatic of the continuing use of ethno-nationalist language to distort public opinion on the true causes of the protests. For nearly 20 years, the political elites in B&H have rested on the ethnic card to consolidate their power, and now when protests continue to take place demanding substantial economic and social changes, political leaders pose no alternatives. Instead of reacting to this political manipulation of the protests whose indubitable intention is to prevent social solidarity throughout the entire country, High Representative Inzko chose to speak of the possible deployment of troops and prioritizing the return of law and order. Instead of expressing condemnation of the abuse of political power to ignite ethnic tensions, Valentin Inzko’s silence on statements such as Dodik’s during the crucial beginnings of a genuine civic uprising demonstrates his acceptance of the status quo in B&H.
What is different?
These are not protests directed against one political party or one political leader. It is not only about trying to get the government to respond to the grievances of workers who lost their jobs in Tuzla due to massive privatization. The people have openly expressed their complete condemnation of their leaders who are part of this dysfunctional institutional structure, and have stripped them of all credibility. These are protests aimed at a radical social, political and economic transformation, one that seeks to eradicate the current institutional structure that is rooted in greed, corruption and nepotism. The finger is being pointed at all of them, and the entire dysfunctional institutional structure that serves as their lifeline.
This is a superb commentary.
Thank you for the comment!