Sulejman Tihić (26 November 1951 – 25 September 2014) was a Bosnian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the 4th Bosniak member of the

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

from 2002 to 2006. He was a member and later

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Party of Democratic Action The Party of Democratic Action ( bs, Stranka demokratske akcije; abbr. SDA) is a Bosniak nationalist, conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. History The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 May 1990 in Sarajevo, ...

(SDA). From 2007 until his death in 2014, Tihić served as member of the national House of Peoples. Born in

Bosanski Šamac Bosnian may refer to: *Anything related to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina or its inhabitants *Anything related to Bosnia (region) or its inhabitants * Bosniaks, an ethnic group mainly inhabiting Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of three constit ...

, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

in 1975. Following his graduation, Tihić worked as a judge, prosecutor and a lawyer. During the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

of 1992–95, he was captured by Serb soldiers and was tortured in

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in both Bosnia and Serbia. Following the war, Tihić entered into politics. Already being a founding member of the SDA, he was named its president in 2001. At the 2002 general election, Tihić was elected Bosniak member of the Bosnian Presidency, serving as its member until 2006. Following his time in the Presidency, Tihić was appointed as member of the national House of Peoples in 2007. As president of the SDA, he took part in many

constitutional reform A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, ...

talks, most notably in those regarding the Prud Agreement between 2008 and 2009. After years of health issues, including

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, Tihić died on 25 September 2014 in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

, at the age of 62. He was buried in his hometown of Bosanski Šamac two days later.

Early life

Tihić was born in the town of

in northern Bosnia. He obtained a degree from the

Sarajevo Law School The University of Sarajevo Faculty of Law ( bs, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Sarajevu), also known as the Sarajevo Law School, is one of the leading schools of the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The school is located in Sarajevo ...

in 1975. Tihić returned to Bosanski Šamac where he worked as a judge, prosecutor and a lawyer.

Bosnian War

When the

started in April 1992, Tihić was captured by Serb soldiers and was tortured in three

in Bosnia, in

Brčko Brčko ( sr-cyrl, Брчко, ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, ...

and the

Batković camp The Batković camp ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Latin: ''Logor Batković'') was a prison camp operated between 1992 and 1996 by Bosnian Serb authorities in Batković, a village in the municipality of Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina durin ...

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. Administratively, Bijeljina is part of the Republika Srpska ...

, before being taken by helicopter to the

Batajnica Batajnica ( sr-Cyrl, Батајница, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Zemun. Location and geography Batajnica is located in the Syrmia region, in the northern ...

neighborhood of

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

in Serbia. He was also later tortured in a prison in

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank ...

Political career

In 1990, Tihić was one of the founding members of the

(SDA). On 13 October 2001, Tihić was chosen to succeed

Alija Izetbegović Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

of the party. At the 2002 general election, he was elected to the

. At the 2006 general election, Tihić decided to run for a second term in the Presidency, but failed to do so when election day came, winning only 27.5% of the votes, 35.3% less than elected

Haris Silajdžić Haris Silajdžić (; born 1 October 1945) is a Bosnians, Bosnian politician and Academic personnel, academic who served as the List of Bosniak members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and ...

. After the presidency, he would later go on to be a member of the House of Peoples of the

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine, Парламентарна скупштина Босне и Херцеговине, separator=" / ") is the bicameral legislative ...

from 14 April 2007 until his death on 25 September 2014. During that period, Tihić was also Chairman of the House of Peoples a few times. American human rights lawyer

Francis Boyle Francis Anthony Boyle (born March 25, 1950) is a human rights lawyer and professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He has served as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina and has supported the rights of Palesti ...

stated in his correspondence to the public that Tihić and Sakib Softić had ordered the restitution request from his original lawsuit in the

Bosnian genocide case ''Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro'' 007ICJ 2 (also called the ''Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide'') is a public international law case decided by the International Court of Just ...

to be voided, thereby returning a favor to his coalition partners

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika Srpska, with its leader, Milorad Dodik, serving as the current p ...

(SNSD) in

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

Prud Agreement

Together with the leaders of the three most important 'nationalist' political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who acted as representatives of the constituent peoples,

Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since November 2022. Previously, he served as the 7th Serb member of the Presidency of Bo ...

of the SNSD and

Dragan Čović Dragan Čović (; born 20 August 1956) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as the 4th Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2005 and from 2014 to 2018. He is the current president of the Croatian Democrat ...

of the

Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica Bosne i Hercegovine or HDZ BiH) is a Christian democratic, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing the Croats of Bosnia and ...

(HDZ BiH), Tihić created the '' Prud Agreement'' or ''Prud Process'', an agreement that pertained to state property, census, constitutional changes, reconstructing the

Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian/ Croatian: ''Vijeće ministara Bosne i Hercegovine'', sr, Савјет министара Босне и Херцеговине), often called Bosnian Government ( bs, Vlada Bosne i He ...

and solving the legal status of

Brčko District Brčko District ( bs, Brčko Distrikt; hr, Brčko Distrikt; sr, Брчко Дистрикт, ), officially the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; hr, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; ), i ...

. The agreement was created in the village of Prud on 8 November 2008.http://www.sda.ba/files/file/ZAJEDNICKA IZJAVA.pdf The reforms promised by the agreement would "build the ability of the State to meet the requirements of the EU integration process". At a subsequent meeting in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

on 26 January 2009, the party leaders set out a plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a

decentralized Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

country with three levels of government. The middle level of government was anticipated to be made up by four territorial units with legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.Katana, G. 2009. 'Prudski trojac u Banjoj Luci podijelo BiH na četiri regije' (Prud troika divide BiH into four regions in Banja Luka), ''Oslobođenje'' 27 January 2009. Controversy surrounded the creation of a third entity,

’s territorial integrity, and the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A further meeting was held in

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

on 23 February 2009, hosted by Čović. On 20 July 2009, the

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992–1995 Bos ...

Valentin Inzko Valentin Inzko (born 22 May 1949) is an Austrian diplomat who served as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 2021. He also served as the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 201 ...

suggested that the process between the three 'nationalist' parties had effectively ended. Instead it had changed into a process involving many more political parties. Inzko believed that minor level constitutional reform can be delivered through the meetings.

Illness and death

Tihić had a tumor on his colon removed in January 2008 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Slovenia. On 30 September 2013 it was announced that Tihić had been diagnosed with

. He was treated surgically in Germany on 4 October 2013; doctors expressed satisfaction with his recovery. On 22 August 2014, he was hospitalized at the Clinical Center of the

and died there on 25 September 2014, aged 62. Tihić was buried in the cemetery of the White Mosque in his hometown of

two days later, on 27 September.

References

External links

The Website of Sulejman Tihić
''

U.S. Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other pea ...