Sulejman Tihić (26 November 1951 – 25 September 2014) was a Bosnian politician 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 also served as the second

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Party of Democratic Action The Party of Democratic Action (; 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, as a "party of Muslim cultural ...

(SDA) from 2001 until his death in 2014. From 2007 until his death, 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 A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

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

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

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

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

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. In the 2002 general election, Tihić was elected

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

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 (or constitutional alteration) 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 alt ...

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 Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, Tihić died on 25 September 2014 in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, 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 Faculty of Law of the University of Sarajevo (), 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's downtown district next to the La ...

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 ) 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, the Brčko District b ...

and the Batković camp in

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...

, before being taken by helicopter to the

Batajnica Batajnica ( sr-Cyrl, Батајница, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, 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 ...

neighborhood of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

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

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...

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, Islamic philosophy, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, president of the Presidency ...

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

. In the 2006 general election, Tihić ran 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 Bosnian politician and academic who served as the 5th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2010. He was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegov ...

. 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 (March 25, 1950 – January 30, 2025) was an American human rights lawyer and professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He served as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina and supported the ...

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 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 Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...

(SNSD) in

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

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 currently serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since 2022, a position he previously held from 2010 to 2018. He also served as ...

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 again from 2014 to 2018. He is the current president of the Croatian Dem ...

of the

Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (, HDZ BiH) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist List of political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, political party in Bosnia and He ...

(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 and solving the legal status of

Brčko District Brčko District ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Brčko distrikt, Брчко дистрикт, separator=" / "), officially the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Brčko distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine, Брчко дистрикт Босне ...

. 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 List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

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 related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

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 Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

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, was created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992 to 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 2011 ...

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 {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, 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 independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...