Hamdija Pozderac - Political Activity

Political Activity

His politics centered on his involvement in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia that he ideologically followed. He held various high positions in the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia in 70s and 80s and exerted considerable influence on the politics of the communist party. He was president of the Federal Constitutional Commission of Yugoslavia which he held for nearly 20 years. His political ascendance began with economic revitalization of Bosanska Krajina region, than impoverished region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pozderac provided the political backing to Agrokomerc at the time small local food manufacturer which would later become one of the largest food manufacturing corporations in former Yugoslavia. Agrokomerc proved to be the key to the economic prosperity of the region.

While his primary goal was economic reform of then impoverished Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he relatively successfully implemented, he also played an important role in confronting nationalists from Serbia through a series of controversial and risky political moves. The reason he is today considered one of the most important Bosnian politicians is his significant role in constitutional amendments in 1970s which recognized Bosnian Muslims as one of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. Although his political orientation was left of center, and while he continually confronted nationalist politics of ethnic groups in former Yugoslavia, he inevitably contributed to the establishment of the process that led to the emergence of the modern Bosniak nation.

A series of political attacks were reportedly staged against him by the Serbian lobby in BiH who tried to discredit and remove him from the political scene. One attempt was made by Vojislav Šešelj in early 1980s, who has learned that one of the students of Pozderac at the University of Sarajevo, plagiarized portions of his dissertation, but was not punished for by Pozderac. Because the student Brano Miljuš, was a high-ranking individual within the Communist party, controversy ensued but Šešelj's efforts were unsuccessful.