Zlatko Lagumdžija
Encyclopedia
Dr. Zlatko Lagumdžija is a Bosnian
politician and academic. He is known for his leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. He is currently a member of the House of Representatives in the Bosnian Parliamentary Assembly and a professor at the University of Sarajevo
.
in 1973. His subsequent education was at the University of Sarajevo
, where he earned a B.Sc in 1977, an M.Sc in 1981 and a PhD in 1988 in the field of Computer Science
and Electrical Engineering
. In 1989, as a Fulbright program
participant, he did postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona
in the Department of Management Information Systems and the Center for Computing and Information Technology.
in 1989 as a professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Informatics at the Economics Faculty and Projected Information Systems and Group Support Systems at the Electrical Engineering Faculty. He has served as the chair of the department of Management and Information Systems at the Economics Faculty since 1994 and the director of the director of the Management and Information Technologies Center (an organizational unit of the Economics Faculty) since 1995. His particular academic interests lie in the areas of Group Support Systems and Management Information Systems. He is also interested in the strategic use of information technology for business process reengineering
, managing transition and leading change. He is the author of six books and over a hundred papers in the field of Management Information Systems.
At the end of the war, Lagumdžija helped to secure funds from the Soros Foundation
with which to rebuild the Group Support System facility at the University of Sarajevo. The strategic objective of the Management and Information Technologies Center, which housed the GSS facility, was to "assist and promote the transition of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H) to a democratic, market-driven economy." As a part of that mandate, the Center held sessions for key business and government leaders as well as students at the University of Sarajevo utilizing GSS technology to assist them in thinking about and planning for the economic reconstruction of Sarajevo
.
. In that role, he advised then-president Alija Izetbegović
. In one particular case he advised him not to sign the Vance-Owen peace plan: "Mr Izetbegović was not endorsing it, but thinking out loud and saying perhaps the plan would not be so bad, that we could live with it. And some of us told him, 'Anyone who signs this plan will be dead, and not just politically…'" he told a New York Times reporter in February 1993. Izetbegović signed the peace plan in March 1993.
In May 1992, Lagumdžija was with Alija Izetbegović, Izetbegović’s daughter Sabina and his bodyguard, returning from the Lisbon negotiations, when they were surrounded at the Sarajevo airport by the JNA
, kidnapped and driven in a convoy to Lukavica, in Serb-held territory.
In April, 1993, Lagumdžija met with a group of citizens from Srebrenica
who had journeyed through the Serb lines to Sarajevo. They informed him of the desperate situation of Srebrenica and the eastern Bosnian enclaves. In an effort to highlight the plight of Srebrenica, Lagumdžija suspended humanitarian aid donations for Sarajevo until aid was delivered to the eastern enclaves. A month later, UN
Commander Philippe Morillon
visited Srebrenica and declared the citizens under the protection of the UN.
, Lagumdžija has served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly since 1996. He has been the president of the SDP since 1997. In the 2000 general elections, the SDP formed a coalition with the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
(SBiH), a party founded and led by former wartime prime minister Haris Silajdžić
, to gain the majority and force the nationalist parties out of power. They gathered a coalition of many other small parties to create the "Alliance for Change." Lagumdžija became the Foreign Minister, a post he served in from 2001–2003, and also the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, (i.e. the Prime Minister, as which he served until 2002).
When the SDP came into political power on a platform of economic reform and anti-corruption, Lagumdžija was lauded by the Western powers as the hopeful "face of a pluralistic, united Bosnia." The SPD-led government facilitated the passage of the Election Law, which was not only an important step towards democracy, but also a prerequisite towards Bosnia's accession to the Council of Europe. The SDP led the coalition government
until the October 2002 general elections, when the public, dissatisfied at the pace of political reform, elected the nationalist parties back into power.
Member of the Club of Madrid
http://www.clubmadrid.org.
from 1965 to 1967.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
politician and academic. He is known for his leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. He is currently a member of the House of Representatives in the Bosnian Parliamentary Assembly and a professor at the University of Sarajevo
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo is the first university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally established in 1531 as a Madrasah or Islamic Law college, with a modern university being established and expanded on top of that in 1949. Today, with 23 faculties and around 55,000 enrolled students, it...
.
Education
Lagumdžija earned his high school diploma as a part of the Youth for Understanding exchange student program in Allen Park, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
in 1973. His subsequent education was at the University of Sarajevo
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo is the first university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally established in 1531 as a Madrasah or Islamic Law college, with a modern university being established and expanded on top of that in 1949. Today, with 23 faculties and around 55,000 enrolled students, it...
, where he earned a B.Sc in 1977, an M.Sc in 1981 and a PhD in 1988 in the field of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
. In 1989, as a Fulbright program
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
participant, he did postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
in the Department of Management Information Systems and the Center for Computing and Information Technology.
Academic career
Lagumdžija began teaching at the University of SarajevoUniversity of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo is the first university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally established in 1531 as a Madrasah or Islamic Law college, with a modern university being established and expanded on top of that in 1949. Today, with 23 faculties and around 55,000 enrolled students, it...
in 1989 as a professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Informatics at the Economics Faculty and Projected Information Systems and Group Support Systems at the Electrical Engineering Faculty. He has served as the chair of the department of Management and Information Systems at the Economics Faculty since 1994 and the director of the director of the Management and Information Technologies Center (an organizational unit of the Economics Faculty) since 1995. His particular academic interests lie in the areas of Group Support Systems and Management Information Systems. He is also interested in the strategic use of information technology for business process reengineering
Business process reengineering
Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization.According to Davenport a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome....
, managing transition and leading change. He is the author of six books and over a hundred papers in the field of Management Information Systems.
At the end of the war, Lagumdžija helped to secure funds from the Soros Foundation
Soros Foundation
A Soros Foundation is one of a network of national foundations, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which fund volunteer socio-political activity, created by George Soros, international financier and self-proclaimed philanthropist, and coordinated since early 1994 by a management team called the...
with which to rebuild the Group Support System facility at the University of Sarajevo. The strategic objective of the Management and Information Technologies Center, which housed the GSS facility, was to "assist and promote the transition of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H) to a democratic, market-driven economy." As a part of that mandate, the Center held sessions for key business and government leaders as well as students at the University of Sarajevo utilizing GSS technology to assist them in thinking about and planning for the economic reconstruction of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
.
Wartime political career
Lagumdžija began his political career during the war as the Deputy Prime MinisterDeputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
. In that role, he advised then-president Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegovic
Alija Izetbegović was a Bosniak activist, lawyer, author, philosopher and politician, who, in 1990, became the first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served in this role until 1996, when he became a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving until 2000...
. In one particular case he advised him not to sign the Vance-Owen peace plan: "Mr Izetbegović was not endorsing it, but thinking out loud and saying perhaps the plan would not be so bad, that we could live with it. And some of us told him, 'Anyone who signs this plan will be dead, and not just politically…'" he told a New York Times reporter in February 1993. Izetbegović signed the peace plan in March 1993.
In May 1992, Lagumdžija was with Alija Izetbegović, Izetbegović’s daughter Sabina and his bodyguard, returning from the Lisbon negotiations, when they were surrounded at the Sarajevo airport by the JNA
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
, kidnapped and driven in a convoy to Lukavica, in Serb-held territory.
In April, 1993, Lagumdžija met with a group of citizens from Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
who had journeyed through the Serb lines to Sarajevo. They informed him of the desperate situation of Srebrenica and the eastern Bosnian enclaves. In an effort to highlight the plight of Srebrenica, Lagumdžija suspended humanitarian aid donations for Sarajevo until aid was delivered to the eastern enclaves. A month later, UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Commander Philippe Morillon
Philippe Morillon
Philippe Morillon is a former French general and was a Member of the European Parliament until 2009. He was elected on the Union for French Democracy ticket with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group...
visited Srebrenica and declared the citizens under the protection of the UN.
Post-war political career
As a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Bosnia and HerzegovinaSocial Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multi-ethnic social-democratic political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.The party is the successor of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was enlarged by the inclusion of the Socijaldemokrati BiH party to the original...
, Lagumdžija has served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly since 1996. He has been the president of the SDP since 1997. In the 2000 general elections, the SDP formed a coalition with the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina is a liberal conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina led by Haris Silajdžić. On the issues of the internal divisions of Bosnia, SBiH wants to eliminate two entities, and establish a "one man-one vote political system" in an unified...
(SBiH), a party founded and led by former wartime prime minister Haris Silajdžić
Haris Silajdžic
Haris Silajdžić is a Bosnian politician and academic. In the 2006 elections, Silajdžić was elected as the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years in the rotating presidency.He was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia.- Political career:From 1990...
, to gain the majority and force the nationalist parties out of power. They gathered a coalition of many other small parties to create the "Alliance for Change." Lagumdžija became the Foreign Minister, a post he served in from 2001–2003, and also the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, (i.e. the Prime Minister, as which he served until 2002).
When the SDP came into political power on a platform of economic reform and anti-corruption, Lagumdžija was lauded by the Western powers as the hopeful "face of a pluralistic, united Bosnia." The SPD-led government facilitated the passage of the Election Law, which was not only an important step towards democracy, but also a prerequisite towards Bosnia's accession to the Council of Europe. The SDP led the coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
until the October 2002 general elections, when the public, dissatisfied at the pace of political reform, elected the nationalist parties back into power.
Member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
http://www.clubmadrid.org.
"Coup d'état affair"
In September 2003, Lagumdžija and Munir Alibabić, the former director of the Federation Intelligence and Security Service (FOSS), were accused of conspiring to take over the government by Ivan Vuksić, the FOSS director at the time. The accusations were based on the illegal recordings of telephone conversations between the two men. The Sarajevo daily paper Dnevni Avaz, picked up the story and ran a series of articles which attacked Lagumdžija and blamed him of being behind the August 2003 explosions that had taken place in Sarajevo. Lagumdžija denied the accusations and released a public statement to the court, which read in part, "Any well-informed and well-intentioned person will know that all these accusations are based on vicious lies, and that their progenitors are provoking a situation, which would bring them to face justice in court in any organized democratic state." The courts dismissed the accusations, Lagumdžija eventually sued Dnevni Avaz for libel and the newspaper was ordered to pay him 10,000 KM in damages.Personal life
Lagumdžija is married to Amina, and has two children, Dina and Zlatko-Salko. His father Salko (1921–1973) was mayor of SarajevoSarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
from 1965 to 1967.