June 14, 1996
Commentary: Don't Delay Bosnia's Vote
By WARREN CHRISTOPHER
ASHINGTON -- In the seven months since the Dayton agreement ended the Bosnian war, our mission in that country has achieved more than the cynics thought possible. The guns of war are silent; city streets are safe from snipers; once besieged communities are no longer cut off from the world, and bit by bit homes, schools, roads and factories are being rebuilt.
The most important next step is to hold free and fair elections. Yet some are urging the international community to postpone this critical requirement of the peace accord.
Fortunately, leaders of the former Yugoslavia and the five-nation "contact group" recently called for elections to held by the Sept. 14 deadline set in Dayton.
Timely elections are vital because they are the precondition for the new political institutions created by the Dayton accord. Without elections, there will be no unified Bosnian state, no national constitution or judiciary and little hope for greater cooperation among Bosnia's diverse communities. Moreover, since refugees can vote as residents of their original communities, elections can help prevent an ethnic partition.
Indicted war criminals like Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, are not eligible to run, and we have made clear to President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia that they cannot be allowed to undermine the election process. One way or another, by the time Bosnia's newly elected leaders begin their terms, these war criminals will be out of office for good.
Conditions for free and fair elections are by no means ideal. But we have just two choices: We can wait and hope they improve before scheduling a vote, without giving the parties an incentive to do better. Or we can set a firm date and use the deadline this creates to push the parties to meet their responsibilites. My experience with Bosnia tells me that only the latter course is likely to succeed. Progress so far has come from setting deadlines and sticking to them.
Between now and the election, the international community will intensify its efforts to improve conditions. Having completed most of their military tasks, our troops will no longer be concentrated along the 1,000-mile-long zone that once divided Bosnia's warring armies. They can now conduct more visible patrols throughout the country. This will encourage freedom of movement and put war criminals at greater risk of arrest.
By election day, we will also be ready with 1,200 international election supervisors and many more monitors to deter violations of election rules. We are now supporting a nationwide broadcast network to allow candidates to get their messages out.
Any delay in elections would reduce the pressure on the parties to respect freedom of movement and freedom of the press. It would encourage a belief that other important deadlines can be ignored. It would allow those responsible for the conduct of the war to stay in office without having to answer to voters. It would entrench the status quo in Bosnia -- and the people who benefit from it.
We have seen the power of democratic choice transform troubled nations like Cambodia, Mozambique and El Salvador. In each case, outsiders questioned if elections could succeed in divided societies only beginning to recover from war or genocide. But voters overcame every obstacle to prove the doubters wrong.
All the evidence suggests that the people of Bosnia are equally ready to make their mark. New political parties are forming. Polls show that more than 80 percent of Bosnia's Muslims, Croats and Serbs intend to vote. Election day will belong to them -- the victims of this terrible war. The sooner it comes, the better.
Warren Christopher is the Secretary of State.
