Martin Raguž
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Martin Raguž (born 2 March 1958) is a
Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...
politician who served as
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian/ Croatian: ''Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara Bosne i Hercegovine'', ) is the head of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chairman of the Council of Minis ...
from 2000 to 2001. He was a member of both the national
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
and House of Peoples. Raguž also served as the first minister of human rights and refugees and as the federal minister without portfolio. He was also the minister of labour and social politicy from 1992 to 1993, 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 ...
.


The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Raguž became politically active at the time of 1990 general election, the first an autonomous Bosnia and Herzegovina since the aftermath of World War I. He was one of the founders of the liberal-oriented BiH Union of Socialist Youth.Time for Croatians to take responsibility for this country.
Europa, August 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
He ran for Croatian member position of the Presidency of Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a candidate SSO-H party. Of the seven Croatian candidates, Raguž finished last with a haul of 130,428 (6.13%) votes. At the beginning of 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 ...
in 1992, Raguž was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Policy for the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, working in besieged Sarajevo. At the beginning of
Croat–Bosniak War The Croat–Bosniak War or Croat–Muslim War was a conflict between the Bosniak-dominated Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 19 ...
, he joined the HDZ BiH and accepted an invitation by the
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia () was an unrecognized geopolitical entity and quasi-state in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bos ...
to help mitigate the humanitarian crisis.Interview during Croat–Bosniak War. Ashgate Publishing, 2012, p. 130. He worked as the deputy head of the Office for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Displaced Persons until 1993, when he was appointed head of that office replacing Darinka Tadić in this position. He remained in this position until 1994, when it became the Ministry for Refugees and Social Affairs, where he worked as deputy minister until the end of the war in 1995.Biography of Martin Raguž
. Center for Investigative Journalism. Accessed 1 April 2014.


After the war

After the war, Raguž was appointed minister without portfolio, where he remained until 1996, and was in charge of coordinating activities for the implementation of
Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, Дејтонски мировни споразум), and colloquially kn ...
. Between 1997 and 1998, he worked for the Croatian member of the presidency,
Krešimir Zubak Krešimir Zubak (; born 25 January 1947) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as the 1st Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 1998. At the beginning of the Bosnian War in 1992, he joined the Croatian Democ ...
. From 2000 till 2001, he served as the minister of human rights and refugees . Following the general elections in October 2000. Raguž was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers on 18 October 2000. He served in this capacity until 22 August 2001, when he was replaced by
Božidar Matić Božidar Matić (; 8 September 1937 – 12 May 2016) was a Bosnian politician and academic who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from February to July 2001. Additionally, he was Minister of Finance and Trea ...
, a member of the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
. Raguž was then appointed Chairman of the Coordination Council.Jelavić retires as president of the HDZ BiH?
HIC, no. 337, 7 May 2001. Accessed 1 November 2014.
After the
High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...
Wolfgang Petritsch removed Ante Jelavić as the Croatian member of the presidency, talk began about possible successors to Jelavić as president of the HDZ BiH. The international community, as a condition of returning to political home-rule, required the removal of all politicians who participated in the creation of self-government. Although Raguž was part of a project of the self-government, the international community considered him to be acceptable as the new leader of the HDZ BiH.


HDZ 1990


The April package

After the schism within the HDZ BiH, Raguž was one of the founders of the HDZ 1990 led by Božo Ljubić. The schism occurred at the time of promoting the constitutional changes under the April Package ( :hr:Travanjski paket), to which Ljubic objected, arguing that the package reduced the status of Croatian people in the nation to the level of a national minority. During this period, Raguž was a member of the Constitutional-Legal Committee of the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
. Of the nine members of the committee, four supported the package, which was insufficient to forward the debate to the House of Representatives. Two board members were strongly opposed to the April Package, and the US Embassy, the
High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...
and other representatives of the international community attempted to influence Raguž and two other board members, Beriz Belkić and Filip Andrić, towards supporting the package. The committee decided to adopt the draft package for a hearing before House of Representatives on 18 April 2006. Some opponents tried but failed to insert amendments to their parties' platforms, but Raguž, under pressure from the US Embassy, did not support amendments from HDZ 1990 in the debate.


Efforts for the unification of the HDZ BiH

Croatian prime minister
Ivo Sanader Ivo Sanader (; born 8 June 1953) is a Croatian former politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009. He is currently serving a 18-year prison sentence for corruption in Lipovica penitentiary. Sanader is to date the second ...
visited Mostar in March 2009, announcing the "inevitability" of unification of the HDZ BiH and HDZ 1990. Raguž has since become a leading promoter of the unification of the two parties. However, Raguž's political ambitions distanced him from his party colleagues. In April, the Presidency of HDZ 1990 adopted a platform for unification with the HDZ BiH providing equal representation in government. However, HDZ BiH President
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 ...
rejected the possibility of unification in early May, compounded by HDZ 1990 officials being at risk of losing their positions in the event of reunification.


Party president

In March 2014, Raguž called for the
federalization Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, states, cantons, territories, etc.), while dividing the powers ...
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His call was welcomed by former
High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...
Christian Schwarz-Schilling Christian Schwarz-Schilling (born 19 November 1930) is an Austrian-born German politician, entrepreneur, philanthropist and media and telecommunications innovator who served as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2007. Pr ...
. Raguž, in a meeting with the director of the Department of South and Central Europe, the US State Department Jonathan Moore, he advocated for greater impact of the United States on Bosnia and Hercegovinu. In December 2015, the
West Herzegovina Canton The West Herzegovina Canton () is one of the cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The West Herzegovina Canton is in the Herzegovina region in the southwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its seat of government is in Široki Brijeg, w ...
HDZ 1990 board requested that Raguž resign because of "the general inactivity and inaction of the party and the party's deteriorating situation on the ground." He resign on 23 December 2015, citing health problems, including spinal issues.


2014 presidential campaign

Raguž accepted the nomination of the HDZ 1990 for the Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 5 July. His nomination marked a deepening of the conflict within the Croatian National Assembly. As the cornerstone of its policy was cooperation with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Previously, the candidate for the Croatian member of the presidency announced as
Živko Budimir Živko Budimir (; born 20 November 1962) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as the 9th President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two autonomous entities that compose Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 17 March 2011 until ...
, President of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...
. Raguž's campaign received support from the First Bosnian parties, whose president Šeherzada Delić announced official support for Raguž in the election.Šeherzada Delic: 21 800 votes from Krajina for Martin Raguž
. Republic, 19 September 2014. Accessed 22 September 2014.


References


External links


Martin Raguž
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Raguz, Martin 1958 births Living people People from Stolac Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Croatian Democratic Union 1990 politicians Human rights ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Politicians of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna Members of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina