Original scientific paper
The Yugoslav Muslim Organisation (JMO) from the Introduction of King Alexander’s Dictatorship until Sarajevo Points (1929—1933)
Zlatko HASANBEGOVIĆ
; Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar
Abstract
At the beginning of the King’s dictatorship, the Yugoslav Muslim Organisation
(JMO) was banned, like all other political parties. The party’s leadership refused
an offer to enter the dictator’s government and was in continual opposition. The
passive acceptance of the regime, political abstinence without special instructions
to supporters in the field, as well as the absence of any type of public political
evaluation of the dictatorship characterised party activity. In contrast to local
party organisations that stopped political activity in the dictatorship, leadership
of JMO in Sarajevo continued to maintain mutual contacts. Their conduct
was coordinated with the leaders of the other banned parties, especially the Serbian,
for which it was believed would provide the framework of authority in the
event of a renewed parliamentary life. Two opposition centres towards the dictatorship,
Zagreb and Belgrade gradually formed and were based on earlier political
party relations. They were linked by common demands for the return of
constitutionality and parliamentary life, but opposed with respect to solutions of
state crisis and the form of future constitutional-legal arrangements. Under these
circumstances, the leadership of JMO needed to decide between independent
political activities, narrower collaboration with leaders of the opposition in Belgrade
or adherence to the Croatian state-legal opposition in Zagreb that was already
hit by repression at the beginning of the dictatorship. The leadership of
JMO supported both opposition concepts, Croatian state-legal in terms of a return
to 1918 and the formation of a new constitutional-legal solution, under the
condition that Bosnia and Herzegovina obtain the position of autonomous units,
and Serbian according to which there would be first a renewal of parliamentary
life and a return of lost power in the government and then subsequently a
negotiation of state arrangements. Calculating that the leaders of the old Serbian
political parties will provide the framework of governance in the event of a renewal
political-party life, the leadership of JMO made a decision to closely collaborate
with the Serbian opposition. In the meantime, relations with Zagreb
and the Peasant Democratic Coalition (SDK) developed through individual contacts
with the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and its representatives
in Sarajevo. Close collaboration with leaders of the opposition from Belgrade
should have guaranteed JMO’s return to power in the incidence of political
change and make impossible every agreement based on the division of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The appearance of anti-regime oppositional Zagreb and Ljubljana Points at
the end of 1932 and at the beginning of 1933 trapped JMO until then oriented
to the avoidance of independent political statements, especially of a state-legal
nature. This opened up a conflict with the palace exposed it to state repression
and brought into question coveted participation in the government with other
leaders of the Serbian opposition. So, the party leadership of JMO composed
their own political-party statement, which confirmed their opposed standpoint
towards the King’s dictatorship. The Sarajevo Points represented just a new shaping
of the old party autonomous programme, which JMO inconsistently emphasised
during its political life prior to 1929, but was in considerable contrast
to the constitutional and political-national background of the dictatorship.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
65011
URI
Publication date:
10.12.2010.
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