Senad Šepić

Senad Šepić (born 24 December 1977) is a Bosnian politician who is the current president of the Independent Bloc and has been serving as a member of the national House of Representatives since 12 January 2012. He was a member of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) until 2017. Šepić was a prominent critic of party leader Bakir Izetbegović.

Senad Šepić
President of the Independent Bloc
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 September 2017
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 12 January 2012 – 20 November 2018
Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs
In office 9 February 2007 – 12 January 2012
Minister	Sredoje Nović
Additional positions Member of the Federal House of Representatives In office 28 October 2002 – 9 February 2007
Personal details
Born	(1977-12-24) 24 December 1977 (age 46) Cazin, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Political party	Independent Bloc (2017–present)
Other political affiliations	Party of Democratic Action (2001–2017)
Spouse	Lejla Šepić
Children	3
Residence(s)	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma mater	University of Sarajevo

He has also served as member of the Federal House of Representatives from 28 October 2002 until 9 February 2007 and as Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs from 9 February 2007 to 12 January 2012.

Personal life and early career

Šepić was born in Cazin, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of SFR Yugoslavia. In the early 2000s, he was president of the SDA's youth organization.^[1] Šepić's parliamentary biography indicates that he was a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo from 1997 to 2003, working as a history teacher.^[2] His online biography indicates that he received a history degree from the university in 2003 and a Master of Law degree in 2012.^[3]

Political career

Šepić was elected to the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (one of the two entities that makes up the country Bosnia and Herzegovina) in the 2002 general election and was re-elected in 2006. He resigned his seat in 2007 when he was appointed as the country's Deputy minister of Civil affairs. His appointment was intended to provide Bosniak representation within the ministry, which was overseen by Minister of Civil Affairs Sredoje Nović.^[4]

In 2008, Bosnian prime minister Nikola Špirić sought to remove Šepić from office on the grounds that his father-in-law was the director of a utility company in Travnik.^[5] The state court subsequently ruled that Šepić was not in a conflict.^[6] Šepić was a candidate for security minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009 but withdrew his name prior to the vote.^[7]

He was elected to the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2010 general election, winning a seat in the first electoral division of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) won a single mandate for this division, and, as Šepić won more candidate preference votes than incumbent Husein Nanić, he was declared elected. He continued to serve as a deputy minister until 2012 and did not actually take his seat in parliament until standing down from this position.^[8] He was re-elected to the legislature in 2014.

Within the SDA

Šepić joined the presidency of the SDA in 2001 and was a party vice-chair from 2009 to 2015. For many years, he was regarded as a stalwart ally of party leader Sulejman Tihić and a supporter of Tihić's bid to move the party in a centrist direction less dependent on religious identity.^[9] A January 2012 news report, however, describes him as having by this time fallen into Tihić's bad graces and as being aligned with Bakir Izetbegović's rival faction.^[10] Prior to the 2014 elections, Šepić openly announced that he had joined "Izetbegović's ranks."^[11] There was some speculation after the election that he could be appointed to cabinet as minister of civil affairs, but this did not occur.^[12]

Šepić's alliance with Izetbegović did not last long, and he was openly critical of the SDA's political maneuvering that led to the establishment of Denis Zvizdić's ministry on March 31, 2015. He accused his party of making too many concessions and remarked that the results gave the appearance of a victory for Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Čović at the expense of leading Bosniak politicians. In the same interview, Šepić said that the SDA should become a "modern, democratic, and pro-European centre-right party" consistent with Tihić's vision of the party.^[13]

In June 2015, Šepić joined with three other SDA parliamentarians to announce they would no longer follow the decisions of the SDA leadership; this followed contentious internal party elections that were won by Izetbegović's faction. Šepić, defeated in his bid for re-election as a vice-chair,^[14] accused the party leadership of being undemocratic and was quoted as saying, "There is a videotape clearly showing that those who were sitting inside counting the votes were actually not members of the polling boards."^[15] The four rebels did not actually leave the SDA, and as of 2016 the Bosnian parliamentary website indicates that Šepić is still a member of the party caucus.^[16] He left the party in 2017.

Within the Independent Bloc

Views

Views on the Bosnian constitution

Šepić has argued that Bosnia's constitution fails to protect the human rights of its citizens and has called for meaningful reforms to "[protect] the individual and collective rights of everyone living anywhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina" as well as to "return the decision-making process to the institutions of the system, to the Presidency, the parliament and the government."^[17]

Electoral record

2014 Bosnia and Herzegovina State House of Representatives election results: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Division One

Party Votes % Mandates Party of Democratic Action 34,111 27.70 1 Party of Democratic Activity 14,227 11.55 1 HDZ–HSS–HKDU–HSP-AS BiH–HSP HB 13,176 10.70 1 Democratic Front 13,119 10.65 Union for a Better Future of BiH 11,602 9.42 Social Democratic Party 11,336 9.20 Croatian Democratic Union 1990 5,895 4.79 Labour Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,612 4.56 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 4,143 3.36 SPP–SDU–DNZ 3,890 3.16 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović 1,795 1.46 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,420 1.15 People's Party for Work and Betterment 1,273 1.03 Diaspora Party 1,016 0.82 Social Democratic Union - Union for Us All 250 0.20 Bosnian Party 179 0.15 HSP–DSI 121 0.10 Total valid votes 123,165 100.00 Party of Democratic Action candidate preference votes Senad Šepić (elected) (incumbent) 15,517 Šemsudin Dedić 11,737 Amir Avdić 10,333 Maida Aldžić 4,075 Emina Musić 3,822 Merima Mulić 2,877 Party of Democratic Activity candidate preference votes Jasmin Emrić (elected) 7,660 Haris Ćoralić 4,780 Šerif Kaljiković 3,172 Dženita Velić 2,480 Nedžad Hadžić 2,442 Samir Suljkanović 2,009 Memnuna Mahić 1,835 Dilka Rubin 1,764 HDZ–HSS–HKDU–HSP-AS BiH–HSP HB candidate preference votes Borjana Krišto (elected) 6,379 Mato Franjičević 3,104 Petar Radoš 2,739 Ivica Pašalić-Lhotak 2,705 Marko Mamić 594 Iliana Dronjić 461 Slavko Galiot 313 Željko Škripić 189 Democratic Front candidate preference votes Rusmir Mujadžić 3,371 Zaharije Mesić 2,355 Emsud Zulić 2,273 Dinko Bećirspahić 1,991 Ivana Robović 1,543 Meho Dučanović 1,423 Sanja Kudrić 1,226 Franjka Konta 1,118 Union for a Better Future of BiH candidate preference votes Amir Harbaš 3,908 Midhat Dedić 1,991 Emira Komić 1,540 Nermina Islamović 1,230 Azema Smailović 1,197 Almir Redžić 1,055 Semir Mujadžić 877 Kemal Mržljak 739 Social Democratic Party candidate preference votes Hamdija Lipovača (incumbent) 7,588 Nermina Ćemalović 1,711 Suljo Suljić 1,328 Ibrahim Kamenjašević 791 Jasmina Begatović 756 Huska Jukić 751 Stevo Trninić 674 Ana Dolušić 597 Croatian Democratic Union 1990 candidate preference votes Zdravko Erceg 2,953 Grgo Radoš 893 Ante Janković 873 Lovro Karaula 503 Borka Vukadin 442 Mate Rebrina 412 Tanja Šantić 306 Jagoda Ljevak 250 Labour Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate preference votes Elvira Abdić-Jelenović 3,769 Haris Muhamedagić 1,091 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats candidate preference votes Nikola Tadić 1,364 Zora Rodić 1,091 Dunja Dragaš 988 SPP–SDU–DNZ candidate preference votes Rifat Dolić 2,696 Sejfo Mustafić 622 Sabina Šabanagić 288 Anto Smoljo 266 Amra Veladžić 210 Vera Došenović 184 Muhamed Borić 151 Nevena Perkić 130 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović candidate preference votes Esad Hajdarović 735 Jasmina Šepić 420 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate preference votes Fahrudin Ćemal 1,163 People's Party for Work and Betterment candidate preference votes Antonio Ivanković-Lijanović 397 Senad Ćatić 223 Božana Ćurić 216 Niko Teklić 191 Selma Pajalić 118 Diaspora Party candidate preference votes Senad Bajrić 754 Social Democratic Union - Union for Us All candidate preference votes Njiaz Ćoralić 160 Samira Alagić 63 Bosnian Party candidate preference votes Hase Muratović 88 HSP–DSI candidate preference votes Ivan Krolo 86 Source: Verified results of the 2014 General Election, Central Election Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed March and April 2016.

2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina State House of Representatives election results: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Division One

Party Votes % Mandates Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 32,757 23.87 1 Party of Democratic Action 27,925 20.35 1 Democratic People's Union 14,238 10.38 1 Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina 10,861 7.91 Party of Democratic Activity 10,782 7.86 Union for a Better Future of BiH 8,939 6.51 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 8,080 5.89 People's Party For Work And Betterment 7,176 5.23 Croatian Coalition HDZ 1990–HSP BiH 7,123 5.19 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 4,998 3.64 Democratic People's Alliance 1,147 0.84 Our Party–New Socialist Party 1,065 0.78 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović 872 0.64 Bosnian Party 423 0.31 Social Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina 357 0.26 Democratic Party of the Disabled 256 0.19 Party for the People of Bosnia and Herzegovina 225 0.16 Total valid votes 137,224 100.00 Party of Democratic Action candidate preference votes Senad Šepić (elected) 13,637 Husein Nanić (incumbent) 6,924 Sanjin Halimović 6,595 Asima Husetić 4,175 Šefik Štulanović 3,286 Zejna Kadirić 2,917 Suada Dilaver 1,753 Democratic People's Union candidate preference votes Nermin Purić (elected) 8,244 Almir Pajazetović 2,604 Emina Keserović 1,607 Nura Kekić 1,587 Safet Huskić 1,540 Vera Došenović 1,295 Jasmin Durmić 1,279 Milenko Došen 1,139 Source: Verified results of the 2010 General Election, Central Election Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed 3 October 2012 and 19 March 2016.

2006 Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives election results: Division One

Party Results Votes % Direct mandates Party of Democratic Action 32,907 36.25 4 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 16,751 18.45 2 Democratic People's Union 15,206 16.75 2 Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina–Socijaldemokrati BiH 13,462 14.83 1 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović 2,237 2.46 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 1,767 1.95 Evropska ekološka stranka E-5 1,537 1.69 Patriotski Blok: Bosnian Party–Social Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,283 1.41 People's Party For Work And Betterment 1,145 1.26 Pensioners' Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,126 1.24 Bosanskohercegovačka stranka prava 569 0.63 Liberal Democratic Party 484 0.53 Pokret za promjene Bosne i Hercegovine 459 0.51 Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina—Croatian Coalition: HNZ–HSP BiH 411 0.45 Politički pokret mladih Bosne i Hercegovine 351 0.39 Democratic Party of the Disabled 249 0.27 Socialist Party 212 0.23 Citizens' Democratic Party 211 0.23 Narodna bošnjaka stranka 198 0.22 Croats Together: HDZ 1990–HSS–HKDU–HDU–Demokrŝćani 159 0.18 HSP Đapić–Jurišić and the New Croatian Initiative–Koalicija za jednakopravnost 58 0.06 Total valid votes 90,782 100.00 Party of Democratic Action candidate preference votes Senad Šepić (elected) (incumbent) 9,950 Edham Veladžić (elected) 9,615 Jasminka Durić (elected) 9,523 Ibrahim Nadarević (elected) (incumbent) 7,214 Sead Jusić 6,511 Amela Hadžić 6,287 Atif Hodžić 5,334 Jasmin Husetić 4,437 Mira Bjelac (elected to compensatory list seat) 2,439 Democratic People's Union candidate preference votes Hafeza Sabljaković (elected) 7,905 Nermin Purić (elected) 3,717 Fatma Koštić 1,705 Dino Miljković 1,583 Husein Keranović 1,568 Edin Kekić 1,474 Raska Ćerimović 1,400 Vojo Šljivar 1,334 Mersud Topić 1,222 Jasmin Durmić 1,185 Haseba Mokni-Miljković 1,095 Source: Verified results of the 2006 General Election, Central Election Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed 12 November 2012 and 23 March 2016.

2002 Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives election results: Division One

Party Results Votes % Direct mandates Party of Democratic Action 31,187 40.24 4 Democratic People's Union 15,237 19.66 2 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 11,855 15.29 2 Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 9,256 11.94 1 Bosnian Party of Rights BiH 1,574 2.03 Bosnian Party 1,333 1.72 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 1,231 1.59 Liberal Democratic Party 1,096 1.41 Stranka Penzionera Umirovljenika BiH 1,086 1.40 Socialist Party 503 0.65 Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina—Demokršcani—HNZ 493 0.64 Bošnjaka narodna stranka 343 0.44 New Croatian Initiative 336 0.43 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party 313 0.40 Завичајних социјалдемократа - Миле Марчета 305 0.39 Workers' Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 298 0.38 Women's Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 240 0.31 Civic Democratic Party 228 0.29 Pro-European Peoples' Party and Youth Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 216 0.28 Republikanci-SPP 168 0.22 Croatian Peasant Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 138 0.18 Странка Девизних Штедиша Република Српска 76 0.10 Total valid votes 77,512 100.00 Party of Democratic Action candidate preference votes Ibrahim Nadarević (elected) 8,779 Husein Nanić (elected) 6,795 Senad Šepić (elected) 6,773 Mustafa Avdagić (elected) 4,694 Ejub Alagić 4,670 Azra Delić 4,486 Hamdija Grošić 4,229 Emilija Bajrić 3,271 Senada Mehdin 2,911 Source: Verified party vote totals and verified candidate vote totals, Central Election Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed 23 March 2016.

References

1. "SDA calls for annulment of previous Federation government appointments," BBC Monitoring - European, 28 February 2003, 10:29.
2. Senad Šepić (biographical entry), Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed 26 July 2016.
3. Senad Šepić - Biografija, http://imovinapoliticara.cin.ba/, accessed 20 March 2016.
4. "Background Notes : Bosnia and Herzegovina," State Department Press Releases and Documents (United States of America), 30 November 2011.
5. "Bosnian parliament refuses to sack foreign minister: report," Agence France Presse, 4 June 2008, 16:53.
6. "Bosnian Federation TV views biographies of security minister candidates," BBC Monitoring - European, 25 July 2009, 05:08.
7. "Bosnian Muslim party nominates candidate for security minister," BBC Monitoring - European, 3 August 2009, 11:32.
8. Senad Šepić - Biografija, http://imovinapoliticara.cin.ba/, accessed 20 March 2016.
9. "Bosnian Muslim party planning to form minority government with SDP - daily," BBC Monitoring - European, 2 June 2009, 9:45; "Islamic leaders split over race for Muslim member of Bosnian Presidency," BBC Monitoring - European, 15 July 2010, 10:09.
10. "Bosnia's Bosniak party said to distribute power between two factions," BBC Monitoring [European], 28 January 2012, 08:02.
11. "Rifts in Bosniak party said caused by election candidate lists," BBC Monitoring - European, 11 July 2014, 13:54.
12. "Bosnian ruling coalition nominates candidates for ministerial posts," BBC Monitoring - European, 23 December 2014, 5:40.
13. "Bosnian party official dissatisfied with government formation talks," BBC Monitoring - European, 1 April 2015, 04:21. Šepić had previously accused Čović of failing Bosnian financial institutions by neglecting to introduce anti-money laundering legislation as mandated by the Council of Europe. See "CoE committee puts BiH on financial blacklist," Legal Monitor Worldwide, 13 June 2014.
14. "Bosnian commentary warns against possible radicalization of Bosniaks," BBC Monitoring - European, 2 June 2015, 11:41.
15. "Four Bosnian MPs disobey party leadership," BBC Monitoring - European, 12 June 2015, 05:47.
16. Senad Šepić (biographical entry), Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accessed 26 July 2016.
17. "Muslim party official describes Bosnia-Herzegovina as inefficient state," BBC Monitoring - European, 12 March 2013, 5:55.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Senad Šepić.

• Senad Šepić at Biografija.org