AFERA NEUM (1988-1990) I PENZIONERSKI SINDROM U SR BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI
THE NEUM AFFAIR (1988-1990) AND THE PENSION SYNDROME IN SR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: The main course of the Neum affair, which took place in 1988, 1989, and early 1990, has been reconstructed based on the press reports and partially available, unregistered archival materials. This affair is observed in the context of the so-called two D – democratization and differentiation within the League of Communists. As a follow-up to the Agrokomerc affair (1987), the Neum affair triggered a discussion about the abuse of power and privileges enjoyed for years by the highest party and republican cadres. Initially, the media and then delegates from various organs and organizations raised the issue of the occupation of the Adriatic coast, the legality of the distribution of construction land, the construction of weekend homes in Surdup and Tiha Luka, and the use of long-term housing loans as social funds for unintended purposes. In conditions of high inflation, reductions, shortages and insistence on economizing, the white villas of the red bourgeoisie were very conspicuous. At the end of 1988, a true drama of intense incrimination and persistent denial of guilt for illegal actions and abuse of power unfolded. During the discussion of information from the municipalities of Neum and Čapljina, the findings of various republican and parliamentary commissions, specially formed working groups and comrades' councils, dismissals, expulsions and arrests, multiple forms of compensation, as well as complete confiscation of property were demanded. In the paper, the construction of the Neum affair is observed on two different tracks, within the parliamentary councils and organs of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more precisely in the Central Committee. The sessions of the parliamentary councils held on May 9, July 29, September 28, October 25, November 22, December 7, and December 19, 1988, were devoted, in significant part or in full, to the Neum affair. The Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed the Neum affair at its 17th session in September, its 18th session (October 15), its 19th session (November 17), its 21st session (December 9 and 10), and its 22nd session held on December 28 and 29, 1988. Neum was also the subject of discussion at the 21st session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia on February 17, 1989, and the conclusion followed at the session of the Assembly of the SR of Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 22, 1989. During those months, the Neum affair contributed to intense personnel differentiation. It resulted in numerous shifts, dismissals, recalls, resignations, and more or less expected retirements, which caused alarming personnel disarray in the political and party leadership of the SR of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the late 1980s. Simultaneously, personnel renewal descended from the republican top to lower levels, accompanied by a witch hunt initiated in the municipalities. Daily announcements addressed various abuses of power by local leaders, including improper use of funds, credits, apartments, and cars. Additionally, the press persistently published the confessions of numerous collectives of working people still awaiting payment for their work and investments in private weekend facilities in Neum and other locations. However, when it seemed that this issue had finally been resolved, it was revived again, at the insistence of particular delegates, at the Tenth Congress of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina (7-9 December 1989), with demands for a review of the sentences imposed. Finally, this topic was discussed at the Fourth Session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 15, 1990. On that occasion, due to stricter measures, seven prominent comrades were expelled from the League of Communists, and four were given warnings. It was the final act of a long-term drama of personnel renewal that significantly influenced the multiple destabilization of the Republic. After that, Neum, as a wholly worn-out topic and a means that had achieved its goal, no longer aroused interest in the conditions of the strong echo of new scandals.

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