Former Bosnian Grand Mufti Gets 4% Of Vote In Bosnian Presidential Elections

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Various media were reporting earlier this month on the Bosnian elections held this month and in which the Mustafa Ceric, the former Bosnian Grand Mufti, was running as an independent candidate. As the Balkan Analysis portal reported

October 12, 2014 Mustafa Ceric is running as an independent candidate. His candidacy was quite a surprise, considering that he was a Reis-ul-ulemma of the Islamic Community in Bosnia for over 20 years, since the beginning of the war as a close ally of the senior Izetbegovic. Even during his religious posting, he was unusually active in politics and known for Islamic-nationalist rhetoric.

Turkish media reported the following day that Mustafa Ceric was expected to receive approximately 4% of the vote. 

In August, the GMBDW reported on an Al Jazeera article titled “Does Religion Have Role In Bosnia Elections?” detailing the controversy surrounding the decision by former Bosnian Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric to run as an independent candidate for the Bosnian Muslim seat of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency. As noted then, the Al Jazeera article failed to note additional and key issues about Dr. Ceric who held the position of Chief Mufti of the Bosnian Islamic Community for almost 19 years but was replaced in September 2012

Dr. Ceric has had a long and extensive history of ties to Islamists since the time of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War including a long association with Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi who heads the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) where Dr. Ceric is a member. Questions have also been raised concerning what have been described as Dr. Ceric’s “shady business dealings” and his efforts to placate extremists and silence their moderate critics. The GMBDW reported in June on Dr. Ceric’s decision to run for the Presidency and in April, The Telegraph in the UK cited the GMBDW as the source for their story on the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and the Brotherhood links of Dr.Ceric, one of the Foundation’s advisors. 

For a profile of Dr. Ceric, go here.

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