Tihic Sulejman

Member of the Presidency, Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Official Website)

Sulejman Tihic became a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) tripartite presidency on 28 October 2002, following general elections in the country on 5 October 2002. Representing the country's Bosniak community, Tihic and the other two members of the collective presidency, Bosnian Croat Dragan Covic and Bosnian Serb Mirko Sarovic, were elected by direct popular vote to a four-year term, replacing Beriz Belkic, Jozo Krizanovic and Zivko Radisic.

Tihic is the leader of the Party for Democratic Action, founded in 1990. He won the presidential seat with 37.3 per cent of the Bosniak vote, defeating his main rivals Haris Silajdzic and Alija Behmen.

Born in Bosanski Samac on 26 November 1951, Tihic is a graduate of the Sarajevo University's department of law. From 1975 to 1983 he served as a judge and a public prosecutor in his hometown, and then as a lawyer until 1992.

During the 1992-1995 war in BiH, Tihic was kept for about three months at the prison camps run by Bosnian Serb forces in Bosanski Samac, Brcko, Bijeljina, Batajnica and Sremska Mitrovica.

From 1994 to 1996 Tihic served as head of the consular department at the BiH embassy in Germany. He then worked until 1999 as the BiH foreign minister's advisor on consular affairs.

Tihic was a member of the parliament of Republika Srpska from 1996 to 2002, serving in the last two years as its deputy speaker. In 2001, the international community's High Representative in BiH nominated him as member of the parliamentary committee on constitutional issues.

Tihic is married and has two sons and a daughter.