Fuad Kasumović
Kasumović handshaking after Eid solemnity 2019 in Zenica
Mayor of Zenica
Assumed office
20 November 2016
Preceded byHusejin Smajlović
Personal details
Born (1958-03-20) 20 March 1958
Gornji Vakuf, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityBosnian
Political partyBosnian-Herzegovinian Initiative (2022–present)
Other political
affiliations		Party of Democratic Action (1990–2016)
Independent Bloc (2017–2019)
Independent (2016; 2019–2022)
SpouseMersija Kasumović
Children1
Parents
  • Avdija (father)
  • Esma (mother)
Residence(s)Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma materUniversity of Sarajevo (1987)
OccupationPolitician, businessman
ProfessionEconomist

Fuad Kasumović (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Фуад Касумовић; born 20 March 1958) is a Bosnian politician, economist and businessman serving as mayor of Zenica since November 2016.

Biography

Kasumović was born on 20 March 1958 in Gornji Vakuf.[1][2] After graduating from Economics Faculty Sarajevo[2] (1987),[1] he has been employed at Coal Mine "Gračanica"[2] in his hometown, and soon became CFO of this company. He worked at the mine until Bosnian War began in 1992.[1] During the war, he was a member of Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was awarded its highest recognition, the Golden Lily,[2] and upon his graduation he obtained a job in the Ministry of Dedicated Production in the Government of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1][2] From 1990 to 2016, Kasumović was a member (1990–2016) and functionary of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). Subsequently, he participated in founding the Independent Bloc[1] in September 2017[3] – whose president is Senad Šepić (who is a particular critic of Bakir Izetbegović's politics)[4] – and used to be its member until April 2019.[3][5][6][7][8]

Kasumović began his political career in 1996 as Minister of Finance in the Central Bosnia Canton (SBK).[1][2] Prior to end of his term in the office, in July 1998, he was appointed Deputy Director of Customs Administration of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH).[2] Following his removal from office in 2001, he remained in the Customs Administration for two more years as a financial advisor.[1] Following establishment (by OHR, Kasumović and others)[2] of Indirect Taxation Authority (Serbo-Croatian: Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje, UIO) in 2004, Kasumović was appointed Advisor to Director for International Cooperation.[2] He remained in this post throughout judicial process until his termination in 2007. In the same year he was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance of BiH.[1]

During a period of 2010, he was president of Čelik Kasumović.[1] Kasumović ran[9] in 2010 general election but did not win enough votes to enter House of Representatives of Parliamentary Assembly.[1] However, that year he received trust for second term of Deputy Minister of Finance and Treasury.[1] He was removed from office in October 2012 due to the SDA's departure from ruling state-level coalition.[1] In 2015 and 2016, Kasumović was a member of the Federal Supervisory Board of Development.[1] At the 2016 municipal elections, he was elected mayor of Zenica as an independent candidate;[1][10] his re-election by a three-to-one margin win followed at the 2020 municipal elections, held on 15 November.[11][note 1]

Accusations

Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton charged Kasumović with malpractice because he, as a director of the FBiH Customs Administration, signed a transfer order for 69,000 KM to Tuzla customs office for material costs and lease of premises. However, the money was used to buy flat of an officer of the Administration. After a five-year trial, Kasumović was acquitted.[1] In 2008, Central Election Commission submitted a report against Kasumović to the BiH Prosecutor's Office on suspicion that he did not report all assets in 2007 property file. Kasumović told CIN reporters that no one had contacted him about the issue.[1] Kasumović also said that he had not been contacted in connection with the allegations made against him by the FBiH Financial Police. In 2003, this police institution submitted a report to the SBK Prosecutor's Office, in which Kasumović was suspected of having paid himself and other officials of the FBiH Customs Administration financial compensation for a non-existent separate life.[1]

On 1 December 2021, Kasumović was taken into SIPA-custody;[17] month-planned[18] detention in Zenica prison[19] was discontinued after nine days.[19]

Personal life

Kasumović and his wife Mersija, who is also a politician,[20] have one child.[1] The family owns three business offices, including a petrol station in Zenica of which price Kasumović holds over a half a million KM value.[1]

On 26 October 2020, it was confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[21] On 31 March 2021, Kasumović received a dose of the Pfizer anti-COVID vaccine.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Kasumović participated in the 2020 municipal elections as an independent politician for mayor of Zenica and consequently head of the City Council seat; aside from that, he did not[12] de facto-lead any coalition for the City Council seats and was exclusively an independent candidate (contrast with the 2016 elections: in 2016 he contested and won as an independent but in 2017 had become a member of the Independent Bloc, and had stayed its member until 2019 – when he became again and has stayed till present independent politician). The coalition he had de facto-supported at the 2020 municipal elections was named Zenica Initiative – Kasumović Fuad (ZI-KF),[13] has 35 independent members[14] and is not de jure-related with Fuad Kasumović; its campaign was marked by incident of holding several pre-election rallies with gathered masses despite COVID-19 pandemic demanding social distancing[15][16] – with Kasumović denying that he organized any of those rallies and claiming he only appeared as guest invited by ZI-KF, declining later political subjects.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 CIN biography (in Bosnian)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 FK's website, About (in Bosnian)
  3. 1 2 "U Sarajevu osnovan Nezavisni blok, za predsjednika izabran Senad Šepić". avaz.ba (in Bosnian). Dnevni avaz. 10 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Bosnia's Bosniak party said to distribute power between two factions". BBC Monitoring [European]. 28 January 2012. 08:02.
  5. ↑ "I Kasumović napustio Nezavisni blok, Šepić ponovo izabran za predsjednika". radiosarajevo.ba (in Bosnian). Radio Sarajevo. 14 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Fuad Kasumović potvrdio za Klix.ba: Napuštam Nezavisni blok". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 14 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Kongres Nezavisnog bloka u Sarajevu: Šepić ostaje predsjednik, Kasumović napušta stranku". oslobodjenje.ba (in Bosnian). Oslobođenje. 14 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "Fuad Kasumović napušta Nezavisni blok". zenicainfo.ba (in Bosnian). 14 April 2019.
  9. ↑ 'Izvještaj, CIK, 2010' (in Bosnian), izbori.ba, CIK [Centralna izborna komisija (Central Election Commission)]
  10. ↑ "Fuad Kasumović slavi u Zenici: Bio sam siguran u svoju pobjedu". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 2 October 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  11. ↑ 2020 elections for Mayor final results, in English (archive). izbori.ba. 5 December 2020. Accessed 7 December 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Kasumović: Nisam organizator predizbornog skupa u Zenici" (in Bosnian). N1. 12 November 2020.
  13. ↑ 2020 elections for Council final results, in English (archive). izbori.ba. 5 December 2020. Accessed 7 December 2020.
  14. ↑ ""Zenička inicijativa Kasumović Fuad" garant snažnije izgradnje evropske Zenice". 072info.com (in Bosnian). 16 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Predizborni skup Fuada Kasumovića uz koncert Hakale i više stotina prisutnih". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 10 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Predizborni skup Fuada Kasumovića i večeras uz koncert narodne muzike i stotine prisutnih". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 10 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Uhapšen gradonačelnik Zenice Fuad Kasumović". mondo.ba (in Bosnian). 1 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "Zenica: Kasumović i Drino ostaju u pritvoru do 1. januara iduće godine". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Bosnian). 6 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  19. 1 2 V. K. (10 December 2021). "Fuad Kasumović pušten na slobodu, ispred zatvora ga dočekali brojni građani". klix.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  20. ↑ Mersija Kasumović (in Bosnian), zdk.ba
  21. ↑ E. M. (26 October 2020). "Fuad Kasumović pozitivan na koronavirus". klix.ba (in Bosnian). Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  22. ↑ E. M. (31 March 2021). "Kasumović prvi u Zenici primio Pfizerovu vakcinu, poručio da želi biti primjer". klix.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 31 March 2021.

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