All of the strategizing, grueling hours, sleepless nights and countless town hall meetings and rallies across Bosnia and Herzegovina have come to an end. It is now up to the electorate to determine if they believe in Mirsad’s message of change and that together can they can be the catalyst of a new Bosnia and Herzegovina. They will determine if Mirsad should be the next Bosniak representative on the Bosnian and Herzegovinian presidential council. On this Saturday morning, the day before the election, I walked the streets of Sarajevo with MIrsad, his wife Mirzeta and members of his campaign team. It was a beautiful fall morning, the sun peeking its head out from the clouds and burning off the last hints of morning fog. It’s not like it was just a few short months ago, Mirsad a relatively unknown, embarking on perhaps the biggest challenge of his life. On this day it was obvious that Mirsad was no longer an unknown. He was stopped countless times by those who wanted to shake his hand or have their picture taken with him. A shoe shiner crouched to his knees along the walkway looked up, recognized the presidential candidate, and said, “you have to have clean shoes.” Mirsad took a look and then obliged. A couple from Germany and a friend of theirs from Hungary had flown in and made arrangements to meet with him. They were there because they wanted to vote in person. Some walked by taking a second look. Yes, they knew who it was. Or the couple who looked our direction and mouthed the words, “that’s Mirsad Hadzikadic.” He and I took pause for a few moments at a beautiful outdoor restaurant in the heart of the city. I asked him to share his reflections about his final address to the nation on national TV Friday night.
Posljednje obraćanje Mirsada Hadžikadića na državnoj televiziji prije glasanja na dan izbora
Svo strateško promišljanje, iscrpljujući sati, neprospavane noći i bezbrojne javne tribine i skupovi širom Bosne i Hercegovine su okončani. Sad je na biračkom tijelu da utvrdi vjeruju li u Mirsadovu poruku promjene te da zajedno mogu biti katalizatori nove Bosne i Hercegovine. Oni će odrediti treba li Mirsad biti sljedeći bošnjački predstavnik u Predsjedništvu Bosne i Hercegovine. U subotu ujutro, dan pred izbore, prošetao sam ulicama Sarajeva sa Mirsadom, njegovom suprugom Mirzetom i članovima njegovog tima za kampanju. Bilo je prekrasno jesenje jutro, sunce je izvirivalo iza oblaka rastjerujući posljednje nagovještaje jutarnje magle. Ne djeluje kao da je prošlo tek nekoliko mjeseci od kad je Mirsad bio relativno nepoznat i upustio se u možda najveći izazov svog života. Tog dana je bilo očito da Mirsad više nije nepoznanica. Nebrojeno puta su ga zaustavljali prolaznici koji su željeli da se rukuju i fotografišu s njim. Čistač cipela koji je klečao na ivici ulice podigao je pogled, prepoznao predsjedničkog kandidata i rekao: „Morate imati čiste cipele.“ Mirsad je pogledao i pustio da mu očisti cipele do sjaja. Jedan par iz Njemačke i njihov prijatelj iz Mađarske doletjeli su i ugovorili sastanak s njim. Došli su jer su željeli lično da glasaju. Neki prolaznici bi bacili i drugi pogled na Mirsada. Da, znali su ko je to. Jedan bračni par je pogledao u našem smjeru i rekao: „To je Mirsad Hadžikadić.“ On i ja smo odmorili u predivnom restoranu na otvorenom u srcu grada. Zamolio sam ga da podijeli svoja razmišljanja o posljednjem obraćanju naciji na državnoj televiziji u petak navečer.
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