OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY ASSEMBLY SET UP, HDZ OFFICIAL - NEW COUNTY PREFECT

OSIJEK, Feb 14 (Hina) - The Osijek-Baranja County Assembly held its founding session on Saturday at which it elected Kresimir Bubalo of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) the new county prefect.#L# Bubalo, a 31-year-old economist, won the votes of HDZ members of the assembly as well as those of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU) and the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS). The elected deputy county prefects are Dinko Buric (HDZ) and Mile Horvat (SDSS). Branimir Glavas of the HDZ was elected assembly chairman, while the vice-chairmen are Damir Resetar (Croatian Party of Rights - HSP) and Miroslav Pavlinic (Social Democratic Party - SDP). During the debate on the nominations, HSP deputies insisted that it should be established who belonged to the assembly's majority and who to the minority as there were no official coalitions. Vlado Jukic of the HSP also criticised SDSS councillors for citing as their argument during today's election of county officials the 1997 Letter of Intent of the then Croatian government and the Erdut Agreement, which guaranteed the Serb ethnic minority the right to have its representative elected deputy prefect in this county. Jukic believes that the said letter and the agreement on peaceful reintegration, which was completed a few years ago, were no longer relevant for the exercising of ethnic minorities' rights, and that candidacies should be based on electoral results. The new deputy county prefect, Mile Horvat, responded that the Erdut Agreement stopped being valid with the completion of the peaceful reintegration but that the government's Letter of Intent was a document of permanent character. As a result, the SDSS has the right to nominate its representative for the post of Osijek-Baranja deputy county prefect. At recent early elections for the county's 48-seat assembly, the HDZ won 21 seats, the HSP eight, the coalition of the SDP, the Croatian People's Party (HNS), Libra and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (SBHS) six seats, the HSU four seats, and the HSS, the Liberal Party (LS) and the SDSS three seats each. (Hina) ms