MOSTAR, Aug 8 (Hina) - High International Representative to Bosnia Paddy Ashdown on Thursday called on Bosnian Croats to vote, as he said, for those who supported reforms at the autumn election.
MOSTAR, Aug 8 (Hina) - High International Representative to Bosnia
Paddy Ashdown on Thursday called on Bosnian Croats to vote, as he
said, for those who supported reforms at the autumn election. #L#
This is the time for Croats to be involved in all institutions and
participate in various processes, Ashdown said in an interview for
Mostar's daily "Dnevni list", the only daily in Bosnia in Croatian
language.
The weaker the Croats are in Bosnia, the poorer their position will
be, Ashdown said, calling on Croats to undertake a fair and active
role in Bosnia.
The call by the high representative to Croats to take an active
political role followed a recent media poll which warned that
Croats could massively boycott the coming election. The Croat
electorate is estimated to be about 300,000 voters, and polls
indicate that up to 70 percent could avoid voting in the election in
October. This current disinterest by Croats in Bosnia for the
election could be explained by their disappointment in Croat
political parties in general, but also by some actions by the
international community.
The international community has in the past two years dismissed 170
Croat political officials. It also intervened in Hercegovacka
Banka, freezing all accounts, replacing the bank's management and
introduced a temporary management.
(hina) lml