NGO: INCIDENTS DID NOT JEOPARDISE REGULARITY OF ELECTION

SARAJEVO, Oct 2 (Hina) - An association on non-governmental organisations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, established to monitor the electoral campaign and the regularity of general elections in the country on October 5, said on Wednesday that a number of incidents had been registered in the process. The incidents were instigated by political parties which want to spread anxiety and cause conflicts among peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the "Izbori 2002" association said. #L# A joint statement issued by the association of Bosnian NGOs and the Bosnian Helsinki Committee says that such incidents served to spur voters to support "extremist national options", however, the registered incidents have not seriously endangered the regularity of the electoral campaign or the elections. The Izbori 2002 organisation believes that the fundamental characteristic of this year's electoral campaign in Bosnia was an attempt by most parties to discredit their political opponents using inflammatory speeches. Describing the campaign as dirty, the association says that such a course of electoral activities ads to the confusion of the voters. The evident involvement of secret services in daily politics and the electoral campaign was impermissible, the association says. "The way intelligence services have exceeded their constitutional and legal authorities is without precedent in democratic societies," the statement says, not mentioning concrete examples. The Bosnian association of NGOs and the Helsinki Committee have pointed to the fact that part of the clergy, including the heads of some religious communities, are again participating in the promotion of certain political parties. The electronic media are estimated to have completed the task of informing the public professionally and without bias, while the print mostly sided with certain parties. (hina) lml