INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS CONFIRM REGULARITY OF BOSNIAN VOTE

SARAJEVO, Oct 6 (Hina) - Officials of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's department for democracy and human rights (ODIHR), who monitored the regularity of the October 5 general vote in Bosnia- Herzegovina confirmed on Sunday the regularity of the elections, but added that the newly-elected officials should consider the low turnout as a serious warning. #L# According to the Bosnian Election Commission, the turnout of less than 54 percent was below expectations. Only 1,230,000 out of 2,300,000 registered voters went to the polls yesterday. A record low turnout was also reported in Srebrenica, where only 36.5 percent of the electorate voted. ODIHR director Gerard Studman said that those reports were a serious warning to all politicians in the country. Abstaining from voting indicates that citizens are very frustrated and politicians should take their duties all the more seriously, Studman said at a news conference in Sarajevo. A European Parliament deputy, Doris Pack, said that the turnout in the future would be much higher if local politicians proved that they were capable of adopting necessary laws on their own, without intervention by the High Representative. She also added that the new authorities were expected to work towards inter-ethnic reconciliation and creating conditions for property restitution and the return of refugees to their pre-war homes. (hina) rml