PETRITSCH'S DECISION GIVES RISE TO VARIOUS REACTIONS IN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Jan 12 (Hina) - The New Croat Initiative NHI) Friday applauded the decision by High Representative to Bosnia- Herzegovina Wolfgang Petritsch on the protection of vital interests of all three constitutive people in the country. The party described the decision as a defeat for all those forces, primarily the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which were opposed to the constitutive quality of the Croat people on the entire territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The NHI statement, forwarded to Hina Friday, underlines a call to Croat refugees to see Petritsch's decision as an opportunity for return to their pre-war homes. Petritsch on Thursday passed a decision on the establishment of special constitutional commissions in the country's two entities, the Bosnian Federation and Republika Srpska, which would have the authority to protect the rights of all national groups. He also ordered changes to entity constitutions by March 15. Pursuant to the decision, representatives of nine parties, members of an Alliance for Changes, have announced they would accept the formation of a parliamentary majority and governments at all levels of authority where this is possible. Their goal is to oust three leading nationalist parties in Bosnia -- the Serb Democratic Party, the Party of Democratic Action and the HDZ. The latter party reacted to the High Representative's decision, claiming it will be abused with the aim of creating unprincipled political alliances and unions. The decision, according to a statement issued by the HDZ Friday, represents a disintegration of the constitutional institution of the House of Peoples at the Bosnian Federation Parliament. The High Representative cannot, the party said, accurately judge about the national interest of constitutive peoples. (hina) lml sb