BH PARLIAMENT RATIFIES COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' NEW COMPOSITION

SARAJEVO, June 23 (Hina) - The House of Representatives of Bosnia- Herzegovina's parliament on Thursday by a tight majority of vote ratified the new composition of the Council of Ministers, BH's government, as motioned by Council chairman Spasoje Tusevljak. Jadranko Prlic has retained his position as BH's foreign minister, as has Mirsad Kurtovic, minister of foreign trade and economic affairs. Bisera Turkovic has been appointed minister for European integration, Martin Raguz minister for human rights and refugees, and Tihomir Gligoric minister for civil affairs and communications. Council of Ministers chairman Tusevljak has also been appointed minister of the state treasury. All Opposition parties in BH's parliament were against the new composition of the Council of Ministers. Representatives of the international community, the Office of the High Representative in particular, have made no attempt thus far to hide their dissatisfaction with Tusevljak's appointment as chairman of the Council of Ministers. He has been publicly warned that every move he makes will be carefully watched and his mistakes penalised. Tusevljak is said to be close to political circles in Belgrade and the hard-line core of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), even though he is not a member. According to the law on BH's Council of Ministers, this body's chairman should rotate every eight months, which in the present case will not happen because new changes in the Council's composition are likely to occur following general elections in November. (hina) ha