BOSNIAN GENERAL ELECTIONS' OFFICIAL RESULTS PROCLAIMED

SARAJEVO, Nov 27 (Hina) - According to final and confirmed results of the 11 November general elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is the strongest individual party in the state Parliament's House of Representatives, while the (Moslem) Party of the Democratic Action (SDA) and the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) are the strongest in the federal parliament and the Serb entity's parliament respectively. Robert Barry, the head of the OSCE mission in the country, on Monday announced the final results confirmed by the Provisional Election Commission. Barry told a news conference that the most important task for him and the international community's High Representative in Sarajevo, Wolfgang Petritsch would now be the implementation of the election outcome. According to legal provisions, the houses of representatives at the state and the (Croat-Moslem) federal level should be established within 30 days while the deadline did not exist in the Serb entity, but the time term of 30 days has also been there imposed. Of the 2,508,349-strong Bosnian electorate, over 1,616,000 voters went to the polls on 11 November. The turnout was about 64 percent and a little lower compared to the turnout at the 1998 elections. The state parliament will have 13 parties with three parties more as against the last composition. Of 42 seats, nine will be occupied by the SDP. The SDA will be given eight seats, the SDS six seats, while the Party for Bosnia- Herzegovina (SBiH) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) each gain five seats. The Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) of Mladen Ivanic will have two seats and seven parties will have each one representative and those are SNSD (the Independent Social Democrats) led by the Serb entity's incumbent Premier Milorad Dodik, the Democratic National Community (DNZ), the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party (BPS), the New Croatian Initiative (NHI) led by Kresimir Zubak, Socialists (SPRS) led by Zivko Radisic (the current chairman of Bosnia's collective Presidency), the Serb People's Alliance (SNS) and the Pensioners' Party. The federal parliament of the Croat-Moslem entity will comprise 17 parties. The strongest SDA will occupy 38 seats, SDP 37, HDZ 25 and SBiH 21. Other 13 parties will be represented by ether one or two deputies. The assembly of the Republic of Srpska will include 31 deputies of the SDS, 11 of Dodik's SNSD, and 11 of Ivanic's PDP. Another 10 parties will be represented in this assembly, such as the SDA, SDP and SBiH. On Monday the OSCE mission confirmed that SDS candidates - Mirko Sarovic and Dragan Cavic - were elected as the Serb entity's President and Vice President. (hina) ms