BOSNIA'S MUNICIPAL ELECTION SHOULD BE POSTPONED UNTIL SPRING 2000 - VOLLEBAEK

SARAJEVO, June 3 (Hina) - The municipal election in Bosnia- Herzegovina, scheduled for November this year, should be postponed and organised in spring 2000, the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek told reporters in Sarajevo on Thursday. During a short visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vollebaek met members of the state Presidency and the head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia- Herzegovina whom he acquainted with the proposal. The postponement of the elections is necessary to create democratic conditions for their implementation and give political parties more time to carry out the necessary preparations, Vollebaek said. He confirmed the OSCE would continue participating in the preparation and implementation of BH elections, but he stressed the OSCE wanted the task to be taken over by the local bodies of authority as soon as possible, which requires speeding up preparations for the adoption of a permanent election law. Vollebaek told reporters he had demanded from BH Presidency members to invest additional efforts in cutting military expenditure in the country. (hina) rml