PETRISCH PRESENTS DRAFT OF PERMANENT ELECTORAL LAW FOR BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Oct 24 (Hina) - The draft of a permanent electoral law for Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) will not entirely satisfy either of the country's three ethnic communities, but it offers possibilities for real compromise which must be arrived at through dialogue, the High Representatives for BH, Wolfgang Petrisch, said in Sarajevo earlier in the week. Petrisch presented the document on Thursday at a press conference which was also attended by the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia, Robert Barry, and Francois Fraumont-Maurice, the president of the commission which made the draft. Both domestic and foreign experts worked on the draft, which received the support by the Board of Administration at the Peace Implementation Council in Bosnia. Petrisch said the draft represents a framework which enables the holding of free and impartial elections. The Bosnian parliament is expected to pass the bill in regular procedure so that national elections planned for autumn 2000 may be held in keeping with the new rules, he explained. OSCE Mission head Barry assessed as unfounded some criticism of the new electoral law draft. Politicians in Bosnia have a tendency to underestimate the voters' capabilities, the American diplomat said, adding research had proved that claims which said common people would be confused by the proposed ballots were incorrect. French lawyer Fraumont-Maurice took part in the making of the electoral law draft with eminent colleagues from the United States, Spain, and Denmark. He said the major new aspects were the preferential voting system for the members of Bosnia's collective Presidency, open lists of candidates for bodies of authorities at all levels, as well as a minority quota which should ensure the election of a minimum 30 percent of women. Fraumont-Maurice compared the preferential voting system for the members of the Presidency to the election of the French President. In the future, voters will be able to rank candidates as much as they want to. The new electoral law would continue limiting the right to elect candidates from only one ethnic community, provided that all must receive 1,000 signatures from voters from the other entity, namely be given the support of at least four municipal councils from the other entity. Open voter lists will also enable the free election of candidates from any political party. Further aspects stipulate the prohibition of paid political ads in electronic media, the limiting of campaign costs to one convertible mark per voter in every electoral run, the submission of detailed financial reports will be mandatory, the performance of more than one electoral duty will be prohibited, and refugees will be able to vote in the municipality in which they lived prior to the war. Fraumont-Maurice said the draft was simultaneously innovative and traditional, offering new solutions, and in the case of elections of members for the Presidency incited voting for moderate politicians inclined to compromise. The French lawyer said 46 different electoral systems had been consulted prior to the making of the draft, which incorporates German and French experience, as well as some from, as he said, exotic countries. (hina) ha mm