INT OFFICIALS WELCOME ELECTION OF JELAVIC FOR HDZ BH PRESIDENT

( Editorial: --> 4508 ) MOSTAR, May 17 (Hina) - It is very important that Ante Jelavic has been elected president of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia- Herzegovina (HDZ BH) by a 73 per cent majority vote, Martin Garrod, head of the Mostar regional office of the international High Representative for Bosnia, said Sunday. Jelavic, the Defence Minister of the Croat-Muslim Federation of BH, was elected president of the HDZ BH at yesterday's session of the party's fifth convention, taking place in Mostar, southern Bosnia. The other presidential candidate, proposed by the party's Presidency, was the federal Health Minister, Bozo Ljubic. He withdrew his candidacy however, due to, he said yesterday, "the atmosphere before and during the convention." The election means Jelavic has the support of the party's majority and that this will give him power, Garrod said. He pointed out the High Representative wanted to cooperate with the HDZ BH, and refuted allegations that the international community was against Croats. The international community knows Jelavic and its experience working with him has been positive, said David Foley, head of the Mostar regional office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Foley hoped Jelavic would contribute to eliminating problems in the international community's relations with the HDZ BH. The OSCE official also rejected any possibility of discussing a new cantonal structure in BH. This suggestion was made by certain Croat officials in the past and, Foley said, is announced in the HDZ BH programme declaration passed at the session yesterday. Reporters asked former HDZ BH president Bozo Rajic if the way Jelavic was elected meant Herzegovina was turning its back on HDZ, Croatia's governing party, president Franjo Tudjman. "Only those who don't know Herzegovinians and Croats could say that", Rajic said. (hina) ha 171457 MET may 98