BOSNIAN HDZ LEADER REPEATS BOYCOTT THREAT OVER EASC RULING

( Editorial: --> 8388 ) JAJCE, Sept 6 (Hina) - Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia- Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) president Ante Jelavic on Saturday night again expressed his party's disgust with the recent removal of HDZ BiH candidates from lists for the forthcoming general elections. At an election rally in the central Bosnian town of Jajce, Jelavic also repeated his party's threat to seriously consider not taking part in next week's elections because of the Election Appeals Sub- Commission (EASC) ruling. On Friday the body, which forms part of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in BH, struck 15 HDZ BiH candidates from election lists, because of allegedly biased reports on Croatian Radio Television (HRT). The ruling has been attacked by both the HDZ BiH Presidency and HRT director Ivica Vrkic, who claimed it was a "provocative" move which had ignored the changes made by Croatia's national broadcaster in meeting OSCE demands for coverage of Bosnia's September 12 and 13 elections. Jelavic, the HDZ BiH candidate for the Croat position on Bosnia's three-member state Presidency, said the EASC decision was not correct and was directly aimed against his party and the Croat people in BH. As a result the party was seriously considering withdrawing from the election race. He said the Dayton agreement was the political minimum for Bosnian Croats and that the HDZ BiH supported its consistent implementation. On Saturday Jajce celebrated the third anniversary of its liberation from Serb occupation. (Hina) mbr 061419 MET sep 98