POLLING STATIONS OPEN FOR TWO-DAY GENERAL ELECTION IN BOSNIA

( Editorial: --> 9895 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 12 (Hina) - Polling stations for a two-day general election in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) opened at 7 AM on Saturday. Between 7 AM and 7 PM today, and 7 AM and 4 PM tomorrow, 2.750,705 voters, registered during a special process conducted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in BH, will cast their ballots for 55 political parties, nine coalitions, ten independent candidates, and ten voters' alliances, all competing for six various levels of authority. The election has been entirely organised and is scheduled by the OSCE mission. The voters will elect the future members of Bosnia's collective three-member Presidency, for a four-year term. The president and vice-president of Republika Srpska (RS), one of Bosnia's two entities, will be elected for a two-year mandate, as will 42 members for the House of Representatives of the Bosnian parliament, 140 members for the House of Representatives of Bosnia's other entity, the Croat-Muslim Federation of BH, and 83 representatives of the RS People's Assembly. Voters in the BH Federation will also elect the new composition of the Federation's ten cantonal assemblies, as well as representatives in local councils of ten newly-established municipalities. An equivalent election in the Bosnian Serb entity is held in two municipalities. A total of 2,189 polling stations is to be opened throughout BH, for a total of 1.995,311 registered voters and an additional 447,928 believed to be displaced within the country. A total of 77,508 Bosnian citizens will cast their ballots in Croatia, and 77,986 will do so in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. According to OSCE data, 151,972 voters who currently live abroad decided to vote by post. The first election results are expected on Tuesday, and the final ones within seven or ten days after polling stations have closed down. The election is monitored by 2,700 international observers. The entire scheduling costs are expected to reach US$30 million. (hina) ha 121042 MET sep 98