HSP REPRESENTATIVE CANNOT HAVE SEAT IN BH HOUSE OF PEOPLES

SARAJEVO, Dec 3 (Hina) - The Office of the High Representative (OHR) for implementation of the Dayton peace agreement and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina have not approved the election of a Bosnian Croat representative to the BH Parliament House of Peoples. Deputy High Representative Simon Haselock told reporters in Sarajevo on Thursday that the Federation Parliament's House of Peoples, which at its last session delegated four MPs from the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) and one from the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), had only partially met the request of the OHR and OSCE, which insisted that the composition of the Croat delegation reflect the results of the September election. We are not satisfied with the fact that the seat which should have been given to the Opposition was allocated to a candidate from the HSP, Haselock said. Haselock added that HDZ officials would be allowed to participate in parliamentary sessions, while the seat reserved for the Croat Opposition would remain empty. We insist that the seat be given to a candidate of the New Croat Initiative (NHI), OSCE spokeswoman Nicole Szulc said. The interested parties have been directly informed of this standpoint by the OSCE Mission chief Robert Barry, Szulc said. (hina) jn rml