ERDUT MUNICIPAL COUNCIL HOLDS CONSTITUENT SESSION

DALJ, June 3 (Hina) - The municipal council of Erdut, a town in UN- administered eastern Croatia, held a constituent session on Tuesday, electing Stevan Babic of the Serb Independent Democratic Party (SDSS) as head of the municipality and Viktor Sakic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party as his deputy. SDSS member Jovan Jelic was elected president of the municipal council while Ante Kuna of the HDZ and Vojislav Bojanic of the SDSS were elected vice-presidents. The council comprises 11 members of the SDSS and five of the HDZ. The HDZ councillors took the oath in the Croatian language while the SDSS councillors did it in Serbian. The official symbols of the Croatian state were displayed at the session, along with the flags of the ethnic Serb and Hungarian communities. Besides the Croatian national anthem, the ceremonial songs of the two minority communities were also played. Meanwhile, Croatian councillors left the session of the municipal council of Tenja after SDSS councillors demanded that the coat of arms of the Serb community be placed beside the Croatian coat of arms, which was not envisaged under the protocol. The transitional municipality of Tenja has been founded for a period of one year by UN Transitional Administrator Jacques Klein. Its council consists of 12 councillors of the SDSS, three of the HDZ and one of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP). Only the Serb flag was displayed on the building where the constituent session should have been held. After the Croatian councillors walked out, the Serbs carried on the with the session, putting up their coat of arms besides the Croatian. (hina) vm mm 032105 MET jun 97