FROWICK ASSESSES BH ELECTION MOST COMPLICATED EVER SCHEDULED

SCHEDULED $ SARAJEVO, Sept 12 (Hina) - Two and a half million citizens of Bosnia- Herzegovina will this weekend through their votes once again have the opportunity to assess the results various political parties achieved in that country to date, and to elect municipal authorities for the next two years. Even though last year's election, for bodies of authority in Bosnia- Herzegovina, its two entities (Croat-Moslem and Serb) and the ten cantons making up the Bosnian Federation, was labelled one of the most complex in history, this year's municipal election proved an even bigger challenge. This is definitely the most complicated election ever scheduled, said David Foley, a spokesman for the Bosnian mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. BH consists of 136 municipalities of various size, resources and number of residents. This is due not to a systematic local government structure, but a division of the country imposed by the separation line between the entities. According to OSCE statistics, the municipality of Banja Luka has 132,409 voters, while a part of the municipality of Kupres which in line with the Dayton peace accord went to the Bosnian Serb republic has only 416 voters. Ninety-one political parties will take part in this year's election (only 47 of these existed last year), alongside nine party alliances and 159 independent candidates. Voters will be able to cast their ballots at 2,300 polling stations in BH, while those abroad will have 143 polling stations at their disposal, including 83 in Yugoslavia and 67 in Croatia. The election will be supervised by 2,450 OSCE supervisors and numerous international monitors. Tomorrow and on Sunday, Bosnian voters will cast their ballots for authorities in municipalities they reside in, as well as for local authorities + in the municipality they resided in before the war, and for local authorities in another municipality they do not reside in. Voters may also vote for authorities in the municipality they were displaced from. Polling stations for these ballots will be situated along the inter-entity boundary. Votes will be counted by at headquarters situated in the NATO-led Stabilization Force's base in Rajlovac near Sarajevo. The first results are expected on 20 October at the earliest. The election results will be confirmed by a temporary election commission chaired by the head of OSCE's mission in BH, Robert Frowick. After the election, the commission must enable all elected councillors to step in office. (hina) ha jn 121228 MET sep 97