SARAJEVO, 28 May (Hina) - In the next ten days, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would probably decide that the elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina be held even before 14 September, which was set as the
deadline for the elections, Bosnian representative in the OSCE Temporary Election Commission, Kasim Begic, told today's session of the Bosnian Assembly.
SARAJEVO, 28 May (Hina) - In the next ten days, the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would probably decide
that the elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina be held even before 14
September, which was set as the deadline for the elections, Bosnian
representative in the OSCE Temporary Election Commission, Kasim
Begic, told today's session of the Bosnian Assembly. #L#
The basic problem at present was that there was no freedom of
movement and media, primarily on the territory controlled by the
Bosnian Serbs, Begic said. Similar problems existed on the
territory of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well, Begic
added, calling on the Bosnian Parliament to ask from the OSCE to
exert pressure and apply penalty measures against those who were
preventing the fulfillment of conditions necessary for the
implementation of the elections.
'The forthcoming elections should confirm peace, and not
generate new misunderstandings and conflicts', Begic said.
He also said that the legalization of ethnic cleansing should
be prevented.
An example for the legalization of ethnic cleansing was given
by representative Mirsad Djapo who said that the Serb authorities
in Brcko were trying to change the ethnic picture of the town by
settling Serb refugees and influence election results. This, he
said, could have dire consequences for election results for the
Posavina region.
Secretary General of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA),
Mirsad Ceman, said on behalf of his party that not even basic
conditions for the implementation of elections had been met and
that it would be hard to prevent the rigging of election results.
'The SDA will consider before it decides to participate in the
elections, whether that contributes to the integration of Bosnia-
Herzegovina or not', Ceman said.
Minister Nudzeim Recica submitted a report on the return of
refugees. According to information from the Bosnian Ministry for
Refugees, some 40,000 refugees had returned to Bosnia since the
signing of the Dayton peace agreement. All of them had been
temporarily of permanently accommodated on the Federation's
territory. The Serb authorities had not allowed a single Bosniac or
Croat refugee to return to their homes, Recica said, announcing
that the arrival of some 4,500 to 5,000 refugees could be expected
in the next 30 days.
The costs of the return of refugees were higher that the total
aid worth 5 billion dollars the international community had
announced to give for the reconstruction of the country, Recica
said.
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