FOURTH CONVENTION OF HDZ FOR BH

NEUM, 3 August (Hina)- Bozo Rajic was elected today president of the Croatian Democratic Union for BH at the 4th convention of the party in the town of Neum. In his inaugural speech he said, iner alia: "I will respect others, honour human rights and freedoms, but I will not tolerate that others have more freedom than the Croats... We will do our best so that the Croat people see the light of freedom it has been craving for centuries. We have only one more step to go to realize that goal." Speaking about the present political situation in BH and the HDZ's agenda for the near future, President of the BH Federation, Kresimir Zubak, singled out three issues as crucial for the resolution of the BH crisis and the achievement of the Croat goals: the constitution of BH and the status of Croats in it, the role of BH in the new world order and relations between BH and Croatia. The HDZ and Croats are committed to a composite BH, with Croats as a sovereign and constitutive people, a country closely linked with the Republic of Croatia. The war is over but the political struggle that lies ahead of us will be just as difficult, said Zubak. The Washington agreements and Dayton accords have vindicated the Croats' political platform. However, those documents should now be implemented on the ground, said the President BH Federation. Finally Zubak stressed the Croats had not been treated fairly by their Muslim partners in the Federation and pointed to some unfair moves of the international community. He called on his compatriots to prepare for the elections the best they can, so that the Croats could get satisfactory representation in Federation and BH bodies. hj (Hina) 031411 MET aug 96