ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - A Croatian deputy parliamentary speaker has sent a letter to the chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Adrian Severin, saying the "unconstitutional" electoral rules passed in Bosnia have seriously
endangered the equality of Bosnian Croats, and called for a re-examination of the international community's policy towards Bosnia.
ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - A Croatian deputy parliamentary speaker
has sent a letter to the chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly, Adrian Severin, saying the "unconstitutional" electoral
rules passed in Bosnia have seriously endangered the equality of
Bosnian Croats, and called for a re-examination of the
international community's policy towards Bosnia.#L#
Croatia's Zdravko Tomac last week attended an OSCE (Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe) session in Vienna, and
outlined Croatia's stances on current issues in Bosnia. Tomac has
now elaborated them in a letter, requesting an open debate and that
OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly take a stand.
The letter stresses Croatia is not interfering with Bosnian affairs
but that as a signatory to the Dayton peace accord it is obliged to
contribute to stability and democracy in Bosnia and the whole
region.
Tomac says a Croatian parliamentary delegation he led on a Bosnian
visit earlier last month outlined through numerous meetings with
local and international officials the concept of Croatia's new
policy to the neighbouring state.
Said policy relies on five basic stances: the need of developing
mutual relations between the two sovereign and equal states;
Croatia's resoluteness to not interfere at all with Bosnia's
internal affairs, but respect its constitutional obligation to
provide for and protect the Croat people living abroad; the need of
implementing the Dayton accord; the need of defusing the situation
with permanent dialogue between Bosnian Croat and international
community representatives; and finally the need of forming an
inter-parliamentary group which would encourage the two
governments to expedite the resolving of open issues.
Croatia believes it is necessary to quickly and consistently
implement a Bosnian Constitutional Court decision on the quality of
being constituent of Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs throughout the
country, and to begin changing electoral rules and the
constitutions in both Bosnian entities.
The letter points to the inadmissibility of a one-sided changing of
the Dayton accords and Bosnia's Constitution, and says they can be
changed only with full consent from all three constituent peoples
and according to procedure.
During the February visit, the Croatian delegation said the
election of representatives to the House of Peoples, parliament's
upper house, under changed electoral rules considerably violated
the three people's Constitution-stipulated quality of being
constituent and the equality of the Croat people, and that it might
cause a crisis with immeasurable consequences.
The delegation also pointed to the fact that contradictory
processes were underway in both entities, namely that it was
dangerous to connect the Bosnian Serb republic (RS) with Serbia and
Yugoslavia via special relations agreements. The delegation also
warned that in practice RS was growing stronger as a state of
Bosnia's Serb people, while in the other entity, the Croat-Muslim
federation, the adoption of a series of special documents changing
the Dayton accords was transforming it into one in which Croats were
losing equality.
"Starting from the need to achieve the stated principles, we were
very critical and open in pointing to the problem the international
community created by adopting unconstitutional electoral rules on
the mode of election of representatives to the House of Peoples,
thereby, contrary to the Dayton peace accords, seriously
undermining the equality of the Croat people," says the letter.
It reminds the Dayton accords provides concrete mechanisms whereby
the Bosniak and Croat peoples can achieve equality in the
federation, for instance deciding by consensus on important
national interests, personnel parity, and the rotation of chairmen
according to the national key for which reason the constituting of
the House of Peoples to which each people elect their
representatives is formulated in the Dayton accords.
"Contrary to that concept, the transitional electoral rules passed
by the Transitional Electoral Commission enable Bosniaks and not
Croats to elect representatives of the Croat people" as Bosniaks
are in the majority in most of the federation's cantons. Their
majority decides who among the Croats gets elected to the upper
house.
"This mode of election prevents the Croat people from expressing
their political will in the House of Peoples and the implementation
of electoral results even without a formal change of the Dayton
accords, and negates the federation as a form of guaranteeing the
Croat people's equality."
The letter also says it has been proved such solutions cause new
problems and empower forces which offer the old policy of creating
ethnically clean territories. Forces seeking a third entity as a
condition crucial for the Croat people's equality have resurfaced,
national homogenisation is underway and forces seeking conflict
and division are becoming stronger.
These are the reasons why it is necessary to conduct a critical re-
examination of the international community's policy in Bosnia,
open a discussion on how to solve the crisis and pass a firm
electoral law which will eliminate the present errors, the letter
concludes.
(hina) ha sb