BOSNIAN HDZ RETURNS TO FEDERAL PARLIAMENT

SARAJEVO, Nov 28 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Bosnia-Herzegovina returned to the parliament of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation Wednesday, after a several-month-long boycott motivated by the alleged breaching of the Constitution and electoral rights, for which the HDZ accused representatives of the international community in Bosnia. The Bosnian HDZ representatives appeared at the sitting of the House of Representatives at the federal parliament in Sarajevo. The president of the Bosnian HDZ, Ivica Marinovic, said that resumed participation in the work of the parliament followed after an assessment that everyone, including the international community, understood the seriousness and foundation of previous objections of the party. Marinovic on this occasion accused the ruling Alliance for Changes that it "installs illegal Croats in authoritative bodies". Marinovic also presented the HDZ's evaluation that the status of Bosnian Croats continued to get worse, and that Croats were being brought down to the status of a national minority. During a brief discussion, Marinovic was told he had to take into consideration the fact that only 30 percent of the Croat electorate voted for his party in relation to the number of Croats in BH in 1991, and not 95 percent as the HDZ claims. The House of Representatives elected Ram Maslesa the new interior minister of the BH Federation with a majority vote. He will succeed Muhamed Besic who resigned from his office about a month ago. (hina) np sb