SARAJEVO, April 7 (Hina) - Little over 2,100 polling stations will be opened in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday morning in the elections for new municipal councils and the City Council of Mostar. A total of 68 parties, seven coalitions
and 18 independents are participating in the fourth election organised in the country since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement. Almost 31,000 candidates are competing for 3,300 seats in the legislative bodies of all BH municipalities except for the Brcko District and Srebrenica. Elections will not be held in Brcko this year because the district has still not adopted its permanent statute, whereas in Srebrenica authorities were organised only less than a year ago in line with the results of the previous election. The municipal election will be organised and monitored by the OSCE Mission this time as well. The election is held on the basis of temporary electoral rules and regulations
SARAJEVO, April 7 (Hina) - Little over 2,100 polling stations will
be opened in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday morning in the
elections for new municipal councils and the City Council of
Mostar.
A total of 68 parties, seven coalitions and 18 independents are
participating in the fourth election organised in the country since
the signing of the Dayton peace agreement.
Almost 31,000 candidates are competing for 3,300 seats in the
legislative bodies of all BH municipalities except for the Brcko
District and Srebrenica. Elections will not be held in Brcko this
year because the district has still not adopted its permanent
statute, whereas in Srebrenica authorities were organised only
less than a year ago in line with the results of the previous
election.
The municipal election will be organised and monitored by the OSCE
Mission this time as well. The election is held on the basis of
temporary electoral rules and regulations which have been in force
since 1996.
The election will be monitored by 750 international supervisors and
4,800 domestic volunteers who have been recruited by non-
governmental organisations from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
About 2.5 million voters, of whom 250,000 from abroad, have
registered for this year's election.
It is already certain that the turnout of BH citizens who live
abroad, and of whom the majority are refugees, will be relatively
poor this time.
OSCE Mission spokeswoman Tanya Domi said about 150,000 ballots are
expected from abroad.
The Provisional Electoral Commission, which operates within the
OSCE Mission, this year adopted changes to electoral regulations
penalising candidates who are illegally using someone else's
property thus directly obstructing refugee return.
During preparations for the election, the OSCE Mission has invested
major efforts into a campaign aimed at stimulating voters to go to
the polls.
Some studies show that 30 to 40 percent of the electorate do not know
who to vote for and whether to vote at all.
"Vote for Changes" reads a slogan which could be seen over the past
two months on placards and TV or heard during broadcasts on almost
all radio stations in the country.
The ruling Bosnian Croat party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and
the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) have accused the OSCE Mission
of trying to influence the electorate by spreading such messages,
thus violating the mandate it was entrusted with.
The head of the OSCE Mission, Robert Barry, replied the Mission was
not promoting the Opposition but was trying to make voters think
about the quality of their everyday life and try to achieve better
living standards and solve basic problems.
A study conducted in late March by the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) from Washington shows that the Opposition's
chances in the election have increased significantly.
Asked who they would vote for in the elections, 3,000 interviewees
from 15 Bosnian municipalities said they would support the Social
Democratic Party (SDP) of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the New Croat
Initiative (NHI).
According to the NDI findings, the SDP could win as much as 49
percent of the vote in municipalities with the Bosniak majority,
whereas Haris Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina could win
17 percent. Alija Izetbegovic's SDA is left with a disastrous 9
percent.
In Croat-dominated municipalities the HDZ can expect 35 percent of
the vote, the NHI a respectable 27 percent, and the SDP 14 percent.
The strongest single party in the Bosnian Serb entity is again the
Serb Democratic Party (SDS), with 29 percent of the vote. It is
closely followed by Milorad Dodik's Independent Social Democrats,
with 25 percent. Zivko Radisic's Socialist Party and Biljana
Plavsic's Serb National Alliance can count on 11 percent of the vote
each.
The poll did not include municipalities in eastern Bosnia, where
the SDS enjoys most support.
The obvious fall in popularity has prompted the ruling parties to
return in the pre-electoral campaign to the vilification of the
'communist dictatorship', while SDP's messages mostly read that
with the current authorities Bosnia-Herzegovina had no future.
Wolgang Petritsch, the international community's High
Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, voiced concern over the
electoral rhetoric, which in his opinion diverted people's
attention from what was important - a better economy.
First preliminary election results could start arriving on Sunday,
but the OSCE has not set a deadline until which official results
will be known.
(hina) rml