MOSTAR, Nov 14 (Hina) - The president of Bosnia's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said on Monday his party might not take part in any coalition government. "The chief culprit for the absence of changes at BH (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
elections is the international community's administration, first of all the Office of the High Representative and the OSCE Mission," Ante Jelavic told reporters in Mostar. The international community's "insane, shameful and genocidal electoral rules created resistance, especially within the Croat electoral body, which was then noticed by the Bosniak and then Serb electoral body, which was the chief obstacle to changes," he said. Jelavic described accusations that a recent declaration on the rights and position of the Bosnian Croat people represented a request for a third entity as "silly." The declaration, endorsed at a referendum held at the same time as last S
MOSTAR, Nov 14 (Hina) - The president of Bosnia's Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ) said on Monday his party might not take part
in any coalition government.
"The chief culprit for the absence of changes at BH (Bosnia and
Herzegovina) elections is the international community's
administration, first of all the Office of the High Representative
and the OSCE Mission," Ante Jelavic told reporters in Mostar.
The international community's "insane, shameful and genocidal
electoral rules created resistance, especially within the Croat
electoral body, which was then noticed by the Bosniak and then Serb
electoral body, which was the chief obstacle to changes," he said.
Jelavic described accusations that a recent declaration on the
rights and position of the Bosnian Croat people represented a
request for a third entity as "silly."
The declaration, endorsed at a referendum held at the same time as
last Saturday's general election, advocates the equality of the
Bosnian Croat people with the other two peoples, Serbs and
Bosniaks, and urges the establishment of Croat institutions on the
entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the
country's administrative and territorial reorganisation.
Jelavic said Bosnia's HDZ did not object to the Dayton peace
agreement but wanted to expand it, as the constitutions of Bosnia
and its Croat-Muslim federation had no provisions protecting the
national interests of the Bosnian Croat people.
He acknowledged the 1995 agreement ended the war and brought peace
but said it deprived Croats of half of Bosnia, as before the war
150,000 Croats lived on Bosnian Serb republic territory and only
2,000 today.
Jelavic called today's news conference after a presidency meeting
of the Croat People's Assembly which adopted a report on the results
of the referendum. The assembly was established recently, for the
referendum. Both were initiated by HDZ.
(hina) ha jn