ELECTIONS ARE NECESSARY ALTHOUGH THEY MAY BE UNDEMOCRATIC - ICG

SARAJEVO, Sept 10 (Hina) - The upcoming municipal elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, held under the present conditions, will have little to do with democracy, but they must be held because a possible postponement would only represent another concession to the adversaries of the Dayton Agreement, representatives of the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-governmental organisation regularly analysing the situation in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Director of the CIG project for Bosnia, Hrair Balian, told a news conference in Sarajevo that all analyses showed that the results of the elections, scheduled for 13 and 14 September, were completely unpredictable, because they would present the result of a faulty electoral system. Leading parties in the country had received lists of voters two weeks ago, after which they engaged in analyses. Recent threats of boycotts were the result of an estimate that they would lose in some strategically important regions, and they wanted more concessions from OSCE, Balian said. (hina) lm 101638 MET sep 97