SARAJEVO, 5 Oct (Hina) - After a several-hour delay, the inauguration of the newly-elected House of Representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina took place in Sarajevo on Saturday. The inauguration ceremony was held without Serb
representatives. For more than three hours it was uncertain whether Serb representatives would appear at the ceremony, which was held in the Sarajevo National Theater. Meanwhile, Michael Steiner, deputy to the international peace mediator Carl Bildt, held negotiations with the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, in Pale near Sarajevo.
SARAJEVO, 5 Oct (Hina) - After a several-hour delay, the
inauguration of the newly-elected House of Representatives of
Bosnia-Herzegovina took place in Sarajevo on Saturday. The
inauguration ceremony was held without Serb representatives. For
more than three hours it was uncertain whether Serb representatives
would appear at the ceremony, which was held in the Sarajevo
National Theater. Meanwhile, Michael Steiner, deputy to the
international peace mediator Carl Bildt, held negotiations with the
Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, in Pale
near Sarajevo. #L#
After the Serbs refused to participate in the ceremony, Carl
Bildt, who called today's session, decided that the session should
be held and that the House of Representatives should be
established.
Solemn oaths were signed by 19 representatives of the Party of
Democratic Action (SDA), eight representatives of the Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ) and two representatives each of the Party
for Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Joint List.
The text of the solemn oath was signed by Bosnian Presidency
members, Alija Izetbegovic and Kresimir Zubak.
In a short address, Izetbegovic called on all Bosnian peoples
to turn to the reconstruction of the country, adding that those
responsible for the country's plight would sooner or later have to
answer for what they had done.
Preservation of peace was the main duty of all those who lived
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zubak said, adding that the protection of
national rights was the basis of co-existence.
Addressing the participants in the ceremony, Carl Bildt
recalled that after the most brutal war in Europe since 1945,
Bosnia appeared as a unified, but not centralistic state whose
future would be determined by the peace agreement and the country's
Constitution.
Bildt promised that the international community would continue
to support the strengthening of peace in Bosnia.
The House of Representatives inauguration ceremony was also
attended by delegations from Croatia and Yugoslavia, which were led
by Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic and Yugoslav Vice Premier
Nikola Sainovic.
A delegation of the U.S. government, led by aide to U.S.
Secretary of State, John Kornblum, attended the ceremony as well.
(hina) rm
052053 MET oct 96