MOSLEM CONSTITUTE MIXED ZENICA CANTON ON THEIR OWN

ZEPCE, Apr 14 (Hina) - Zepce-based HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) leader, Nikola Antunovic, said today that Moslem-led SDA (Party of Democratic Action) representatives yesterday held the founding session of the Zenica-Doboj canton council on their own, without inviting Croatian representatives. Antunovic informed the Federal authorities and the embassies of the US, Germany, Austria and Turkey of these occurences. Under the Federal Constitution, that canton was to be constituted as a mixed Croat-Moslem canton, with cantonal authorities reflecting the ethnic structure of the population. But the very name of the would-be mixed canton soon became a bone of contention, as Moslems insisted on calling it the "Zenica- Doboj Canton" while Croats preferred the name "Zepce-Bobovac Canton." According to Antunovic, the Moslems also "unilaterally" convened the founding sessions of the municipal councils of Teslic, Zavidovici, Zepce, Kakanj and Vares, where half the canton's Croatian population is concentrated. Under the Bonn Agreement on the implementation of the Federal Constitution, the founding sessions of municipal and canton councils should have been held by April 15. The names and boundaries of central- and southern-Bosnian mixed cantons were the topics that raised the most acrimonious debate in the Federal Constituent Parliament when the Constitution was being passed. (hina) mm as 141659 MET apr 95