The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, today issued a Decision enabling municipal elections in Zepce to be held on the same day as this year’s general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The municipal elections will be held under the Election Law of BiH and are to be organised by the BiH Election Commission.

The Interim Board, put in place by the High Representative’s Decision of October 2000, has successfully met the requirements placed upon it by the High Representative and the Zepce Supervisor. The High Representative announced the satisfactory implementation of his Decision on Zepce in September 2001. In accordance with the Decision, the Interim Board, which has governed Zepce since its appointment by the High Representative will hand over to a democratically elected Municipal Council, at the Council’s first session following elections. Thereafter elections in this municipality will be held in line with those in other municipalities.

The High Representative is pleased to issue this Decision, as it shows that the extensive efforts undertaken by himself and members of his Office in Zepce Municipality have borne fruit. A long period of lawlessness and parallel structures in this municipality has been ended, benefiting its residents and the residents of the surrounding municipalities - this year's elections are a sign of a return to normality in this municipality. The most recent figures for return of property show that Zepce has reinstated more than 90% of claimants, and the municipality itself has attracted a significant amount of investment since this process began.

The High Representatives second decision corrects and completes the names of certain inhabited settlements which, under the decision, are now included in Zepce Municipality, bringing them into line with the names held by the BiH Federation's Statistics Institute.