- BH-Central Institutions
- BiH Parliament's constituting session postponed until December 29th;
- Federation
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- Pensioners announce more protests and roadblocks;
- Federation Prime Minister, Edhem Bicakcic, applies for the post of
the Elektroprivreda BiH Director;
- Slobodna Dalmacija editorial: Assistance to Croats in BiH same as
the wolf-protection program;
- Slobodna Dalmacija Interview with Cardinal Vinko Puljic: 'I render
my accounts to the Holy Father alone, and not to the international
organizations';
- The Reaction of the Deputy Minister Jovic to the OHR letter about
the removal of the checkerboard coat of arms from classrooms : 'Only
Croat insignia inconvenient again!;
- Republika Srpska
- Mirko Sarovic, the RS President will nominate a candidate for the RS
Prime Minister position on Friday
- Zivko Radisic, Presiding of BiH Presidency visited Sanski Most and
Srpski Sanski Most
- Patrik Volf, OHR spokesperson: Clear obligations of the new
government
- International Community
- Wolfgang Petritsch writes to Haris Silajdzic;
- ICG's James Lyon says the OHR and the OSCE failed to use their
powers properly in BiH;
- High Representative imposed new set of laws;
- Mladen Ivanic meets Wolfgang Petritsch;
- Wolfgang Petritsch discusses political and economic achievements of
the year 2000:
- NATO Secretary-General, George Robertson, visits Sarajevo:
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Central Institutions related Issues:
BiH Parliament's constituting session postponed until December 29th:
The constituting session of the BiH Parliament's House of Representatives
which was scheduled for today will be postponed until December 29th, due
to request of the HDZ. HDZ's Ivo Andric Luzanski said that representatives
of this party will wait for the formation of the House of Peoples after
which they will make a decision on their participation in the government.
Federation
Pensioners announce more protests and roadblocks:
After yesterday's demonstrations in front of the OHR and the subsequent
meeting with the Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson, the
Associations of Pensioners in the Federation announced the continuation of
protests and roadblock in the coming period, as a sign of its
dissatisfaction with the newly imposed amendments to the Law on Pension
Fund. The President of the Executive Council of the Association, Enver
Sarajlic, told press yesterday that he was disappointed with the talks in
the OHR whose representatives, as he said, did not show any understanding
of the issues and problems facing the pensioners. Sarajlic said he was
particularly upset that the High Representative could not find time to
receive he delegation of pensioners after yesterday's demonstrations.
Federation Prime Minister, Edhem Bicakcic, applies for the post of the
Elektroprivreda BiH Director:
Dnevni Avaz reports that the current Prime Minister of the Federation,
Edhem Bicakcic, applied for the position of the Director of the BiH
Elektroprivreda. The same source speculates that Bicakcic has very good
chances of getting this position, since most members of the board which
will decide on the issue are fervent supporters or members of the SDA and
close colleagues of Bicakcic. The final decision will be made on December
29th.
Slobodna Dalmacija editorial: Assistance to Croats in BiH same as the
wolf-protection program!;
"Some people have estimated that the amount allotted from the Croatian
Budget for the "save the wolves" protection program and the amount
earmarked for Croats in BiH will be approximately the same. However, if
the wolves from the protected zone in the Republic of Croatia keep
slaughtering the sheep here, the BiH Croats will be at huge loss, as
opposed to the wolves. Well, what can you do? Croats are national (some
say nationalist), and the wolves are international."
Slobodna Dalmacija Interview with Cardinal Vinko Puljic: 'I render my
accounts to the Holy Father alone, and not to the international
organizations':
(Provided by the Mostar office)
Q: You have been declared the key person behind the HDZ's success at the
general elections. What are your relations with that party?
A: I find it difficult to understand this turnabout because up until
recently, I was often declared the major obstructionist of the HDZs
success. How could I become the key person on their side by one sole
gesture, when my principles and views are the same as they were before?
Regardless of the party and various groundless statements and attacks on
me and the Church, I remain the shepherd of my people and strong believer
in the Vrhbosna Diocese. Moreover, I care not only for my own people and
my own congregation, but the rights of each and every person in BiH.
Q: Is it true that US Ambassador Thomas Miller reproached you for
attending the session in Novi Travnik?
A: In our meetings, individual ambassadors were interested to hear about
the reasons why I attended the session in Novi Travnik. However, the
engineering in terms of forming a public opinion about my attendance came
out of the OSCE and the OHR. Of course, I want to let everyone know that I
render my accounts to the Holy Father and the Holy See alone, and no other
organization, including the international organizations. Especially, I do
not render my accounts to politicians as far as my mission is concerned.
I am prepared to explain my views and inform all the aforementioned about
my standpoint, hear their opinions and even benevolent criticism from
their side, provided that it is grounded. However, it is only the Holy
Father that I render my accounts to.
Q: What is your appraisal of the situation that B&H is in following the
elections?
A: If I were to use the vocabulary of meteorology, I would say "cloudy,"
and we want so badly the sun to rise. What sort of democracy is this, if
it generates so much frustration? As if we were all pressed by a nightmare
so much that we think there is no way out. An old proverb says, the more
cooks the saltier the pottage. In this "Bosnian pot," many people add salt
and it is no wonder that what we taste is bitter and too salty.
It is necessary to push forward the positive forces that will offer a
perspective for the reconstruction of the country, development of the
economy, its opening to the world and establishment of sound relations
with the neighbors.
The Reaction of the Deputy Minister Jovic to the OHR letter about the
removal of the checkerboard coat of arms from classrooms : 'Only Croat
insignia inconvenient again!':
The OHR addressed the CBC Minister of Education, Fahrudin Karakas, and his
Deputy Vjekoslav Djikic with a letter referring to the removal of national
insignia from classrooms. "We would like to stress once more that all
national insignia should be removed from the classrooms in the entire area
of Central Bosnia Canton. It would be particularly convenient to remove
Croat(ian) checkerboard coat of arms from all parts of the classrooms
where classes are conducted according to the Croat curriculum and place
the insignia of either BiH or the BiH Federation in all of the classrooms,
irrespective of which curriculum is used during the classes, " read the
letter signed by OHR's Christine Zandvliet and Claude Kieffer.
Ivo Miro Jovic, the Federal Deputy Minister of Education, reacted to the
letter. He asks why would it be "particularly convenient to remove the
Croat(ian) checkerboard coat of arms," and why it is exactly the
checkerboard that was given this special honor.
"This is an irresponsible and illegal action by the protagonists of this
story, which carries along the hatred towards the Croat people and Croat
insignia. My sincere regards in the hope that you will apologize publicly
and revoke those instructions," concludes Jovic's letter to the OHR
officials.
Republika Srpska
Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric visits Banja LukA: OHR does not help
Muslims as much as it should:
The Reisu-l-ulema of the Islamic Community, Mustafa ef. Ceric, visited
Banja Luka on Tuesday and talked to representatives of now relatively
small Muslim community in the city. After serving a religious ceremony,
Ceric listened to complaints of Banja Luka Bosniaks who criticized the
OHR's regional office staff, who allegedly obstructs the process of the
return of Bosniaks to this city and their re-employment by public
companies. Ceric promised to talk to representatives of the International
Community and ask for a more genuine assistance of the OHR officials.
According to Dnevni Avaz, Ceric indeed had a meeting with Wolfgang
Petritsch on Wednesday, and informed the HR of the problems facing the
Bosniaks of Banja Luka.
SDS to announce its candidate for the post of the RS Prime Minister on
December 22:
According to Glas Srpski, the RS President Mirko Sarovic will hold the
consultative talks with political parties represented in the RS National
Assembly on Thursday in Banja Luka. Sarovic told the RTRS and Glas Srpski
that there were several individuals which could be nominated for the
position of the RS PM Designate, but that the final decision would be
announced on Friday or Saturday, after discussions with other parties.
ONASA news agency reports that, apart from Mladen Ivanic, Goran Popovic
(SDS former director of "Vitaminka" in Banja Luka) and Petar Djokic (SPRS,
former RS NA Speaker) could also be candidates for this position.
International Community
Wolfgang Petritsch writes to Haris Silajdzic:
Dnevni Avaz exclusively carries excerpts from the letter the High
Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, addressed to the leader of the Party
for BiH, Haris Silajdzic, and which pertains to the conditions this party
set for its participation in the formation of the new government and the
Alliance for Changes. Petritsch stressed that, although the International
Community and he personally support all progress in the peace
implementation, they are not ready or willing to take over the
responsibility from the local politicians for the formation of government
at any level. "The International Community cannot do this for you," said
Petritsch in his letter, and added that once the authority is established,
he would personally see to the progress in the implementation of the DPA.
The High Representative also noted that the list of conditions devised by
Silajdzic did not contain numerous other important recommendations, and
overall, it failed to offer any more concrete suggestions and strategies
for the improvement of the situation in BiH. Haris Silajdzic did not want
to comment last night on this letter, but he promised a statement for the
press later on Thursday.
ICG's James Lyon says the OHR and the OSCE failed to use their powers
properly in BiH:
In an interview with Dnevni Avaz, the director of the ICG, James Lyon,
said that the International Community should take more responsibility for
the implementation of the peace process in BiH. Lyon said that the OSCE
and the OHR have very broad authorities but are not using them properly. "
In certain sense, the International Community has become a part of the
problem connected with the implementation of the DPA", Lyon told Dnevni
Avaz.
High Representative imposed new set of laws:
Most media carry the OHR press release on the latest imposition of the set
of laws for BiH. For the full text, see the attachment!
Mladen Ivanic meets Wolfgang Petritsch:
President of the PDP, Mladen Ivanic, held talks in Sarajevo with the High
Representative to BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, on the implementation of
election results in the RS and BiH. Ivanic emphasized that the new RS
Government should reflect the will of the people expressed at the general
elections, and should enjoy the support of the International Community. On
his part, Petritsch informed Ivanic about the elements of the agreement
reached between the OHR and the SDS leadership.
After today's meeting with the President of the RS, Mirko Sarovic, Ivanic
said that the participation of the SDS should be maximally limited upon
the formation of the new entity government. However, he stressed that this
party cannot be completely eliminated from the political process because
of the overwhelming support of voters in the RS.
Wolfgang Petritsch discusses political and economic achievements of the
year 2000:
Federation news agencies report that at today's press conference held in
Sarajevo, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, said that the
economic reform, the return of refugees and the strengthening of the state
institutions in BiH will be his main priorities in the next year. At the
presser, Petritsch recalled all the decisions he made this year, 52 of
them, but stressed that he was not proud of this fact.
NATO Secretary-General, George Robertson, visits Sarajevo:
After his visit to the BiH capital and subsequent talks with Bosnian
authorities, the NATO Secretary-General, George Robertson, said that more
substantial progress in the peace implementation in BiH is needed in the
future. He also said that the International Community is increasingly
dissatisfied with the situation in BiH. "The IC can no longer tolerate the
extreme nationalism for its results are three armies, two entities, and a
state which has no money," said Robertson, and added that the people in
BiH do not deserve to live in such conditions. The NATO SG also stressed
that his priorities in the coming years would be to ensure the accession
of BiH and the FRY to the Partnership for Peace.
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