- BH-Central Institutions
- The BiH P. House of Representatives to discuss the appointment of a
Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency;
- SDP questions the election of HDZ's Mariofil Ljubic for the post of
the second Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives;
- Transition to a new Payment System should be smooth;
- Zivko Radisic visits Herzegovina and meets Mostar officials;
- Federation
- Atmosphere still tense in Bocinje;
- Disbursement of December pensions in the Federation still uncertain;
- Constituting session of the Federation Parliament's House of
Representatives to be held on January 11th;
- Edhem Bicakcic willing to resign from his post of the Federation
Prime Minister because of Elektroprivreda;
- Republika Srpska
- Still no official confirmation about Biljana Plavsic's summon to The
Hague;
- Serbs to be allocated more land in Doboj area;
- Croats in Donji Lapac do not have water or electricity;
- SDS to holds meetings about its participation in the government;
- International Community
- SFOR soldier found dead in Brcko;
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Central Institutions related Issues:
The BiH P. House of Representatives to discuss the appointment of a
Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency:
At yesterday's press conference, the Chairman of the BiH Parliament's
House of Representatives, Sead Avdic (SDP) said that one of the first
priorities of the new deputies in this body will be to discuss the final
filling of the vacancy of the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, which
is currently and temporarily filled by Halid Genjac. According to Dnevni
Avaz, it was agreed that the Party for BiH would put forth its candidate
from the HoR for this position, while the SDP would nominate its candidate
to replace the former in the House (The House member who is elected to
fill the position of the Bosniak member of the Presidency has to quit his
post in the HoP). Party for BiH Spokesman could not confirm this
information, and stressed again the SBiH has not yet received any
guarantees from the High Representative about its list of requirements for
the participation in the authority.
Avdic told Oslobodjenje that only after the Bosniak vacancy in the
Presidency is filled, the issue of appointing the new Chairman of the
Council of Ministers could be put on the agenda. He could not name any
possible candidate for this post, since, as he said, the Alliance for
Changes will not decide on this matter until the OHR endorses and co-signs
the platform of action of the Alliance. Avdic said this could happen by
the end of January.
SDP questions the election of HDZ's Mariofil Ljubic for the post of the
second Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives:
SDP's Sead Avdic and Bogic Bogicevic told Oslobodjenje that his party will
question the process of the election of the second Deputy Chairman of the
House of Representatives, HDZ's Mariofil Ljubic, for, as they say, his
election was a result of an incorrect reading of the election process for
this post.
Transition to a new Payment System should be smooth:
The Director of the BiH Central Bank, Peter Nicoll, said on Wednesday that
the transition to a new payment system in the country should transpire
smoothly. Nicoll said that on Friday, January 5th, when the payment
process should switch from the Payment Bureaus to commercial banks, only
minor problems are expected. Nicoll stressed that this transition is an
enormous step forward for BiH economy.
Zivko Radisic visits Herzegovina and meets Mostar officials:
On the occasion of Orthodox holidays, Zivko Radisic, the Serb member of
the BiH Presidency, together with leaders of the Serb Orthodox Church,
visited Mostar. During the visit, they held talks with the Deputy Mayor of
Mostar Neven Tomic and, among other things, discussed the return of Serbs
to this city. Following the discussions in the City Administration
building, the leader of the Serb people in BiH and the religious officials
made a tour of Orthodox facilities in Mostar, including the monastery in
Zitomislic.
Federation
Atmosphere still tense in Bocinje:
According to news reports in the Federation media, the situation in the
village of Bocinje is still tense. The BH Press news agency reports that
the remaining population of Mujahedeens in Bocinje was yesterday joined by
300 more individuals who later participated in a traditional (Islamic -
not Bosniak) slaughter of sheep. In the night between Tuesday and
Wednesday, the police of Zenica-Doboj Canton arrested several villagers
and their supporters who allegedly participated in the destruction of
property in this village. Media reports indicate that the leaders of the
Mujahedeen community in BiH, Abu Hamza, was among the arrested. The SFOR
confirmed that the situation in Bocinje is still very tense and that
Nordic and Polish troops within the SFOR are presently controlling the
situation in the village and preventing it from escalating into a serious
conflict.
Disbursement of December pensions in the Federation still uncertain:
Oslobodjenje's economics writer argues that the disbursement of pensions
in the Federation for the month of December is still uncertain. The
Financial Director of the PIO Fund, Bahrudin Lagumdzija, said that, at
this time, the account of the Fund is completely empty and will remain as
such for the next few days, since the closure of the Payment Bureaus
caused a blockade of the payment system. Lagumdzija also confirmed that
December pensions will likely be disbursed at the beginning of February
unless the Federation Government provides additional funds to the PIO. In
this case, pensioners would get their income somewhat earlier.
Constituting session of the Federation Parliament's House of
Representatives to be held on January 11th:
Federation media report that the constitutive session of the Federation
Parliament's House of Representatives could be held on January 11th, if
representatives of 17 parties which will be represented in this House
agree so. The parties are obliged to put forth their candidates for the
posts of the House chairman, his deputy and a secretary by later today.
Edhem Bicakcic willing to resign from his post of the Federation Prime
Minister because of Elektroprivreda:
According to the SDA, the Elektroprivreda decision to appoint the
Federation Prime Minister, Edhem Bicakcic, to the post of the General
Manager will not take effect until the complaint period is over and the
decision per se is published in the Federation's Official Gazette. "Until
that happens, Bicakcic can without problems continue fulfilling duties of
the Federation Prime Minister," - reads the SDA statement for the press.
The SDA hopes that until that time, the new Federation executive and
legislative authority will be formed. SDA's Spokesman, Sefik Dzaferovic
also said that should this fails to occur by the official publication of
the decision, Bicakcic will give up his premiership, while his Deputy,
Dragan Covic would take his place, as is foreseen by the Federation
Constitution.
Republika Srpska
Still no official confirmation about Biljana Plavsic's summon to The
Hague:
Both Federation and RS media speculated yesterday about the alleged summon
of the SNS President and a war-time leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Biljana
Plavsic, to the ICTY. According to Banja Luka's Nezavisne Novine, the
prosecution team in The Hague raised an indictment for Plavsic because of
a suspicion of her "involvement in the genocide against the non-Serb
population in the war in BiH." The same source also reported that
Plavsic's hearing is scheduled for January 10th and that she will
voluntarily appear before the court. Biljana Plavsic has not been
available for comment in the past few days, and journalists could not get
any confirmation about the case neither from the ICTY, the RS Ministry of
Justice nor Plavsic's party. Although there was a public suspicion that
Plavsic has been on the list of the indicted war criminals, she had
relatively good relations with members of the International Community in
BiH.
Serbs to be allocated more land in Doboj area:
According to the BH Press agency, RS authorities in the Doboj area have
started allocating additional land to Serbs who do not want to return to
their pre-war homes on the territory of the Federation. In the village of
Ritesic there are 150 pieces of land currently being distributed to Serb
families, while authorities in Kotorsko are planning to give 175 more
pieces to their Serbs. Oslobodjenje writes that these decisions of RS
authorities in Doboj area are shocking and even more painful, for the OHR
expressed its support to such distribution of land. During the year of
2000, the municipality of Modrica provided Serb families who refuse to
return to the Federation 750 pieces of land.
Croats in Donji Lapac do not have water or electricity:
Zagreb daily Republika carries a story about the Croat population in the
village of Donji Lapac.
There are around 3,600 people living in Donji Lapac, where the Serbs make
up 80 percent and the Croats 20 percent of the total population. Croats
are living on the verge of starvation and are forced to live off of
welfare of 300 Kunas, humanitarian aid or donations that are increasingly
getting fewer. The daily returns of Serb refugees who are returning to
their own homes, as they say, is an additional burden because it is
impossible to secure the accommodation, and the recent forcible attempts
of evicting Croat temporary occupants from the flats partly succeeded,
following "dialogues" and forcible persuasion.
The Croats owe the power supply company between 15,000 and 20,000 Kunas
for the electricity, and their debts for the consumed water are 8,000 to
9,000 Kunas, which is why the water supply has been suspended for most of
the Croats and they soon expect the power supply to be cut off as well.
SDS to holds meetings about its participation in the government:
The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) was to hold a meeting of the party's
presidency on Wednesday [3 January] night, at which its members were to
discuss their participation in the future government of the Republika
Srpska. The information was not confirmed by the SDS, but some Banja Luka
media announced that the meeting is a prelude to the Main Board meeting on
Thursday [4 January], at which the final decision on the participation of
the SDS in the government of Mladen Ivanic will be adopted.
A few days ago, the prime minister-designate Ivanic announced that he will
be able to solve the problem between the demand of the international
community against the participation of the SDS in executive authorities
and the elections results, not explaining the way in which he will
accomplish this.
International community officials clearly said that the economic aid to
the RS will be aborted if the SDS takes participation in executive
authorities. Ivanic said that he will demand that a National Assembly
meeting be held on January 12.
International Community
SFOR soldier found dead in Brcko:
SFOR Spokesman reported on Wednesday that a US soldier serving with the
NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) in BiH was found dead in the
northeastern town of Brcko. The soldier, whose body was found on Saturday,
died of an apparent gunshot wound, Major Bob Tomson told the AFP. The
investigation into his death is ongoing, Tomson added without elaborating
or identifying the soldier. SRNA news agency reported that the dead
soldier was found in a house he was believed to be living in.
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