- BH-Central Institutions
- Ante Jelavic threatens with 'shock therapy' for BiH;
- HDZ threatens with divorce from the Federation;
- Advisor of the late President Tudjman visits Sarajevo:
- BiH Presidency holds session today: Discussion on the Chair of the
CoM not certain;
- BiH Public believes that the Presidency is working against the
interests of the state;
- Arbitration for Dobrinja I and IV - Predrag Lasica confirms that the
RS team will participate in today's preliminary meeting;
- Federation
- Federation Government to pay its debt to pensioners in 2002;
- Republika Srpska
- Podrinje SDA asks the OHR to extend the deadline for the requests
for compensation;
- International community:
- EU Commission tops up humanitarian aid to Balkans;
- Wolfgang Petritsch: HDZ plays on fear and works against Croats in
BiH;
- Wolfgang Petritsch visits Dubrovnik;
- Editorials
- Oslobodjenje - The Destabilization of BiH;
- Vecernji List - Cooperation with The Hague is a test of the Alliance
stability;
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Central Institutions related Issues:
Ante Jelavic threatens with 'shock therapy' for BiH:
The Croat member of the BiH Presidency and the leader of the HDZ, Ante
Jelavic, said yesterday in Mostar that he will not support the candidacy
of SDP's Bozidar Matic for the Chair of the Council of Ministers. "I
cannot give my support to Matic because he does not have a legitimate
backing of the Croat people," said Jelavic, and added that the political
farce, which began with the new PEC rules, culminated in the rejection of
the HDZ candidate Martin Raguz for the Chair. This farce, he stressed, has
for its aim to change the political concept of BiH into a civic one.
Jelavic also criticized the International Community for nearly legalizing
a semi-protectorate and said that Croat people no longer have any room
left for political maneuver. In an interview late last night with the RTV
BiH, Jelavic said that, after everything Croats were put through, the HDZ
is turning a new page and announcing a sort of a 'shock therapy' for BiH.
He did not explain any further, but did not deny the possibility of the
creation of 'the inter-cantonal council' and the eventual divorce from the
Federation. "I believe that immediately following the establishment of the
council, which will naturally provoke strong reactions of the
International Community, the HDZ will call the people to block the state
border in all places where Croats make a majority," Jelavic said at
yesterday's press conference.
HDZ threatens with divorce from the Federation:
Zoran Tomic, the Spokesman of the HDZ BiH, announced on Monday that the
members of the Main Board of the HDZ will discuss the possibility of its
separation (divorce) from the BiH Federation at the session of the Board
scheduled for Wednesday. The decision, Tomic explained, might be passed by
the Croat National Assembly. He also said that there is a possibility of a
new referendum being called, but stressed that the HDZ will not ask for
the establishment of the third entity in BiH. As an interim solution,
Tomic suggested the formation of the inter-cantonal council of Croat
cantons and municipalities. Finally, Tomic said the Board will also ask
for withdrawing the recognition of authority in the Croat majority areas
in BiH, if it (authority) has been formed without the consent of the Croat
people.
Advisor of the late President Tudjman visits Sarajevo:
Ivic Pasalic, former advisor to the late Croatian President, Franjo
Tudjman, secretly visited Sarajevo on Sunday evening. According to the
Catholic news agency KTA, during his visit Pasalic met with Cardinal Vinko
Puljic and expressed his vision of the new political situation in Croatia.
Cardinal Puljic told Pasalic that "there is no need for radicalism and
that all the issues should be resolved through an open dialog and
cooperation," the same source said.
However, Oslobodjenje reports that no one knows what was the real topic of
the two hour-long conversation between the two. According to the daily
sources, Pasalic did not come to Sarajevo to talk about the situation in
Croatia, but to ask the Cardinal Puljic for his support to the future
moves of HDZ in BiH and Croatia. The same source said
that Pasalic met and held talks with some RS politicians in Pale.
Cardinal Puljic told Voice of America on Monday night that this was a
completely private visit. "I am open for contacts with people. I am a
shepherd not a politician," Puljic said, and added that the issue of the
HDZ and its politics has not been discussed at all.
"We did not talk about the party but about the Croat people, especially
about the ongoing processes in BiH and about the institutionalization of
rights of all nations," Puljic told the VOA.
BiH Presidency holds session today: Discussion on the Chair of the CoM not
certain:
The BiH Presidency will hold a session today (Tuesday) in order to discuss
the implementation of the elections results, and in particular the
formation of the BiH Council of Ministers. An Aide to the Presidency,
Zeljko Samardzija, could not confirm whether the issue of the new
candidate for the Chair of the Council of Ministers will be discussed,
since the SDP submitted its proposal, as he said, too late.
Commenting on the issue, Safet Halilovic of the Party for BiH said
yesterday that, if the Presidency fails to endorse Matic's candidacy, all
will not be lost, since the OHR also has powers to do so. "Not only that,"
Halilovic said, "according to our findings, Wolfgang Petritsch has found a
formula to put an end to any obstruction."
Meanwhile, the Bosniak member of the Presidency, Halid Genjac said that he
would support the candidacy of Bozidar Matic, and the Serb - Zivko Radisic
- is apparently still thinking.
Commenting on the current CoM developments Amarildo Gutic with Nezavisne
Novine said that accidentally or not, a very important fact has been
overlooked. According to him, the appointment of the Chair of the CoM does
not require the consent of all three BiH Presidency members. Gutic said
that relevant provisions of the BiH Constitution are very clear and that
the decision on appointment of the Chair is not one of the decisions which
require the consent of all members.
Numerous commentators noted that, even if the SDP candidate gets nominated
by the BiH Presidency, his confirmation in the BiH Parliament's House of
Representatives may not go very smoothly either. According to speculations
in the media, a block of RS parties in the Parliament (PDP, SNSD-DSP, SNS)
will have a deciding vote in the process. While it is still not certain
how some of the deputies will vote, PDP representatives, which are the
most numerous, will most likely support Matic.
At yesterday's press conference, the PDP Secretary-General Zdravko
Todorovic said that his party will vote for the Alliance candidate in the
Parliament's House of Representative, but he also set several conditions
for this support. (full list)
BiH Public believes that the Presidency is working against the interests
of the state:
According to a Dnevni Avaz poll, most BiH citizens believe that, by
obstructing the formation of authority, the BiH Presidency works against
the interests of the state and its people. Even 74 percent of the polled
individuals said they think the Presidency works directly against the
state, 13 percent disagreed, while 15 - had no opinion on the matter. The
poll was conducted among 500 individuals in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar,
Capljina, Tuzla and Bijeljina using the method of random sampling.
Arbitration for Dobrinja I and IV - Predrag Lasica confirms that the RS
team will participate in today's preliminary meeting
Today's edition of Glas Srpski quotes Predrag Lasica, the mayor of Serb
Sarajevo and the head of the RS Expert Team in charge of arbitration for
Dobrinja I and IV, as saying that members of the RS team will participate
in today's preliminary meeting dedicated to the arbitration process.
Federation
Federation Government to pay its debt to pensioners in 2002:
According to the Federation Minister of Social Politics, Sulejman Garib,
the Federation Government is hoping to secure the 90 million KM for the
payment of two late pensions before the end of the year. The remainder of
some 135 million KM, according to the same plan, should be paid in 2002.
Republika Srpska
Podrinje SDA asks the OHR to extend the deadline for the requests for
compensation:
The Podrinje SDA asked the High Representative to extend the deadline for
the submission of request for compensation to workers illegally dismissed
in the RS. According to the statement, Podrinje returnees are not
sufficiently familiar with the procedure, and will not be able to meat the
deadline set to February 16.
International community related issues:
EU Commission tops up humanitarian aid to Balkans
The European Commission said on Monday it had decided to top up
humanitarian aid to the Balkans by 17.8 million euros ($16.5 million) to
help refugees, displaced people and other vulnerable groups through the
winter.
The Commission said in a statement the aid would be added to some 30
million euros granted last December, to allow humanitarian assistance to
continue uninterrupted through the winter. Most of the money will be used
to provide food, housing, heating and health services to people who fled
their homes during the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s. Yugoslavia, which
has the largest number of refugees and displaced people following the 1999
Kosovo conflict, will receive the biggest slice of the aid package (7.6
million euros).
Funds will also be allocated to refugees and their host communities in
Albania and Macedonia, and to help refugees from Croatia and Bosnia return
home. According to media reports, BiH was not on the list of recipients.
Sense Agency commentator from Brussels noted that, although the EU leaders
did not mentioned any concrete reasons for this, perhaps not accidental,
omission, it is speculated that the latest crisis in the BiH Parliament
and other joint institutions (regarding the election of the Chair of the
Council of Ministers) in the country triggered such response of the EU
executives.
Wolfgang Petritsch: HDZ plays on fear and works against Croats in BiH:
All Sarajevo dailies carry short excerpts from the article written by
Wolfgang Petritsch and published in yesterday's edition of Zagreb's
Jutarnji List. The HDZ BiH strongly reacted to the article in today's
issue of the same Zagreb daily.
Wolfgang Petritsch visits Dubrovnik:
Ivan Sprlje, the Governor of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and Vice
Governor Rikard Rossetti, received the High Representative, Wolfgang
Petritsch, and his associates from the Mostar-based Regional office South,
Gerd Robert Wochein and Daniel Ruiz, OHR Special Envoy in Trebinje. "In
the meeting, we discussed the topics that define the relations in this
part of Southeast Europe and are of particular importance for the
development of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County," reads the press release
issued by the Office for Public Affairs and Inter-County Relations issued
following the meeting which was held in Dubrovnik on Monday.
"A joint conclusion was made that it is necessary to co-operate with the
neighboring countries, and all agreed that regional co-operation is
necessary, but that each people should find its individual ways of
development and living, and that no one's destiny should be connected with
the destiny of another."
"HR Wolfgang Petritsch said he appreciated the efforts that the County
leadership was making in terms of international co-operation and
encouraged his interlocutors to be persistent in that aspect. Also, he
remarked that he would discuss those issues with Bodo Hombach, the Special
Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact.
Having received books about the hardships of Dubrovnik and the surrounding
area during the Homeland War, Petritsch stressed that the attack on
Dubrovnik was one of the most odious ones during the aggression against
Croatia, and added that it is necessary to identify and report all those
who took part in the crime. To this end, Wolfgang Petritsch will
personally speak to Carla Del Ponte because he thinks that the
co-operation in this realm is aggravated before individual responsibility
is established and culprits convicted," reads the press release.
Editorials:
Oslobodjenje - The Destabilization of BiH:
Protests that are ongoing on the streets on Croatian cities have turned
into a counterattack of the HDZ which is destabilizing the neighboring
state and its government. The protests come in a bad time for BiH when it
depends of the behavior of local Croat factors will the state BiH
institutions be stabilized or will a new crisis be created. This is why it
is an open question will and to what extent the wave of protest spill over
the "soft border," and what effects will it have on internal conditions
in BiH?
Croatia is not only the most important BiH's external policy partner but
one of the guarantors of the Dayton agreement and an important factor for
the stabilization of this country. The strengthening of the HDZ and
especially deepening of the crisis or endangering of the authority of
Mesic or Racan, would not be in favor of BiH reintegration.
With the "Norac case," and the waves of protests the rule of the six is
already in a crisis. The HDZ in Croatia is getting its wings and on this
wave the HDZ in BiH is strengthening too and Jelavic will most probably
enforce his rhetoric and use the opportunity to radicalize his political
requests. His threat on initiating a crisis by vetoing the Alliance
proposal for the candidate for the Chairman of the BiH Council of
Ministers represents a failure to obey the Constitution. But this member
of the state Presidency does not behave like a responsible constitutional
factor and gets away unpunished.
With the newly created circumstances in Croatia, Jelavic and the HDZ BiH
get a chance to boost their national rhetoric against the stabilization of
institutions and to take a step forward in their radical requests (open
obstruction, third entity etc.) The sudden visit of Ivic Pasalic to
Sarajevo on Monday is not a good sign and it is not excluded that he is
looking for an ally in the RS.
First rate interest for BiH is stabilization of government in Croatia, but
not by all means. Now on the scene we have six policies towards Bosnia but
in internal policies as well, six policies that coexists only on
compromise to rule. Lack of a single state policy objectively as a
consequence has the strengthening of HDZ BiH, whose politics and power
depends on material and political support from Zagreb. The events should
be carefully monitored because whatever path Croatia takes, it will effect
Bosnia, it will be better or worse for Bosnia.
Vecernji List - Cooperation with The Hague is a test of the Alliance
stability:
It is the first law that is to regulate the co-operation between BiH and
the ICTY, and it is, therefore, difficult to expect that the parties
within the Alliance will have the coordinated views. This particularly
refers to the parties whose members, or even leaders, have been mentioned
as possible passengers to The Hague.
Many think that the Alliance will get into a crisis exactly on the issue
of the co-operation with the ICTY. The Alliance parties, primarily the SDP
and the Party for BiH, have based their pre-election and post-election
programs on the co-operation with the ICTY to a great extent. On the other
side, the issue is still a problem for the most of the political parties
in the RS. If we add to that the "vital" interest of Fikret Abdic and
Sefer Halilovic in The Hague Tribunal, it is hard to believe that the Law
on the Co-operation with the ICTY will get green light that easily.
Deputies in the State Parliament should have that document within four
months. However, the deadline could be broken unless the SDP and the Party
for BiH give up some of their demands in the postulates for this legal
document.
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