News Headlines
- Unconfirmed sources say that Russian troops enter Grozny
- Council of Europe delegation meets with both BiH parliamentary houses
- Senior Council of Europe delegation meets with BiH Presidency
- BiH Parliament House of Representatives discusses two drafts of BiH permanent election law
- BiH Council of Ministers holds session
- OHR accuses RS Serb delegates not accepting BiH Border Service Law that they are not ready to fight against smuggling and corruption – Ferguson
- Petritsch and Barry call on Bicakcic to withdraw draft defamation law – Domi
- Petritsch calls for urgent resolution to problems in higher education and supports establishment of higher education council
- BiH Constitutional Court should hold session at month’s end and reach decision on harmonization of Law on BiH Council of Ministers with BiH Constitution ruling – Silajdzic
- OHR and OSCE stopped election of new Mostar-Southwest Municipal Head – Benes
- OSCE organizes draw to determine order of parties and candidates on voter ballots
- Russian troops penetrate front line positions of Chechen defenders near Grozny
- World news
- Macedonia and Albania to support Montenegrin wish to join Stability Pact
- Croatian State Election Commission to announce election results on Wednesday
- World news
- Belgrade police arrest participant of Arkan assassination who is currently in coma
- First round of nominations of Kosovo justices to start in Kosovo – Kosovo International Administration
- BiH Federation Health Ministry announces flu epidemic
- Report on spread of flu epidemic in Zenica-Doboj Canton
- Price of natural gas to increase by 6% – BH Gas
- 60 Bosniak and Croat families returns to Brcko as result of work of Brcko Multiethnic Housing Commission
- Announcement for TV BiH program BH Teme
- Sports
- Weather
- Chinese provincial delegation visits RS and meets senior officials to discuss mutual cooperation
- Silajdzic meets Dutch Ambassador to BiH
- Dodik meets with USAID Director Craig Buck in farewell visit
- HNZ considers municipal elections in BiH should be postponed until autumn due to economic reasons and shortest deadline for technical preparations
- 87 cases of violation of election rules concerning candidates lists registered, 10 of them being processed in Tuzla – OSCE Tuzla
- Reconstruction of homes for around 50 returnees in Resident’s Community Caira in Doboj municipality completed
- European Commission signs euro 1.5 million contract to assist return of Roma (Gypsies) to Tuzla area
- Five Bosniak families return to pre-war homes in Koraj
- Pavletic announces Racan will be named prime minister-designate
- Croatian State Election Commission to announce final and official Croatian parliamentary election results on Wednesday
News Summary
Council of Europe delegation meets with both BiH parliamentary houses
Council of Europe Chairman David Andrew and Council General Secretary Walter Schwimmer at a Wednesday joint meeting with both houses of the BiH Parliament underlined that they do not want to influence delegates but wanted free discussion and the adoption of laws in the spirit of co-operation, consensus and compromise. Chairman of the BiH delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Edhem Bicakcic welcomed conclusions of the Council’s Political Committee that recommend BiH membership by this April. Co-chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Haris Silajdzic stated that all election results are questionable because 1.5 million people have still not returned to their homes. On behalf of the SDP, Zlatko Lagumdzija stated their assessment that the incumbent authority would not fulfill any of the pre-conditions for BiH joining the Council of Europe. Chairman of the BiH Parliament House of Representatives Mirko Banjac asked the Council’s delegation why legal projects are presented to delegates on the on principle “take it or leave it.” Andrews answered that High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch could answer this question.
05:06
BiH Parliament House of Representatives discusses two drafts of BiH permanent election law
Delegates of the BiH Parliament House of Representatives at Tuesday’s session finally opened the public debate on two drafts of BiH permanent election law. Before opening the discussion, SDP delegate Bogic Bogicevic requested the official position of Senior OSCE official and Chairman of the Election Law Working Group Francois Meurice-Froment on statements of his that were recently published by certain daily newspapers. According to the published statements, he said that BiH was not a state and that BiH would be divided. Serb delegates protested over the call to discuss Meurice-Froment’s statements, saying that discussion was totally unnecessary. Meurice-Froment stated that he had never said anything like that, adding that he sincerely believes in the future of BiH. SDP President Zlatko Lagumdzija stated that voting for such a draft law (the OSCE draft election law) would mean the division of BiH. Adnan Jahic, reminding that he was speaking on behalf of the CD Coalition, assessed the draft as unacceptable. Rasim Kadic stated that the “draft law is discriminatory” adding that Jahic should “not be calling on the CD Coalition too much.” All the Serb delegates from the RS believe that the aforementioned draft law is acceptable. During the session’s continuation, a new thing was introduced, the term ‘Teletubbies’ as a metaphor to describe political opponents. The SDP accused House Chairman Banjac of intentionally leading the session in the direction of conflict and obstruction, while Banjac responded that the SDP was the one solely responsible for conflict and obstruction. Banjac stated that the SDP does not defend the Serb people with the exception of one of them (possibly referring to Serb SDP member Bogic Bogicevic). Sejfudin Tokic sharply reacted to this Banjac statement, classifying Banjac as the “successor of politicians that had already ensured their positions in The Hague Tribunal.” In an attempt to prevent Tokic from speaking out, Banjac threatened to remove him from the session with the assistance of security, but did not carry this threat out. The latest information from BiH House of Representatives reveals that the SDP-proposed draft permanent election law failed to receive the majority it needed to pass into law.
04:13
OHR and OSCE stopped election of new Mostar-Southwest Municipal Council Head – Benes
OHR Mostar spokesperson Avis Benes told a press conference that the OHR and OSCE did not allow the election of a new municipal head for Mostar-Southwest Municipality. The attempted election took place at a session of the Municipal Council, which was to have decided who would take the place of ousted Stipe Maric, the former head of municipality. The reason for this, according to Benes, is that the OSCE and OHR were not informed of the candidate’s name on time.
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