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OSCE Tries to Halt SDS Monopoly on Political Parties
A conference of political parties in the separatist Serb Republic agreed on Saturday to keep out parties from the Muslim-Croat federation because they were 'aliens' with no right to field candidates there.
A conference of political parties in the separatist Serb Republic, which covers half of Bosnia, agreed on Saturday to keep out parties from the Muslim-Croat federation because they were "aliens" with no right to field candidates there. Chaired by the Serb entity's ruling Serb Democratic Party (SDS), the meeting also reaffirmed the Serb nationalist notion that their area is an independent sovereign state -- defying Dayton's writ.
OSCE spokeswoman Joanna van Vliet said the organisation had only seen press accounts of the conference and could not decide on action, pending an investigation into exactly what was said But van Vliet said political statements and policy repudiating Bosnia's Dayton-guaranteed status as a single state with two linked sectors were illegal and could be sanctioned.
Seventeen parties from the federation side are running for election in the Serb Republic, van Vliet said. "All those parties signed statements that they would abide by the Dayton agreement. We do not accept Serb statements as have (reportedly) been made at the meeting." The message from the meeting was the latest chapter in a litany of Bosnian Serb transgressions against the letter and spirit of Dayton, which they signed only under duress after a series of battlefield defeats.
The OSCE may have difficulty clearing the way for federation candidates to campaign in the Serb Republic. NATO says its peace troops in Bosnia will not play bodyguard to candidates, and unarmed U.N. police only have a monitoring role. NATO says it will run patrols to foster "a secure environment" for the election, and U.N. and European Union
monitors will help escort voters to polls. But the OSCE says local police will be responsible for maintaining law and order.
Critics say local Serb police can hardly be trusted when many may have been involved in massacres and mass expulsions of Muslims and Croats during the 1992-95 war. Further, the police in the Serb entity are controlled by the ruling SDS. While some federation parties are running for seats in the Serb Republic assembly, no Serb Republic parties are seeking election to the federation assembly. However, both sides will campaign for posts in a Bosnia-wide presidency and parliament.
Forty-seven parties have been certified for the campaign, ranging from former communists to sectarian ultra-rightists. But the three dominant nationalist Muslim, Croat and Serb parties are likely to win in their respective bastions, a result which many analysts fear would extend de facto partition.
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SARAJEVO, July 29 (Reuters) - International organisers of Bosnia's first post-war elections said on Monday a Bosnian Serb move to ban parties from outside its entity would be illegal and is under investigation. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), staging the elections which are intended to help reunify Bosnia, is empowered to bar candidates or entire parties for non-compliance with rules set by the 1995 Dayton peace treaty.
"There is the (state) of Bosnia with two entities. Every party that is registered and has enough signatures can run throughout the country if it submits candidates for certain areas. There is no question about it," she said. Apart from electing local municipal administrations, Bosnians will be voting for parliaments to run the two entities -- the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic -- as well as a federal administration to run the country.
Berserkistan, July 25 · NATO Calls Elections Toughest Part of Bosnia Mission
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Berserkistan, July 22 · Bosnia’s Election Looking Like 'Mission Impossible'
Berserkistan, July 22 · International Monitors Arrive in Bosnia to Supervise Elections
Berserkistan, July 22 · Croats to Boycott Newly-Elected Mostar City Council
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