BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT : TIHIC TAKES OVER AS HOUSE OF PEOPLES SPEAKER

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 16,2007) – The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) President Sulejman Tihic officially became the new House of People’s Speaker.Former Speaker Ilija Filipovic stated at a press conference in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo that he could have done a lot more in the past eight months, but that the insufficient number of laws reflected the House of Peoples’ efficiency.

Filipovic said that in spite of all the problems in the past eight months there were some good moments. 37 laws were passed, 17 of which were imposed by the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia.

Filipovic now hopes that the House of People’s activities in the following period will improve and that Tihic will achieve better results in the following eight months.

Tihic announced that he will work in accordance with the Bosnian Constitution.He stated that he hoped neither of caucuses would trigger the vital national protection issue during his mandate. That would mean that a consensus of all the three constitutive peoples is achieved.

Tihic said that recent decisions of the International community's High Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak on the better functioning of the Bosnian state did not infringe the rights of the Serbians living in Bosnia.