President Can’t Call Elections, Court Says

A high court ruled that Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic had no right to disband parliament and call new elections in a bid to weaken the grip of her predecessor, Radovan Karadzic. The Constitutional Court decision had been expected, and it was likely to further divide Bosnian Serb territory into two camps: one backing Plavsic and the other favoring Karadzic, a war crimes suspect. The ruling made it unlikely that she would be able to organize new elections in the fall to replace the pro-Karadzic assembly. But the ruling was unlikely to weaken Plavsic: She is getting increasing support from the West.