TI BiH submitted 37 reports due to election irregularities

26.07.2024. / 13:24

BANJALUKA – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina has so far submitted 37 reports to the authorities due to election irregularities, which mostly relate to the abuse of public resources, premature campaigning, the use of children for political purposes and abuse in the media space.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has so far resolved 16 applications from TI BiH and imposed eight sanctions in the total amount of 29,500 marks, and every fourth sanction of the CEC was issued based on applications from TI BiH.

Seven sanctions refer to the premature election campaign, mostly due to sponsored ads on social networks, presentation of party programs ahead of time, or announcements by political parties that publicly boasted about the projects of public bodies. SNSD and SDA were fined 3,500 KM each for bragging about asphalted streets and other projects on social networks, but the CEC did not consider that this was a misuse of public resources for political promotion.

The Republican Party of Srpska (5,000), the We Can Do Better movement (4,000) and HNP (3,000) were fined for paid advertising before the start of the election campaign, while DNS received a fine of 3,000 KM for presenting the party’s program ahead of time.

United Srpska received a sanction of 3,000 KM because the councilor of this party in Pale, Slavka Brezo, organized an action of free PAPA tests in front of a political party whose logo was on promotional posters. The CEC considered that her announcement contained elements of a premature campaign, but not promises of material and other benefits to voters.

Only two penalties for misuse of public resources

However, apart from the premature campaign, the CEC has so far rarely punished under the new provisions of the Election Law, which refer to the misuse of public resources. According to TI BiH reports, only one sanction was imposed, and that was to the mayor of the municipality of Jezero, Snježana Ružičić, who misused the asphalting of a 160-meter road for party promotion, writing on social networks that “SNSD reaches the village with asphalt and the village where the sky and the earth meet”!

However, in her case, the key thing was, according to the CEC, that she used the municipality’s official Facebook page for promotion, so she was punished according to the article of the law that prohibits the misuse of means of communication for the election campaign.

In almost the same case, upon the report of another political subject, the mayor of Banovići, Bego Gutić, was fined because he published a denial on the official website of the municipality.

According to the report, the CEC has so far received 33 applications for abuse of public resources, and except for these two sanctions and a dozen that have not yet been resolved, almost all of them have been rejected.

Paving the streets and one-time cash payments are still the dominant pattern of candidate behavior, but the thunderously announced changes to the electoral law imposed by the OHR have had almost no effect so far.

Although the law clearly prohibits the provision of one-time monetary or non-monetary assistance to citizens in this pre-election period (unless it is planned as part of regular budget subsidies), no one has yet been sanctioned under this provision.

The reason is that the CEC considers all payments from the budget, which the authorities claim are planned for different items, as “regular subsidies”, regardless of the fact that they are not regular monthly or annual payments.

Thus, TI BiH’s application for a one-time payment for the prom night in Nevesinje was rejected, because the CEC stated in its decision that the funds for this one-time aid were allocated “from the budget reserve, which represents part of the planned budget funds”.

One-time payments to graduates from the budget of the municipality of Istočno Novo Sarajevo were also not considered a misuse of resources because the mayor stated that the funds were planned in the budget, and for the same reason the report against the mayor of Sarajevo for financing a free trip for pensioners from the municipality where the candidate will be was rejected. The free cards for the transport of pensioners, which are distributed for the first time in Banja Luka before these elections, in the opinion of the CEC, are considered “regular donations that were realized in previous years” and it was not disputed that the personal logo and slogan of the mayor were on the promotional posters.

In the opinion of TI BiH, only those that are paid regularly every month or every year (eg annual veteran’s allowance or monthly social benefits) or other benefits that represent the legally acquired right of certain categories can be considered regular subsidies. However, considering the past practice of the CEC, it is difficult to expect that anyone will be sanctioned under these provisions, despite the numerous one-time aid payments to citizens that were timed before the elections.

Numerous campaign examples

In addition to the intensification of public works and the distribution of one-time financial aid, numerous cases were recorded where political parties directly promoted themselves through these projects or through advertising of public institutions and companies.

SDS Kotor Varoš was reported for misuse of resources and premature campaign because the list of this party was promoted on the website of the public institution “Centre for Culture and Information”, and for the same reason the Mayor of Višegrad was also reported because his candidacy for the party was published on the official website of the municipality. Also, in the factory newspaper of the public company RiTE Ugljevik, a photo of a worker with a cap bearing the NPS logo, the party from which the company’s general manager Diko Cvjetinović comes, was published.

Proceedings are still being conducted in these cases, as well as the case against the SNSD candidates in Banja Luka, Vlado Đajić and Nikola Šobot, who campaigned at the “Krajiško vece” event where they handed out t-shirts with the slogan “All for our doctors”. and the host of the program invited the audience to vote for them. A series of these manifestations was organized before the last elections and SNSD candidates were promoted at them, and several more such rallies were announced in Banja Luka, which should be held until the local elections.

TI BiH also filed two reports against HDZ, which boasted on social media about infrastructure projects in Busovača financed with public funds, while in Žepča, a song was written to thank the current mayor due to asphalting of 400 meters of road.

Also, ZDK Prime Minister Nezir Pivić (SDA) was reported because he thanked the party on behalf of the cantonal government in an announcement and said that these were the priorities of the party’s election platform, while Nedeljko Kerić, candidate for the SNSD in Teslić, was reported for the street action of measuring blood sugar which contained party banners and promotional materials.

In addition to reports to the CEC, two portals from Banja Luka were reported to the Press Council because they published a public opinion survey contrary to the Election Law, i.e. without the name of the institution or the name of the person who ordered and paid for the survey and without the name and headquarters of the institution that conducted the survey.

In all these cases, the proceedings are still ongoing, and TI BiH will continue to report election irregularities in the coming period. TI BIH also invites citizens to get involved and report cases of violations of the electoral law or misuse of public resources in the campaign through the Reflektor application. Transparency International BiH