The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections ‘Under Scrutiny’ launched a campaign on political pressures in BiH in an effort to expose and suppress pressure on voters. Part of the campaign also refers to the real experiences of citizens, who faced various forms of pressure on voters.
A previously published survey by the Coalition ‘Under Scrutiny’, in which 868 citizens participated, showed that pressure on voters is a very frequent phenomenon.
“Individual stories, selected for presentation to the public, show in a simple way that pressures on voters occur both in state institutions and in private companies, that they are exerted by party people, but also by close people, i.e. close family and friends, and that pressures are put on voters. they repeat from election cycle to election cycle. And also that almost no political subject does not shy away from pressure on voters, and the selected stories refer to almost all political subjects who are at some level of government in BiH”, it is stated.
As pointed out in the press release, the stories of citizens really show that proactive action is necessary to protect the integrity of the election process, and to protect citizens-voters.
“We believe that raising awareness about the pressure on voters, through specific cases, is extremely important. Through examples from real life, citizens gain insight into the various forms of coercion and manipulation that can occur in order to achieve the interests of political subjects in elections,” said the Coalition Under scrutiny’.
In order to protect the identity of the citizens who gathered the courage to share their experiences, the stories have been anonymized and all data from the stories that could endanger them or be connected in some way to the story itself has been removed, but the descriptions of the situations in which they found themselves and the challenges with which they faced.
“A citizen (25) from Herzegovina shared her experience from the General Elections in 2022, which she says took a psychological toll. I have to share content, I have to go to meetings (even in other cantons), I have to bring a minimum of 20 people to include that they be safe (with a strong emphasis on safe) votes in the elections, I have to provide my family’s personal information, I have to find people whose vote I will buy for a certain figure. Each order was preceded by “must” and was followed by ” if you mean to have anything”. By that nothing, it was: my scholarship, my job, the job of someone from my family… “There are a lot of them waiting in line, if you don’t deserve it, you’re nowhere, without us nothing can be done, what do you think of God who will want to hire you”. Maybe my story sounds harmless to some, but it had such a psychological and emotional effect on me that it made me loathe every part of politics. If someone constantly calls you, forces you and threatens you to be their puppet, it’s hard to bear even for a day, let alone a few months,” says the citizen, whose identity is hidden.
A citizen (68) from central Bosnia shared his experience with pressure on voters before the 2020 local elections in a state-owned company. Due to the rejection of the party’s order, his son lost his job, eventually he quit his job.
“When the election campaign started, the director intensified the pressure to vote for him. He started abusing meetings in the company, and soon he started openly buying votes. The message was clear: vote for him, and for every vote you get 100 BAM. In addition, a higher amount was promised if the employee’s family members voted for him.Votes were bought so that everyone who wanted to vote for the director already received a filled-in ballot in advance, which he had to insert into the ballot box and send an SMS that fulfilled the task,” says the citizen, whose identity is hidden.
As stated, it is worrisome that electoral corruption and political pressures affect the existence of BiH citizens, and illegal pressures on voters often refer to employment with party conditions or dismissal from work in case of disobeying party orders. Unfortunately, in some situations, the pressure on the voters resulted in the departure from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A citizen (age 37) from central Bosnia, whose husband was fired when they refused to collect safe votes for the party, states, “My husband and I, with our children, feel much better and safer in Germany. We come to BiH when we want the nearest. That desire disappears very quickly, when we remember the last months of life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, survival because my husband lost his job and we lost our only income”.
A citizen (25) from northern Bosnia states that, in the by-election period of 2021, the only way to get a job was through the party, which he did not want to do.
“At that moment, I realized that the painstaking effort and work invested during the four-year study, which was rewarded with a high average grade and numerous student awards, was not enough for me to have equal treatment and the opportunity to fight for a job in the profession in my hometown. That’s why I looked for a professional engagement in the profession initially in another city, then in another country, which took me far from my hometown”, said citizen, whose identity is hidden.
A citizen (31) from Herzegovina states that she was fired from a public institution because the party did not want to lose jobs to people who will not benefit from the party.
“I felt deeply disappointed and, on the one hand, terrified, because I knew that I had no trump card with which I could fight against them. I stand alone, in my 20s, against a system that has been rooted for years in Bosnian society. In a moment, everything fell into the water my efforts both before and during my work at that institution. It benefits them, obviously, I didn’t bring enough because over time they gave up on the pressure and handed me my resignation. Since then, I haven’t worked in any profession, especially not in my city. My diploma it’s on the shelf, and I do seasonal jobs in the surrounding countries, earning a living,” says the citizen, whose identity is hidden.
The Coalition ‘Under Scrutiny’ states that the above examples show that political pressures are very much a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. reality, not only during elections. It is about continuous pressure on citizens, and the lack of mechanisms for the protection of citizens and the fact that the existing ones are not being used effectively is worrying. The ‘Under Scrutiny’ coalition is of the opinion that it is necessary to introduce a policy of zero tolerance towards political pressures and abuses in order to create an atmosphere in which such activities are most severely condemned and punished.
The Coalition ‘Under Scrutiny’ invited citizens to anonymously share their story about the pressure they experienced on voters.
