According to Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), for the two months of the pre-election period, through one-time payments to pensioners and other categories, usually of 50, 100 or 200 BAM, all levels of government distributed about 53 million BAM.
Today, Transparency International in BiH presented the results of the previous monitoring with statistical indicators and observed examples of abuses during the pre-election period related to the increase in public spending, the intensification of public works and the increase of one-time budget grants.
In the last two months, as TI BiH executive director Ivana Korajlić and TI public relations manager Srđan Traljić said, TI BiH submitted 90 reports related to violations of election legislation.
“So far, the CEC of BiH has imposed 14 sanctions in the total amount of 59,500 BAM, which mostly relate to the premature campaign, while there are still no sanctions for misuse of public resources,” said Korajlić.
Despite the fact that the law for the first time prohibited the indirect buying of votes through the provision of this type of one-time assistance to citizens, no one has yet been sanctioned under this provision.
“Only regular budget subsidies are exempt from this ban, but the CEC has taken the position that all subsidies are regular if they are ‘paid from items planned in the budget’, so it is difficult to expect that anyone will be sanctioned if this practice continues,” stressed Korajlić.
Since the announcement of the elections, the CEC has received a total of 70 reports from TI BiH and other entities for the misuse of public resources, a large part of which have not yet been resolved, and only two sanctions have been imposed, for the misuse of means of communication.
Because of all this, the TI BiH requested an authentic interpretation from the OHR, which in its response pointed out that “the interpretation of the law falls within the jurisdiction of the CEC”.
“Although we do not believe that the institute of authentic interpretation should be used in democratic systems, we remind you that the amendments to the Electoral Law were imposed and were not adopted through democratic processes and public discussions, which is why the OHR should show a minimum of responsibility to ensure their adequate interpretation and application “Otherwise, there is room for inappropriate influences on the process of applying the law and on the arbitrary interpretation of these provisions, which is why they are largely meaningless and have not achieved their purpose,” Korajlić pointed out.
TI BIH already pointed out, she added, numerous examples of one-time donations before the elections, and the most recent examples refer to one-time assistance of 100 BAM to pensioners in the Tuzla Canton and Bratunac, to students in Foča, Ljubuško, Ugljevik, as well as to the distribution of “friendship cards ” for pensioners and “free salaries for young people by the mayor of Banja Luka”.
TI BiH also published an interactive map where it located 593 examples of pre-election works that started or opened in the past two months, the value of which is 569 million BAM.
“The CEC has so far imposed sanctions on parties that boasted of pre-election works in the context of a premature campaign, and TI BiH is still waiting for decisions on the application against state minister Sevlid Hurtić, who led the election campaign and took photos next to public works financed from the local level in Doboj. The case of asphalting of local roads from the funds of ŠG Romanija Sokolac was also reported to the CEC, because through these public works, the director of that company, Strahinja Bašević, who is a candidate for mayor, is running a direct election campaign,” Traljić said.
The practice of official campaigns continued, and TI BIH observers accompanied 350 events organized by public institutions in the past two months. At 75 percent of such events, explained Traljić, election candidates were present, at 14 percent of the events political messages were presented, although by law this is also considered abuse of public resources.
Cases of pre-election promotion of the mayor of Vukosavlja at the “Gastro Fest” in that municipality, the mayor of Ustikolina at the concert on the occasion of the municipality’s day, as well as the mayor of Gornji Vakuf and a minister from the SBK government by placing posters at the football tournament were also recorded.
41 examples of abuse of children for political purposes were recorded, and on the first day of school alone, 21 cases where officials abused elementary school students for their own promotion and election campaign.
“There were also 72 cases of increased employment before the elections, 101 examples of premature campaigns, 67 cases of providing special benefits in the form of free examinations or other public services in the pre-election period,” emphasized Traljić.
TI BIH has been pointing out the problem of election conditions in BiH for a long time, because, as they point out, the unpunished abuse of public resources gives a significant advantage to the candidates in power.
According to the TI BiH, the latest changes imposed by the high representative of this abuse are only partial sanctions, but due to the lack of interpretation and narrow application, these provisions have not produced the expected results for now.
“What is positive to mention is the increased interest of citizens in the election process, and TI BIH received 878 reports from citizens related to attempts to establish political control over electoral committees, premature campaigning and misuse of public funds through the Reflektor application alone,” concluded Korajlić and Traljić.
