Abuse of public resources, premature campaigning, and the spread of false information about election technologies are the most common irregularities recorded by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the first month of monitoring the election period.
As a result of everything so far, 26 reports for violating several provisions of election legislation have been submitted to the competent authorities. However, the Central Election Commission (CEC) changed the approach compared to previous election cycles and no longer punishes the most frequent abuses.
Transparency stated that CEC at the very start refused to impose sanctions on parties that were not certified to participate in the elections. Most of the prohibitions apply from the date the elections are called, namely, May 7 this year.
Following certification, CEC raised the tolerance threshold for premature campaigning, lowered criteria in interpreting political messages, and further narrowed the understanding of abusing public resources, which is why many cases passed without sanctions.
TI of Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded more than 1,200 cases that can be considered an abuse of public resources for the election campaign, and 70% of them refer to intensifying public works during the election period.
The pre-election public spending tracker published on Transparentno.ba shows that the value of works launched in the past month amounts to 120 million BAM. The official start of constructing 173 infrastructure projects across Bosnia and Herzegovina is valued at 450 million BAM.
CEC previously penalized cases in which parties promoted those works on social media. Still, for now, such cases pass without sanctions if the posts do not mention elections and the campaign, opening space for parties to take credit for projects funded by public money.
The second most frequent abuse is the distribution of one-off budget payouts to citizens ahead of elections, which the Election Law clearly prohibits.
TI of Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded that through 108 examples, more than 45 million BAM was distributed. The largest portion (31 million) relates to one-time financial aid to pensioners in Republika Srpska of 80 and 120 BAM, which will be paid out ahead of elections, although the law clearly prohibits indirect purchasing of voter support, including one-time assistance to citizens, unless it was planned within regular budget subsidies.
This is about money that was not even planned in the original budget, but only through recently adopted budget rebalances, and a similar case of purchasing voter support was seen in previous election cycles as well.
The authorities in Brčko District are also paying out one-time assistance to pensioners ahead of elections by allocating 1.4 million BAM. The Mayor of Novo Sarajevo Municipality, Benjamina Karić, promoted the payout of 70 BAM in one-time aid to pensioners, as well as 1,000 BAM aid in support for families with three or more children. The payout to high-school graduates amounting to 100 BAM in Bratunac was promoted on the party’s profile and in a similar example where SNSD bragged about pre-election one-off payouts, the CEC did not issue a penalty.
TI of Bosnia and Herzegovina also recorded 33 examples of non-monetary benefits to different categories of population, which are also prohibited by the same provision of the law. These mostly involved free medical check-ups, public transport, etc. Additionally, 23 cases of salary increases and various social transfers during this period were also recorded.
Also, public events organized by institutions or funded through public funds are being abused. Out of 33 public events monitored by TI BiH field observers, election candidates were presented at 70% of them, while political messages were delivered at 32%, which is clearly prohibited by the election law.
However, as CEC narrowed the interpretation of political messages, numerous cases were left without sanctions. Therefore, a gathering of the Association of Pensioners, where Željka Cvijanović and Savo Minić sent pre-election messages, was interpreted merely as “jokes and observations.”
Although this party was fined following a complaint by TI BiH due to Milorad Dodik’s speeches, most abuses for now pass without sanctions.
In that way, Dodik continues to use institutional premises for his activities, the helicopter of the Government of Republika Srpska for field visits. He also holds speeches at institutional events and the inauguration of public works where he promotes his policy, without facing any sanctions.
TI BiH also recorded 39 examples of premature campaigning, which mostly relate to paid advertising before the official start of the campaign and holding party gatherings during this period.
However, due to a new interpretation by CEC, these also passed without sanctions. Complaints against SDA were dismissed due to a series of gatherings in schools in Travnik, and against PSS for dozens of billboards sending a message “Get in Motion,” where it was concluded that a call to join a party does not constitute a form of election campaigning.
Also, a series of SNSD events in Banja Luka across different neighborhoods, which bore all the hallmarks of classic campaign rallies held during the prohibited period, were not sanctioned because voters in the social media posts were not explicitly called on to vote, nor were program goals presented.
IN many cases, the reports by TI BiH were not even taken into consideration during sessions because CEC did not initiate ex officio proceedings, which also indicates a change in previous practices.
