In the past two months, observers from Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) have recorded over 1,300 instances of public resources being used to promote parties and candidates, along with a significant increase in public spending during the pre-election period. The Central Election Commission has received 36 complaints regarding premature campaigning, violations of the Law on Political Party Financing, and misuse of public resources, which unfortunately remains inadequately regulated even in the latest Electoral Law amendments imposed by the OHR.
Thus, the CEC rejected TI BiH’s initial complaints because the prohibition on misuse of public resources only applies to the period of official election campaign, which begins on September 2, meaning all previous violations will go unpunished. So far, the CEC has only sanctioned instances of premature campaigning, with eight sanctions issued based on TI BiH’s complaints.
TI BiH has long been warning that election campaigns are being conducted using public funds. One of the most recent examples is the paid promotion of the documentary film “From Vision to Victory” broadcast by RTRS, which is being advertised on dozens of billboards featuring the image of RS UCC Director Vlado Đajić, who is also a candidate for parliament. Similarly, paid billboards for the “Drina National Park” public institution promote its director Radomir Pavlović, who is also a parliamentary candidate. Both cases have been reported to the CEC.
Although the campaign lasts 30 days, political parties have long since begun openly holding pre-election gatherings, with SDA holding the highest number. Many of these events have seen participation from public institution employees and even police officers.
The past period has also seen numerous instances of public institution events being misused to promote parties and candidates, but unfortunately, this practice is legally prohibited only during the official election campaign period. TI BiH observers monitored 350 public events organized by institutions, with candidates present at 67 percent of them. In the past two months, 32 events were concerts organized by local communities, including one during the “Zenica Summer Fest” where Mayor Fuad Kasumović gave political speeches and indirectly called for votes.
The “Zvornik Summer” concerts used graphic designs in SNSD party colors, while at one concert in Banja Luka, attendees were shown a video highlighting the current mayor’s fulfilled campaign promises. In Banja Luka and surrounding local communities, a series of “Krajina Evening” events were held, directly promoting SNSD candidates, organized by an agency that receives significant public funds through tenders.
Unfortunately, unlike neighboring countries, BiH has not introduced restrictions on public spending during the pre-election period, which remains this year’s key resource being misused for vote buying and candidate promotion.
Therefore, TI BiH has published an online map of pre-election works whose start or completion was promoted in the past two months. Data shows that across BiH since July 1, 249 works worth 845 million KM have begun, 227 works worth 175 million KM have been completed, and the total value of public works in these two months has already exceeded the annual value of all works contracted throughout last year according to Public Procurement Agency data. An additional practice introduced is the presentation of infrastructure construction plans for which procedures haven’t even been initiated, with such promised projects valued at over 500 million KM in the previous two months.
A significant increase in one-time payments directed at various population groups has been recorded, mostly representing indirect vote buying using public funds. Since July 1, over 200 million KM has been distributed to citizens through one-time payments from all levels of government, with the most significant being entity government allocations of over 100 million for one-time assistance to pensioners, veterans, youth, and social categories.
Besides these previously reported by TI BiH, there are one-time electricity subsidies of 100 KM for 70,000 users in FBiH, Tuzla Canton Government assistance of 100 KM to all pensioners, Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Government aid of 100 KM to the unemployed, Prnjavor municipality assistance to youth for excursions, and one-time assistance to medical workers in Banja Luka, Drvar, and Prijedor. Additionally, 17 cases of public sector salary increases and 41 instances of increased employment in public institutions and enterprises were recorded.
TI BiH emphasizes that all these examples and the significant increase in public spending during the pre-election period demonstrate that conditions for fair and honest elections have not been established in BiH, as candidates and parties with access to public resources have a significant advantage. TI BiH will continue monitoring the activities of officials, parties, and candidates after the official campaign start, focusing particularly on campaign conduct violations, misuse of public resources, voter pressure, and other occurrences, as well as tracking individual party campaign expenses.
TI BiH therefore again calls on citizens to report all these irregularities through the Reflektor: Elections 2022 mobile application, which enables quick and easy reporting and can be downloaded via the link: https://reflektor.ba/
