RTRS claims it did not pay for billboards promoting Đajić’s Government and the film “From Vision to Victory”

Radio Television of Republika Srpska claims it did not pay for billboards promoting the film “From Vision to Victory” which it broadcast immediately before the election campaign and which directly promotes UKC RS Director Vlado Đajić, who is also a candidate in the upcoming elections.

In response to Transparency International BiH’s (TI BiH) inquiry, RTRS claims that the film was produced entirely by this media house using their own resources, but that the public service did not allocate money for billboard advertising and Google ads.

TI BiH has requested this information from UKC RS and reported the case to the Central Election Commission due to premature campaigning and indications that this candidate’s promotion is being financed with public funds.

TI BiH reminds that Đajić did the same thing before the 2018 General Elections when, as part of the UKC’s “All Under One Roof” campaign, he put up billboards promoting himself and other candidates from his party.

The CEC has penalized similar cases in previous years, and TI BiH emphasizes that this is an unacceptable practice because citizens allocate over 20 million KM annually for party financing, and it is completely unacceptable for public institutions and enterprises to pay for their directors’ election promotion with public funds.

Thus, following TI BiH complaints, the CEC sanctioned former Banovići Municipality Mayor Midhat Husić who, immediately before the 2020 Local Elections campaign, congratulated citizens on Municipality Day through paid billboards. Similarly, the former mayor of Bijeljina did the same thing, for which the CEC also imposed sanctions on his party following TI BiH’s complaint.

It is important to note that TI BiH reported UKC RS Director Vlado Đajić during the previous General Elections campaign for misusing personal data of the institution’s patients who were called to vote for him. The Prosecutor’s Office then established that patients were called from the official UKC RS phone but issued an order not to conduct an investigation, claiming that the phone number is not personal data.