- Mayor of Jezero abused asphalting of 160 meters of road for SNSD promotion
- HNP sanctioned for advertisement on JP Radio Tomislavgrad building
- DNS penalized for premature campaigning
The Central Election Commission imposed three penalties at the previous two sessions held yesterday and today following reports by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) for abuse of public resources and premature campaigning.
SNSD was sanctioned with 4,000 KM because a party official and mayor of Jezero municipality Snežana Ružičić abused the asphalting of 160 meters of road for party promotion. While presenting this project worth approximately 25,000 KM as she stated, she posted on social media that “SNSD reaches with asphalt even to villages where earth and sky meet”!
SNSD reaches with asphalt even villages where earth meets sky!
— Snežana Ružičić (@jezero1234) May 21, 2024
Meter by meter – kilometer!
Jezero today pic.twitter.com/PmEzz9qggX
Given that candidacies have not yet been confirmed, the penalty was imposed only on SNSD under articles of the Election Law that prohibit abuse of communication resources of state bodies and public enterprises for election campaigns, as well as using a leadership position for public promotion of a political entity.
Taking into account the legal provisions as well as the text of posts on the Facebook page of Jezero Municipality, it follows that Snežana Ružičić promoted the political party to which she belongs, given that as mayor on the official page of Jezero municipality she abused her position and communication resource by using the execution of asphalting works on part of the local road in Prisoja for promotion, which she shared in a post on her own profile on social network “X” where she credited the political party to which she belongs for the asphalting, states the CEC decision.
In addition to this, CEC imposed two more sanctions following TI BiH reports for premature campaigning against the Croatian National Movement (HNP) and the Democratic People’s Alliance (DNS).
HNP was penalized for an advertisement on the video wall of the public enterprise Radio Tomislavgrad, whose director was also a candidate of this party in the previous elections. This case was reported by TI BiH to the Central Election Commission, and during the proceedings it was determined that it was a paid advertisement, so this party was not penalized for abuse of resources, but only for premature election campaigning with a sanction of 3,000 KM. Also, by CEC decision, the removal of this advertisement from the LED panel on the JP Radio Tomislavgrad building was ordered.
A penalty of 3,000 KM was also imposed on DNS because the president of the municipal committee of this party in Zvornik and advisor to the Minister of Security of BiH Dobrica Kucalović promoted his party’s program before the official start of the election campaign.
TI BiH reminds that all political entities are prohibited by the Election Law from conducting campaigns in media, on social networks, or through any form of public advertising before the official start of the election campaign. This provision is extremely important so that all entities have equal opportunities to promote their views and programs.
Since the announcement of elections, TI BiH has submitted a total of 11 reports to CEC primarily for abuse of public resources and premature campaigning.
