TI BiH: CEC Still Not Penalizing Misuse of Public Resources, OHR Refuses to Provide Authentic Interpretation of Election Law

In the last two months, Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) has filed 90 complaints related to election law violations. The CEC has so far issued 14 sanctions based on TI BiH’s complaints, totaling 59,500 BAM, mostly related to premature campaigning, while sanctions for misuse of public resources remain absent. During 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 approximately 53 million BAM according to TI BiH data.

Despite the law now prohibiting indirect vote buying through providing this type of one-time assistance to citizens, no one has been sanctioned under this provision yet. 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 budget-planned items,” making it difficult to expect anyone to be sanctioned if this practice continues.

Since the announcement of elections, the CEC has received a total of 70 complaints from TI BiH and other entities regarding the misuse of public resources, many of which remain unresolved, and only two sanctions have been issued for misuse of communication resources. Due to all this, TI BiH requested an authentic interpretation from the OHR in July, who responded by stating that law interpretation falls under CEC jurisdiction.

“While we don’t believe that the institute of authentic interpretation should be used in democratic systems, we remind that the Electoral Law amendments were imposed and not adopted through democratic processes and public discussions, which is why the OHR should show minimum responsibility to ensure their adequate interpretation and implementation. Otherwise, it opens space for inappropriate influences on the law implementation process and arbitrary interpretation of these provisions, which has largely rendered them meaningless and failed to achieve their purpose,” stated Ivana Korajlić, Executive Director of TI BiH.

TI BiH has already pointed out numerous examples of one-time payments before elections, and the latest examples relate to one-time assistance of 100 BAM to pensioners in Tuzla Canton and Bratunac, to students in Foča, Ljubuški, Ugljevik, as well as the distribution of “friendship cards” for pensioners and free plots for young people by the Mayor of Banja Luka. It should also be noted that the FBiH Government announced a budget rebalance at the height of the election campaign and one-time assistance of 100 and 200 BAM to all pensioners, which was already seen before the 2022 General Elections.

TI BiH has also published an interactive map locating 593 examples of pre-election works that have begun or opened in the past two months, valued at 569 million BAM. The CEC has so far issued sanctions to parties that boasted about pre-election works in the context of premature campaigning, and TI BiH is still waiting for decisions on complaints against state minister Sevlid Hurtić, who conducted an election campaign and photographed himself next to public works financed from the local level in Doboj. Also reported to the CEC was the case of asphalting local roads using funds from ŠG Romanija Sokolac, as the director of that company, Strahinja Bašević, who is a candidate for mayor, is conducting direct election campaign through these public works.

The practice of official campaigning has continued, and TI BiH observers have monitored 350 events organized by public institutions over the past two months. Electoral candidates were present at over 75% of such events, and political messages were conveyed at 14% of events, although this is also considered misuse of public resources by law. Decisions are still pending on complaints against NSRS deputies and SNSD list carrier in Banja Luka, Vlado Đajić, who sent pre-election messages at several public events, and the same candidate has, as in previous election cycles, started premature campaigning through billboards offering free check-ups to pensioners.

Cases were also recorded of pre-election promotion by the mayor of Vukosavlje at the “Gastro Fest” in this municipality, the mayor of Ustikolina at a concert marking the municipality day, as well as the mayor of Gornji Vakuf and minister from the CBK Government through poster placement at a football tournament.

There were also 41 examples of children being exploited for political purposes, and on the first day of school alone, 21 cases where officials misused elementary school students for their own promotion and election campaigning. Additionally, 72 cases of increased employment before elections were recorded, 101 examples of premature campaigning, and 67 cases of providing special benefits in the form of free medical check-ups or other public services during the pre-election period.

There are also 14 examples of paid advertising by institutions promoting candidates and using communication means for election campaigning, which is prohibited by law. We highlight examples of the mayors of Gradiška and Konjic who promote the achievements of the current city administration through video spots and other forms of campaigning.

TI BiH has long been pointing out the problem of electoral conditions in BiH, as unpunished misuse of public resources gives significant advantage to incumbent candidates. With the latest changes imposed by the High Representative, these abuses are only partially sanctioned, but due to lack of interpretation and narrow application, these provisions have not yet yielded expected results. What is positive to mention is the increased citizen interest in the electoral process, and TI BiH has through the Reflektor application received 878 citizen reports related to attempts to establish political control over polling stations, premature campaigning, and misuse of public funds.

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