Nenad Nešić, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, promised help and support with employment in BiH institutions to party supporters from Višegrad if they achieve a positive result and win in the elections. Transparency International in BiH (TIBiH) received an anonymous report with a recording from a pre-election gathering held on September 16 at the Cultural Center in Višegrad, where Nešić addressed the gathered citizens, calling on them to bring a “good result“, i.e., victory in the elections, and told the mayor of that municipality that he will “always remind you of what you promised here in front of these people“.
“And I will help you, as much as it is in my power, from the position of Minister of Security. You will have my support.” the DNS leader told the gathered crowd, who in the continuation of his address specified that there is a kind of agreement with “colleagues from the Council of Ministers” about the number of people he can “push” in some of the job competitions that will soon be published in various institutions and agencies at the BiH level.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen, a few days ago a competition was announced for the Border Police, shout if you have someone to apply, to compete, I will help. I will arrange with my colleagues in the Council of Ministers for Višegrad to get a certain number of people who will work in the Border Police. Also, there’s a competition in SIPA, there’s a competition in DKPT. We’re talking about security agencies where I can jump in somehow.” Nešić stated, emphasizing that he makes no distinction between members and activists of SNSD and DNS.
TI BiH reported this case to the Central Election Commission of BiH as an evident example of violating the Election Law through promising monetary or other material benefits, which represents an increasingly frequent form of addressing voters by top officials, and information about this case will be forwarded to the competent prosecutor’s office to assess whether there are elements of a criminal offense.
We remind you that in a similar way, Milorad Dodik recently stated at a pre-election gathering that there would be “reduced chances of life…” if a patient were to vote against Dr. Nikola Šobot, who should operate on them, adding that “a person gets scared. It’s natural for people to be afraid”.
Transparency International has, in the course of monitoring the activities of political parties and their candidates so far, sent 96 reports to the CEC for various forms of violations of the Election Law. However, until now, penalties have mainly been imposed for premature campaigning, while many more serious forms of abuse of public resources for political promotion and gaining voter support have remained largely unsanctioned.
TI BiH nevertheless appeals to citizens to use the Reflektor application to report cases of violations of the election law or misuse of public resources in the campaign.
