The campaign for early elections has cost about 794 thousand KM so far, according to Transparency International in BiH’s estimate. This amount was spent on billboards, pre-election rallies, and advertising in media and on social networks during 11 days of the election campaign. Of this amount, the campaign of SNSD candidate Siniša Karan cost about 651 thousand KM, while about 142 thousand KM was spent on promoting the opposition candidate Branko Blanuša.
TI BiH, through field recording across RS, documented 437 promotional posters in paid advertising spaces, with a total estimated value of about 297,000 KM for 15 days of the campaign. The SNSD candidate had 2.5 times more such advertisements.
Pre-election rallies in the first 11 days of the campaign cost about 407,000 KM according to TI BiH’s estimate, with SNSD spending a significantly larger amount, primarily due to several large gatherings where substantial amounts were spent on restaurant services.
2Siniša Karan’s media campaign, according to the estimate of a media monitoring agency engaged by TI BiH, cost over 80 thousand KM, while the SDS candidate had no paid advertising spots on the monitored television stations based in Republika Srpska. On the other hand, interviews and promotional texts about candidates were recorded on portals and social networks that were not marked as paid but indicated by their nature that they were paid promotions.
The campaign on Meta company platforms was quite modest compared to regular elections, and SNSD hardly used this form of advertising, at least through official channels.
According to the Election Law, parties should publish transactions from the special account used to finance the campaign. Given that the new law in Republika Srpska has omitted party financing from the budget, it will be significant to see from which sources the parties will cover campaign costs. TI BiH reminds that there has been a significant difference in the past between what parties report in their statements and the actual campaign costs, but the competent institutions have not seriously addressed unreported and potentially illegal sources of party financing. In the last local elections alone, the 15 largest parties reported 2.6 million KM less compared to TI BiH’s estimate based on only four segments of the campaign, with SNSD alone accounting for one million KM, not reporting any costs for pre-election rallies.
The public service RTRS played a special role in promoting the ruling coalition’s candidate. According to measurements by an agency engaged by TI BiH, RTRS featured Siniša Karan 57 times in its news programs over 11 days of the campaign, totaling 2 hours and 20 minutes of airtime. During the same period, Branko Blanuša received about 20 seconds of airtime in RTRS news programs, showing two of his statements. It should be noted that the Election Law prohibits the promotion of parties and candidates in news programs during the campaign, so Siniša Karan was presented as a minister in the RS Government and as a “professor of constitutional law,” while Professor Branko Blanuša does not hold a public office.
3However, Milorad Dodik, who does not hold a public office, appeared 66 times in RTRS news programs during the 11 days of the campaign, with one hour and 45 minutes of programming dedicated to promoting him and his views. Dodik had 18 activities in just 11 days, which were presented as institutional events in news programs. These included visits to local communities, laying foundation stones for public works, and visits to private and public companies. In most cases, he was accompanied by Siniša Karan, the Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of RS, and these events, which had the typical character of an incumbent’s campaign, were shown in news programs. This occurred despite the Election Law clearly prohibiting the use of public office to promote candidates in elections.
Throughout the entire campaign, the public service’s news space was used to promote the views of SNSD officials, who received almost 11 hours of programming, while SDS officials appeared for 7 minutes and 24 seconds.
Misuse of Public Resources
During the monitoring of the pre-election period, TI BiH recorded 154 cases indicating the use of public funds for election campaign purposes. The majority (76) of examples relate to the opening of public works during this period, and the second most common occurrence is the distribution of one-time assistance to various categories of the population, which is clearly prohibited by the election law.
As a result, TI BiH filed complaints against the mayor of Ugljevik municipality and his deputy for visiting the Pensioners’ Home and giving 100 KM to 473 pensioners with the lowest pensions. The mayor of Stanari municipality allocated financial assistance for purchasing fuel to social categories, while the mayor of Foča, as in previous elections, distributed one-time assistance for winter food supplies and aid to large families. Although these are not candidates in the elections, the Election Law prohibits public officials from making one-time payments from the announcement to the holding of elections.
1To date, TI BiH has submitted a total of nine complaints to the CEC, and in addition to the misuse of public resources, two relate to SNSD’s premature campaigning. The former president of SNSD Banja Luka organized a “kotlićijada” (cooking competition) before the start of the campaign, which had the character of a classic pre-election gathering, and a similar event with the party’s candidate was organized in October in Banja Luka.
So far, based on TI BiH’s complaints, the CEC has imposed a sanction of 6,000 KM on SNSD for the exploitation of children at a pre-election rally in East Sarajevo. Also at the same rally, Milorad Dodik spread hate speech, which TI BiH also reported to the CEC, who conducted proceedings ex officio and imposed a sanction of 30,000 KM on SNSD. Additionally, a complaint was filed against BiH Finance Minister Srđan Amidžić for statements that undermine the integrity of the electoral process, but the CEC considered that they were made several days before this party applied to participate in the elections.
The campaign for early elections in RS was significantly less intense than the usual campaign for regular elections, both in terms of costs and the extent of recorded abuses, which were quite significant during the period of general and local elections. However, TI BiH emphasizes that it is of particular importance to sanction the misuse of public resources in the campaign because the small number of sanctions in the previous period has not changed the established pattern of behavior of parties and candidates.
