The parties spent at least 5.9 million KM on TV and billboards alone, an increase in the misuse of public resources

During the election campaign, political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina spent at least 5.9 million KM on advertising in electronic and print media and billboards, according to preliminary results of monitoring conducted by Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH). Out of that amount, advertising on television and in print media cost 2.2 million KM ¹ . In the 70 local communities covered by TI BIH through monitoring, the parties spent at least 3.7 million KM on billboard advertising.
SNSD (1.36 million KM), SDA and PDP (800 thousand KM each), SDS (about 600 thousand KM), United Srpska (over 370 thousand KM) and SDP (over 310) have spent the most money on this type of advertising so far. thousand). On the other hand, no party in BIH submitted, at the request of TI BIH, a plan of election campaign expenses that were reported in the amount of over 10 million KM for the last elections.
According to the estimates of the observed sample, the costs of outdoor advertising in other municipalities, internet advertising, production of advertising material, as well as the costs of pre-election rallies, which were held in large numbers despite the measures banning gatherings, should be added to the amount. bigger. TI BIH observers have so far watched 974 pre-election rallies, and parties have distributed gifts or other benefits to voters 140 times, such as free transportation for all citizens of Brcko during the Socialist Party’s campaign or free serological tests by SNSD Banja Luka.

2481 cases of use of public resources were recorded

In a little less than 3 months, TI BIH observers also recorded 2481 examples where public resources were used for the election promotion of parties and candidates. The largest number of abuses refers to the intensification of public works in the pre-election period, because a total of 983 cases were recorded in three months, of which 46% were recorded in the last month during the election campaign. The largest number of these works was recorded in Zenica, Banja Luka, Doboj and the municipalities of Stari Grad and Novi Grad in Sarajevo.
Also, a total of 21 examples of paid advertising of institutions promoting candidates were recorded, and the CEC imposed fines for premature campaigns in cases where Bijeljina and Banovici paid election promotions to current mayors from the budget. The last such case was recorded in Banja Luka, where a pre-election poster of the director of that company, who is also a candidate for councilor, appeared on a billboard leased by JP DEP-OT for a year. After the request of TI BIH, the billboard was removed, the company’s advertisement was returned and the case was reported to the CEC.
During the campaign, in 32 cases, the equipment of public companies and institutions was used to place party posters and organize pre-election rallies. In Bugojno, workers of the public utility company put up posters of SDA candidates, and workers of the electricity distribution in Bijeljina and Celinac put up posters of the SNSD.
TI BIH observers recorded 270 examples of the distribution of special incentives and subsidies, most often related to one-off payments timed for the pre-election period. For example, the Municipality of Ugljevik granted a one-time aid of 100 KM for 350 pensioners, the Municipality of Pale allocated 20,000 KM from the budget reserve for the most vulnerable pensioners, the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo distributed a one-time aid to war invalids of 50 KM, in Foča assistance to pensioners of 50 KM, and the parties regularly boasted about such allocations on their pages as part of the campaign. .
So far, TI BiH has submitted 94 reports to the CEC related to violations of the Election Law and the Law on Financing of Political Parties. According to the reports of TIBIH, the CEC has so far imposed 44 fines in the total amount of 45,000 KM due to the premature campaign, and the outcome of other reports is still pending. Applications related to the financing of the campaign with public funds will only be subsequently subject to revision by the CEC.

Candidates attended free mammography examinations

In the past three months, 86 examples of providing free check-ups, medicines, travel and discounts on public services were recorded in 70 local communities. The current mayor of Doboj, Boris Jerinić, who is again a candidate for that position, along with five other candidates and officials of his party, attended the free mammography examinations organized at the Doboj Health Center. The same case was recorded in Bijeljina, where free mammography examinations were attended by Mayor Mićo Mićić and councilor candidate Igor Novaković. The Mayor of Centar, Nedžad Ajnadžić, handed out free tickets for the Trebević cable car to the users of the Center for Healthy Aging, and in Prijedor, a member of the Presidency of BiH, Milorad Dodik, handed out decisions on land legalization.
There were also 35 cases of mass employment in public institutions. We single out the example in Gacko, where during the campaign the municipality announced a competition for the admission of 18 trainees at the same time as the mayor in the pre-election debate officially announced that 30% of workers in the municipal administration are redundant.
In the past three months, TI BIH observers covered 945 public events organized by institutions and public companies, and 62% of these events were addressed by candidates in local elections, which clearly shows their purpose. Out of that number, 226 public events were organized on the occasion of the opening of infrastructure facilities, which speaks volumes about the scale of the use of public resources in the campaign and the increase in public spending for the purpose of pre-election promotion.
The data presented by TI BiH are preliminary estimates, and TI BIH will present a final report which, in addition to the above data, will include estimates of the costs of holding election rallies and other costs of the parties in the campaign. The data will be compared with the financial reports of political parties to determine whether the parties are reporting actual expenditures, and whether they have reported all sources of revenue.
TI BIH data again point to abuses of public resources without sanctions, because the legal framework did not clearly define measures to prevent such occurrences, and again show the need for urgent amendments to the Election Law and the Law on Financing of Political Parties, which would impose restrictions on misuse of public funds. in the campaign, and separated party and public functions.

¹ The monitoring includes 12 TV stations (BHT, FTV, RTRS, FACE TV, Hayat, TV BN, ATV, N1, NOVA BH, K3, ALFA TV, O KANAL) and 34 print media from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Press rls – 12.11.2020