TI BiH has proposed measures for greater transparency in the financing of political parties

22 December 2017

Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) presented its proposals for amending the Law on Financing of Political Parties at a conference organized on that occasion . Srdjan Blagovcanin , Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI BiH, emphasized on that occasion that, according to all civil society research, citizens have the least faith in political parties.

“TI BiH sees the improvement of the way of financing political parties as an extremely important aspect for strengthening the trust of citizens in the work of political parties,” Blagovcanin pointed out.

The proposals of TI BiH are tailored with the aim of ensuring transparency in the financing of political parties, but also to eliminate all possible abuses in election campaigns. Among other things, it is suggested:

  • clearer CEC responsibilities for auditing party costs;
  • obligation to use single bank accounts, ie. one account for regular financing and the other for financing the election campaign;
  • operations exclusively through bank accounts, which also applies to payments of donations and all other transactions;
  • introduction of provisions banning the use of public resources for the purpose of promoting parties;
  • anticipating the obligation to publish complete financial statements, including expenditures;
  • more detailed analysis of violations in the segment of prescribed sanctions and tightening their range;
  • suspension of payment of budget funds as one of the sanctions for violating the provisions on prohibited activities.

The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) regularly points out in its reports and recommendations that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not complied with all requirements regarding transparency in party financing. The European Commission also warns in its reports that effective control over the financing of political parties and election campaigns has not been established. The conference organized by TI BiH gathered all relevant international and domestic actors in this field who gave their support to the proposals presented here, the adoption of which they will insist on in the coming period.

 

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