Transparency International in BiH presented recommendations for improving the election legislation

At today’s conference, Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) presented the results of the monitoring of the election campaign for the Local Elections 2020. as well as recommendations for improving the legal framework in the field of electoral legislation.

At the conference, which was organized on the occasion of the announced changes in the election legislation aimed at strengthening the integrity of the election process, it was said that the current legal framework allows for numerous manipulations, election fraud and misuse of public resources in the campaign. Therefore, it was emphasized that the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group for Amendments to the Election Legislation must be open to the public, and the announced changes must include solutions that will enable more transparent campaign financing and prevent numerous manipulations and distortions of voters.

Eric Nelson, the US ambassador to BiH, said that some political leaders in BiH are consistently obstructing election and other reforms for their own interests. He supported the work of TI BiH, saying that there is an urgent need to update the legal framework governing elections, as insufficient oversight too often results in fraud and manipulation.

Johann Sattler, Special Representative and Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, called on the members of the Interdepartmental Working Group to start work on the reform of election laws, which is one of the 14 priorities for EU membership.

“It is crucial that, in addition to civil society organizations, the Central Election Commission of BiH be included in the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group, and that their proposals for improving the election legislation be accepted,” Sattler pointed out.

Srdjan Blagovcanin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI BiH, underlined the worrying data observed during the long-term monitoring of election processes in BiH, which is that the cost of public procurement of all authorities in BiH increases by 40% in the election year.

“This must stop in order to open BiH’s European path.” We have a completely clear direction and recommendations of international organizations, “Blagovcanin pointed out. Therefore, TI BIH proposes limiting public spending and employment in the public sector during the pre-election period, giving clear competencies to the CEC to audit campaign expenditures and introducing stricter sanctions for violations of the law.

The President of the Central Election Commission of BiH, Zeljko Bakalar, pointed out that the CEC will use the legal right and propose solutions that will prevent election manipulations, regulate the work of polling stations and finance the election campaign. Therefore, he expressed regret that the CEC does not participate in the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group for Amendments to the Election Law, which for him is “a political decision of actors who do not show political will for radical change.”

The monitoring of last year’s elections conducted by TI BIH showed that the parties concealed real sources of income, that campaign expenses were expressed in significantly lower amounts than those determined by advertising monitoring and that public resources were used to promote individual parties and candidates. All this indicates the need to change the laws that regulate the election process and the area of financing political parties.