BS
The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” reported the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats – SNSD – Milorad Dodik in mid-August due to a premature campaign and the abuse of children for political purposes.
On the official Facebook profile of the SNSD party, a post was published with photographs showing the visit of Savo Minić, a member of the presidency of the SNSD party and the current Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, to a family from Teslić with eight children, accompanied by the description: “Families are the foundation of society and therefore deserve our attention, support, and care, especially when it comes to families who make great efforts every day to provide a dignified life for their children. Radovan Đurić, working a hard physical job, fights every day to provide funds for his family. Member of the SNSD Presidency Savo Minić visited Radovan and Vesna Đurić from Teslić, parents of eight children. Our support for such families will not be lacking, because caring for children and the family is an investment in the future of our society.”
The “Pod lupom” Coalition considered that this publication violated the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Election Law of BiH defines a premature election campaign as “any form of campaign activities undertaken by political subjects in the period from the calling of elections to the period of the official start of the election campaign.” Also, the Election Law of BiH prescribes a ban on the abuse of children for political purposes. “Candidates and supporters of political parties, lists of independent candidates, lists of members of national minorities and coalitions, as well as independent candidates and their supporters, and employees or otherwise engaged in the election administration are not allowed (…) to abuse a child for political purposes,” states the Election Law of BiH.
Based on the publication, the Coalition considered that it was a violation of Article 7.1 and Article 7.3 paragraph (8) of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
CIK determined that it was a case of a premature campaign and the abuse of children for political purposes. The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats – SNSD – Milorad Dodik was fined in the amount of 10,000 BAM. When imposing the fine, CIK took into account that SNSD had already been penalized 17 times for premature campaigning by the time the fine was issued.
