BS
In early September, the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” reported the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 – HDZ 1990 for premature campaigning.
An appearance by Ilija Cvitanović on N1 BiH television was published on the N1 BiH YouTube channel with the description: “The President of HDZ 1990 and delegate in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ilija Cvitanović, stated for N1 that the implementation of new election technologies could drastically affect the results of the October elections. Speaking about the performance of the parties gathered in the ‘Five’ (Petorka), he stated that they want to offer an alternative to HDZ BiH, as well as a choice within the Croatian electorate.”
The Election Law of BiH defined a premature campaign as “any form of campaign activities undertaken by political entities in the period from the calling of elections to the period of the official beginning of the election campaign.” Furthermore, the law defines a premature campaign as “actions and procedures… during which a political entity, in a manner prescribed by law, acquaints voters and the public with its programs and candidates for the upcoming elections.”
The “Pod lupom” Coalition considered that the aforementioned actions violated the provisions of Article 7.1 of the Election Law of BiH.
Following the conducted proceedings, the CIK BiH determined that the political entity “Croatian Five” HDZ 1990, HRS, HNP, HDS, and HSS is responsible for the fact that Ilija Cvitanović, president of HDZ 1990, conducted an election campaign via the Facebook social network during the period of premature election campaigning. The CIK BiH issued a decision sanctioning the political entity “Croatian Five” HDZ 1990, HRS, HNP, HDS, and HSS with a fine in the amount of 3,000 BAM, and candidate Ilija Cvitanović also with a fine in the amount of 3,000 BAM, along with an order to immediately remove the disputed post from the Facebook profile.
