BS
The “Pod lupom” Coalition for Free and Fair Elections reported the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) for premature campaigning in mid-August.
On the official Facebook page of the political entity SDA (SDA Novi Grad Sarajevo), a photograph of the party’s electoral platform for the 2024–2028 period was published. The photo’s caption claims that the political entity “continues to fulfill its promises to the citizens of Novi Grad,” while promising the urgent rehabilitation of the bridge connecting the 9th Transversal with the main thoroughfare.
“That bridge represents an important transport link, and we see its renovation as one of the priorities in the coming period. Therefore, we will direct our energy towards launching the bridge reconstruction project, in order to achieve safe, functional, and modern transport connectivity within the Municipality of Novi Grad, as well as a higher-quality connection toward the highway. We continue working on projects that solve real problems for citizens and change the appearance of our city. We have offered citizens a program and projects that we are now realizing because your trust is our obligation. Thank you to all competent institutions that, within the scope of their duties and jurisdictions, contributed to the realization of the stated projects,” the caption states.
The Election Law of BiH defines premature election 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 start of the election campaign.”
Based on the aforementioned content of the post, the applicant of the Initiative considers that promoting such activities during the specified period constitutes a violation of Article 7.1 of the Election Law of BiH—meaning that in this case, it involves conducting an election campaign during the period of premature, legally prohibited election campaign, or that such posts promote the political entity, create a positive impression among voters, and encourage their electoral support prior to the start of the official election campaign period.
The Central Election Commission conducted proceedings against the SDA following the report on electoral irregularity and issued a decision imposing a financial sanction in the amount of 5,500 BAM for violating Article 7.1 of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
