Whoever spends "women's" money and state vehicles will pay

The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) assessed at the end of July that it is necessary to foresee sanctions for all violations of the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, including the use of official cars during the campaign for non-official purposes and the spending of money intended for women's organizations for the regular work of parties.

KAS has an opinion on that act, which was given ex officio and signed by the director of that institution Jelena Perović, stated that the current legal framework does not provide for effective protection measures and penalties for circumventing the rules, which, he adds, limits the effective supervision of law enforcement.

In a document submitted to the Government, the parliamentary committees for anti-corruption and comprehensive electoral reform, and the Council of the ASK, the Agency says that several deficiencies have been detected in the provisions of the electoral law and makes a number of recommendations to create conditions for its improvement.

It points to the need to harmonize the electoral law with the Law on Misdemeanors, so that, in Article 15 of the Act on Misdemeanors, political entities and those responsible for them will be included in the subjects of misdemeanor liability, in order to create formal preconditions for the full application of the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and election campaigns.

If their objection were to be accepted, it would mean that proceedings could be initiated against coalitions and groups of voters, considering that the Law on Misdemeanors does not recognize them, because they do not have the status of legal entities.

The agency indicates that it is necessary to further limit or completely abolish the possibility of non-monetary contributions that the parties receive, which are calculated according to the market value and reported as income. They claim that this form of attachment is not rare in practice and that "it is a challenge to define what constitutes deviations from market conditions".

The law stipulates that a non-monetary contribution is the provision of services or products given to a political party without compensation or under conditions that place the party in a privileged position compared to other consumers, borrowing from banks and other financial institutions and organizations under conditions that deviate from market conditions, as well as write-offs part of the debts.

In its opinion, the agency states that borrowing from banks and other financial institutions is also included in the private sources of funding for parties.

Credits, loans and other services from banks and other financial institutions in accordance with the law are listed as bank borrowings. The existing legal solution contains shortcomings because it does not prescribe conditions, rules and deadlines for borrowing from banks and financial institutions, which due to the existing inaccuracies and ambiguities leaves room for a flat interpretation of this legal provision and limits effective supervision", it is written in the document published on July 24 at ASK website.

The opinion stated that the existence of an article of the law that refers to the money that parties receive for the regular work of women's organizations, without sanction, makes its essence meaningless, because it leaves room for abuse to use that money for the regular work of the parties, and not for what it was intended for. is intended.

According to the law on the financing of political entities and election campaigns, money from the budget, intended for the work of women's organizations in parties, must be used exclusively in the manner provided for in the statute of women's organizations.

For financing the regular work of women's organizations in political entities in the Assembly, 0,05 percent of the planned total budget funds, minus the capital and budget funds of the state funds (current budget), are allocated.

For women's organizations in parties in municipal assemblies, 0,11 percent of the planned total budget funds, minus capital budget funds, are allocated.

"Exceptionally, for municipalities with a budget of less than five million euros, budget funds for financing the regular work of women's organizations in political entities in the municipal assembly amount from 0,11 percent to 0,3 percent of the planned total budget funds, less capital budget funds" , it is written in the Law.

The agency reminds that the law prohibits public officials from using official cars in the election campaign, except in cases of official necessity.

"Nevertheless, for the violation of this ban, there was no misdemeanor sanction in the law itself, which must be foreseen, as well as the procedure for determining this violation as the only way to contribute to a more efficient prevention of abuse of state resources for electoral purposes," the document states.

ASK also assesses that it is necessary to harmonize the Law on the Financing of Political Parties and Election Campaigns and the Labor Law in the part that refers to the conclusion of contracts for the performance of temporary and occasional jobs and to consider limiting the ban on concluding work contracts, while prescribing limitations and obligations and to companies that are state-owned, that is, owned by local self-government.

The law now does not prescribe a ban on concluding work contracts, as well as employment to fill vacant positions in accordance with the valid act on systematization. It is allowed, it is added, to enter into contracts for the performance of temporary or occasional jobs, although this is in contradiction with the Labor Law.

At the end of June, a working group was formed within the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform to draft the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns. It is attended by representatives of all political parties and clubs of deputies who are represented in the Committee, as well as representatives of the academic community and the non-governmental (NGO) sector. The working group met five times during July.

The Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns was adopted at the end of 2019 and entered into force in January 2020.