The official campaign must be precisely defined by law, and the sanctions for its implementation clear and strict, so that this practice is not repeated from election to election.
This is what the interlocutors of "Vijesti" say, commenting on the activities by which state and local officials, in anticipation of the upcoming elections in Podgorica, are trying to provide an advantage to the political actors they represent.
Since July 27, when those elections were announced, there have been dozens of such examples - tender announcements, ribbon cuttings, project announcements... the actors of which are the highest state officials, ministers, leaders of Podgorica, directors of city enterprises... Some of them during the rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), they sharply criticized that practice.
Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) Dragan Koprivica, says that the official campaign is one of the key features of the elections scheduled for September 29. He states that it consists of "events and quasi-events" that did not have to happen in the pre-election period, but that they happened precisely because public functions and public resources are subordinated to the election result.
"In the case of a dilemma as to whether something is a regular activity or an official campaign, several control questions should be asked: was it necessary for that activity to happen right now; could the same be done after the election; will that activity be relevant at all in two months; could that activity have been realized without the presence of a public official who has an interest in the elections...", Koprivica told "Vijesta", adding that these questions provide answers to the fact that all openings, visits, projects, welfare announcements, subsidies, donations, tenders... in essence, they constitute - an official campaign.
"And in certain cases, direct abuse of public resources in order to gain an institutional advantage in the elections," he says.
Roads, flats, ribbons...
One of the most active in the official campaign is the Prime Minister and head of the Europe Now Movement (PES). Milojko Spajic. He had four media conferences/presentations during the month, from August 21 to September 21, where he announced major infrastructure and housing projects.
First, he promised that the government would, in the next five to seven years, complete 18 sections of highways and expressways through the country, 480 kilometers long and worth eight billion euros, then he announced the tender for the conceptual design of the ring road around Podgorica, then he presented the boulevard project Vojislavljević in the capital, in order to announce the construction of a new settlement on Velje brdo in Podgorica last weekend, saying that those who do not have an apartment will be able, through this project, to get one under favorable conditions.
Spajić, among other things, also cut a ribbon, opening last week, within the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG) in Podgorica, the "Dr. Dušan Kosović" Psychiatry Clinic.
In all the mentioned activities, the Prime Minister had the "help" of some colleagues from the Government, whose parties are also in power in Podgorica. That's how they are with Spajić, except for his party friend and the Minister of Health Vojislav Šimun, the Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property also appeared Slaven Radunović (New Serbian Democracy) and Minister of Transport Maja Vukićević (Democratic People's Party).
Journalists asked the Prime Minister on Saturday, at the presentation of the "Veljo brdo" project, whether this was an example of misuse of state resources for pre-election purposes, and he answered by saying that elections are held in Montenegro every two or three months, and replied with the question - "does that mean we should stop the state...?".
The sociologist and program director of the Center for Civic Education (CGO) agrees that the official campaign marks the upcoming elections. Petar Djukanovic, who assesses that, as the election approaches, it is gaining more and more intensity.
He states that high state officials actively use their public functions to promote electoral lists and their programs, which, he says, blurs the line between state and party interests.
"This is especially pronounced in the cases of prime ministers and ministers, and the way in which the presentation of the 'Velje brdo' project was ridiculed by social media users could be a warning to the authorities not to underestimate the citizens... In general, this is very harmful to the overall democratic development, because institutions that are supposed to serve everyone are put in the function of narrow party interests, which further undermines their integrity", underlined Đukanović for "Vijesti".
Bragging about other people's results
Even the head of state and Spajić's former comrade-in-arms does not shy away from official campaigns Jakov Milatovic. The most striking example is his visit to another man from Podgorica Luka Rakčević (Civil Movement URA) to Podgorica firefighters at the beginning of August. This happened a day after the news that Milatović was gathering an alliance that should include Rakčević's party, among others, and that the deputy mayor of Podgorica could lead it in the elections. Soon after that, it was made official.
The president then told "Vijesta" that from that position he has an obligation to point out important topics in the sphere of politics, economy and society, and that support for firefighters "in unpleasant moments", such as fires, is what it is.
Milatović was respected by the NGO sector for carrying out the official campaign by organizing various events in his capacity as president. One of them (panel) took place at the beginning of September, on the topic - corporate governance in state-owned enterprises. He organized events of a similar type on several occasions even before the announcement of the elections.
The mayor of Podgorica also abuses her position for pre-election purposes Olivera Injac (LAPPET). Among other things, she made the decision on free public transport in the election month, with the director of the Traffic Administration Radomir Vuksanović announced the tender for the construction of Vojislavljević Boulevard, with the director of KCCG Aleksandar Radović signed an agreement on business and technical cooperation between that institution and the Capital City...
PES justified the decision on free transportation by saying that it cannot be tied to elections, that "it was set up that way" and that the Day of Mobility cannot be changed.
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) determined today that the capital city of Podgorica violated the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns by passing a decision on free transportation in the month of local elections.
The Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns prohibits subsidizing the payment of communal services during elections.
Official campaign is no stranger to Luka Rakčević, who, in addition to visiting firefighters, also visited the Budućnost Women's Handball Club, "appropriated" works on the reconstruction of the facades of several buildings, published photos from the opening of the "Market in your neighborhood" project in Zagorič, along with a message from the list he leads ("For a better Podgorica")...
The director of "Roads" is also in the same circle. Rados Zecevic (New Serbian Democracy). The company he manages these days in several locations in Podgorica and its surroundings builds new roads, parking spaces, rehabilitates roads... although he does not have permission for this from the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property. Zečević justifies this with "public interest", "appropriating" the results of "Roads" in the campaign.
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Nothing without a hit in the pocket
When asked if the institutions can do anything to oppose this kind of campaign, the interlocutors of "Vijesti" answer that they are not up to date, but that this is one of the problems.
According to Dragan Koprivica, part of the problem lies in the legal framework, part in the inactivity of the key institution dealing with this issue (ASK), and part is inextricably linked with Montenegrin political culture. It is of great importance, he says, that the ASK boldly and decisively sanctions those behaviors of political actors that are contrary to the law and that can be easily proven.
"It is important to get official confirmation who are those who do not play a fair game and who want to seize what does not belong to them through abuse. Even though the punishments are symbolic, even though the violations 'pay', it is important here that it becomes an official fact, that all citizens know it, that international institutions know it and that it enters the official reports of domestic and international stakeholders. We hope the time will come when this behavior is no longer acceptable and will be punished in the elections," he says, adding that if ASK does not sanction such behavior, it will repeat the patterns of previous years - that it does not have the courage to stand up to the powerful.
"That ends the true purpose of its existence," Koprivica states.
Petar Đukanović says that the authorities do not show agility to oppose the officials' campaign, and that the main reason for this lies in the lack of political will, and in some cases in inadequate legal solutions. Acts do not clearly define what an official campaign actually is.
"Although there is a legal framework and KAS, the application of sanctions is weak and ineffective. The official campaign as a phenomenon is not defined precisely enough in the laws, and the management of the competent institutions are often too susceptible to political influences for those institutions to consistently implement the regulations", he assesses.
Đukanović says that sanctioning the officials' campaign is necessary, because, he says, it is clear that there is a serious abuse of public resources, which endangers the transparency and fairness of the election process. In order to suppress these abuses, legislative changes are needed, he says, which would more precisely define the term official campaign and establish clearer boundaries between public and party interests.
"First of all, the law must clearly define what activities and resources constitute abuse in the context of an official campaign, including the prohibition of using state projects and functions for the promotion of individual political parties. Sanctions should be stricter and clearer, with concrete punishments that would disincentivize officials from abuse".
Koprivica: Laws are useless when there are no institutions
Dragan Koprivica says that the issue of bans on the misuse of resources and accompanying sanctions has not been reformed for ten years, and that on that front, there is a heavy trot "for modern answers to these problems".
He states that better regulation of this matter is one of the key challenges for the upcoming electoral reform, which, he reminds, is blocked by the interests of the parties.
"This includes a much more serious criminal policy, an increase in misdemeanor sanctions, but also the introduction of criminal offenses related to party financing. However, whatever is written in the laws, depends on the institutions that apply it, and we need a serious reform of the KAS, and a serious reform of the prosecutor's organization, so that both existing and future norms can be applied", underlines the interlocutor.
Đukanović: Give greater powers to KAS
Petar Đukanović states that, in addition to legal changes regarding official campaigns, it is crucial to strengthen competent institutions, such as KAS, "for independent and decisive action".
"Such institutions must have greater powers and autonomy, because the existing legal framework allows too much political influence on the choice of leadership, and consequently on the work. Greater transparency in the work of institutions is also needed, and more detailed monitoring of the use of public resources during the campaign", he says.
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