PUBLIC RELEASE
Elections are the opportunity 
for the country to go out of crisis

On October 5, 2002, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina will go to the polls to elect the members of the BiH Presidency, President and Vice Presidents of Republika Srpska, representatives in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, People's Assembly of RS, House of Representatives of the BiH Federation Parliament, as well as the representatives in the cantonal assemblies and in the municipal council of Zepce.

While monitoring the course of the electoral campaigns, the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in BiH «Izbori 2002» (Elections 2002) and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, have noted a certain number of incidents and excesses directed by those political forces whose aim was to create an atmosphere of fear and interethnic tensions, with the ultimate purpose to homogenize the voters on ethnic basis and orient them toward siding with extremist nationalistic options. However, these incidents have not seriously endangered the regularity of the campaign or the regularity of the elections.

What basically characterised this year's electoral campaigning was that a large number of protagonists of the electoral contest have been trying to discredit their rivals and on that basis to gain confidence of the voters.  Enshrouded in climate of low blows, inflammatory vocabulary and language of hatred, in an attempt to gain advantage over the political rivals, electoral platforms and candidates taking part in the electoral race were promoted.  

Certainly, the campaign, which can be characterised as dirty campaign, resulted, among else, in confusing and even embittering voters, causing considerable lack of interest of the electoral body for the process of campaign as such. 

Among the negative phenomena observed in the last two months of the campaigns, we should note the inadmissible interference of secret services with the daily politics and therefore their implicit involvement in the electoral campaign. It was never seen in the democratic societies that the secret services in such a manner overstep the limits of their constitutional and legal powers.

Contrary to the principle of separation of church and state, in this campaign we could see that some religious officials, including even the leaders of religious communities, played an active role in promoting particular political options. At the same time, some religious gatherings were abused by the election candidates, who used the religious facilities and religious events to conduct their campaigns.  

It was noticed at some of the electoral rallies that even children were misused; consequently their right not to be manipulated for political aims was violated.  Taking the children to political rallies represents a violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.    

On the other side, election candidates in their speeches and debates in electronic media approached closer to the issues of interest for the citizens, such as the issues of economic recovery of the country, employment, education, approaching the European Integrations. Nevertheless, in these speeches the rhetoric prevailed over the competence of the candidates and seriousness and well-foundedness of the expounded programs.

Electronic media, with rare exceptions, were covering the campaign correctly, adhering to the provisions of the Code adopted by the Communications Regulatory Agency. Radio and tv stations have been trying to give equal and balanced treatment to participants of elections. However, passing on the releases of political parties and reports from the press conferences, and the quite unexciting dialogue broadcasts could not sufficiently motivate the voters and make them interested in more actively taking part in shaping the policies the future protagonists of the political life of the country will stand for.

Written media, with few exceptions, sided with political parties and leaders, and not publicly declared that commitment, without giving the possibility to the voters to make their own choice on the basis of objectively and impartially presented platforms and candidates. The self-regulatory concept in the area of written media has demonstrated in the course of this campaign all its shortcomings and pitfalls.

The Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in BiH «Izbori 2002» (Elections 2002) and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, express their special concern over the little interest that the voters have shown to turn out at the elections. All indications are that even as much as one third of the electoral body could waive their right to influence the composition of the parliament by their votes. We plead once more with all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to turn up at the polling stations and by their vote to give their support to those programmes and candidates that can lead us to progress and overcoming the crisis in which Bosnia and Herzegovina is now. Failure to turn out in effect disqualifies all those who do not use their right to vote from the participation in the political life of the country in the next four-year period and diminishes their right to be critical towards the moves of future authorities. 

Through their engagement to date, the Coalition of NGOs of BiH «Izbori 2002» tried to mobilise the voters and persuade them to turn out at the elections, worked on their awareness-raising, and monitored the course of the electoral campaigns in order to see to it that they are fair, correct and conducted in democratic climate. We also organised about hundred public debates, with participation of citizens-voters and the candidates trying to win their favour, with the aim to build a relation of mutual responsibility and to establish a dialogue which would last all throughout the next four years. After the elections and implementation of electoral results, we will systematically continue to observe to what extent are the elected representatives of people true to the promises given during the campaign, on which we shall inform the public on a regular basis.

On behalf of 
Coalition of NGO in BiH «Izbori 2002» 
and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, 
Srdjan Dizdarevic 

No: 01A-10/2002
Sarajevo, 2 October 2002

▲ To the top