PRESS
RELEASE
Election Campaign Brings
Polarization along National Lines
The one-month election campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
preceding the General Elections scheduled for 1 October 2006,
has reminded the non-partisan observers of the rhetoric that had
been employed in the nineties of the previous century and it has
failed the expectations regarding opening of opportunities for
the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.
The campaign has focused on winning of voters’ support,
primarily through attempts to divide the public along the
national lines. The discourse on discrimination of one’s own
people and the need for consistent protection of own national
interests has dominated the campaign. The focal issues were
related to the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the
three opposing visions: one supporting the unitary concept
without entities, another striving for affirmation of Republika
Srpska as a state, and yet another one advocating creation of
the third entity.
As a rule, the voters have not been offered serious and
well-designed solutions for the crucial issues in the society of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, or clear reform programmes. The debates
have not focused on the ways to increase employment rates, to
improve living standards, or to resolve issues related to health
care, education, visa regime.
The campaign has also featured efforts to discredit political
rivals and other political options. Promotion of one’s own
programme and candidates has been omitted totally, which was
replaced by hate-speech, fiery remarks and offences against
political opponents.
Abuse of religious meetings has been noted during the campaign,
as they have been used for promotion of certain political
options and candidates, while a number of religious leaders and
clerics have instructed believers to whom to give their vote.
Abuse of children and violations of their human rights,
primarily the one not to be manipulated for political purposes
simply by being brought to the pre-election rallies, have been
observed.
Apart from monitoring the campaigns of political parties, the
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
has also been monitoring the representation of the campaign in
the media, as well as the media conduct during the campaign. It
is generally assessed that most media acted correctly and in
line with legal regulations in force, as well as in line with
provisions of the code of conduct for journalists. However, it
has also been noted that many media houses acted in an
uninventive manner and that they had failed to attract viewers
to the elections-related topics. It is concluded that a number
of media were considerably biased and therefore failed to
provide impartial reporting for the public on all participants
in the elections race. From the aspect of human rights, some
articles in the “Avaz” daily, promoting national intolerance and
harshly offending some election candidates have caused concern.
The Helsinki Committee has monitored the overall campaign from
the aspect of criteria set by the CSCE Copenhagen Document from
1990. Bosnia and Herzegovina has mostly fulfilled the criteria
set for democratic countries. A serious problem has been
reflected in some provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which restrict the passive voting rights and
prevent fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria on the right of
citizens to be elected for political positions without
discrimination. Bearing in mind that Bosniaks, Croats,
minorities and “others” in Republila Srpska cannot run for the
Presidency members, the same case being with Serbs, minorities
and “others” in the Federation, a divergence from a vital
democratic principle has been observed in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina is stressing the importance of civic activism during
the campaign period, especially the activities of the GROZD
movement on mobilization and education of voters, and engagement
in promotion of the civic platform.
Srdjan Dizdarevic
President of the Helsinki Committee in Bosnia and Herzegovina
No.: 15-09/2006
Sarajevo, 29 September 2006
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