Campaign activity carried out by Serbian public office-holders in their official capacity has neither been restricted nor prevented, as recent amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption have merely created an illusion of regulation, Transparency Serbia (TS) stated.
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The watchdog organization noted that its ongoing monitoring shows public officials are continuing their campaign activities through promotional events at an undiminished pace.
“In most cases, officials are hiding behind a legal loophole that permits promotional activities as long as they were ‘planned’ before the elections were officially called. Transparency Serbia previously warned that this exemption would effectively ‘legalize’ incumbent campaigning. Some calendars published on the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption website list over 70 promotional events scheduled between October 5 and October 25,” Transparency Serbia said.
50 events planned by agriculture minister, 73 by Nis mayor
Furthermore, some submitted schedules merely list promotional activities without specifying concrete dates.
As an example, TS highlights that outgoing Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic scheduled more than 50 promotional events spanning the entire campaign period, while Nis Mayor Dragan Pavlovic lined up 73 events between October 5 and October 25 alone.
“Conversely, several ministries failed to submit any plans at all, while one ministry formally notified the Agency that its minister did not intend to hold any promotional activities,” TS added.
The watchdog’s monitoring also uncovered several promotional events that were completely missing from the official schedules, prompting TS to file formal complaints with the Agency.
Among the documents is a calendar covering the period up to September 27 for Serbia’s former president, which was dated August 31. Crucially, this official document explicitly included the item “calling parliamentary elections” - revealing that the president knew well in advance exactly when the Serbian Government would submit its reasoned proposal to dissolve parliament.
A way for ruling parties to gain priceless airtime
TS Program Director Nemanja Nenadic recently told N1 that incumbent campaigning provides ruling parties with exposure that is far more valuable than standard political advertising.
“Getting five or ten minutes on the (Serbian public broadcaster) RTS prime time news is worth more than five or ten minutes of paid commercials. That is exactly why officials’ campaigning is done—officials manufacture reasons to appear in public, even when it has absolutely nothing to do with fulfilling their actual duties. The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is supposed to regulate this, but no data has been published to prove they are actually doing so,” Nenadic said.
Teme