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, as reported by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (29-SEP-06)

This article is based on the Helsinki Committee press release, which has republicated here by HRH / Mirsad Pandzic.

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.

Solutions for the crucial issues
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.

Promotion of programme
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.

Religion and elections
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.

Children and elections
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. 

Media
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.

Criteria
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 stressed 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.