Local elections are being held on Sunday in Zaječar and Kosjerić. There is hardly to find a government official who hasn’t been in these two towns in eastern and western Serbia over the past month. In exchange for a few shots of rakija, hosts have been promised roads, tractors, higher pensions, investments— all from the positions of ministers, state secretaries, or presidents.
Of course, along with the invitation to support the Serbian Progressive Party, since the alternative consists of haters of everything Serbian who want to destroy the country.
Part of the entire machinery of the ruling party is also the Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starović.
He visited Zaječar the day after returning from Brussels, where he had been assuring the European administration that Serbia, as the best student, would fulfill everything it hasn’t fulfilled for years. From Brussels, straight into a public officials’ campaign tour.
That’s all one needs to know about the government’s readiness to improve the state of electoral conditions, which is necessary both for the continuation of the European integration process and for the funds envisioned in the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
In order for Serbia to open a new cluster — which, as the minister assures the public these days, could happen by the end of July — Serbia needs to adopt a set of media laws, appoint the REM Council, and pass the Law on a Unified Voter Register aligned with ODIHR recommendations.
While media laws are being “worked on” at full steam, operators’ cables are being cut in Zaječar so that citizens don’t have access to free media. While “work” is being done to fulfill ODIHR recommendations, there is hardly a rule that hasn’t been violated during the election campaign in these two towns.
As part of its monitoring mission, CRTA documented as many as 70 examples of potential misuse of public resources, functions, and symbols for party promotion, and 90 appearances of state officials on the ground.
The only person not seen in Kosjerić and Zaječar — or anywhere, for that matter — is the formal Prime Minister Đuro Macut.
According to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, public officials may not use public events to promote political parties or other political entities. Likewise, the law prohibits the media from reporting on public events — 30 days before election day — where infrastructure and other projects are being inaugurated or whose construction is being launched, if such events involve public officials who are candidates in presidential, parliamentary, provincial, or local elections.
CRTA observers recorded as many as 71 cases of intimidation, and verbal and physical violence against opposition activists, journalists, and citizens in Zaječar and Kosjerić over the past three weeks, while the voter register is in such disarray that it justifiably raises suspicion among observers.
None of this resembles an atmosphere in which elections should be held in a country negotiating full EU membership. Minister Starović knows this. He knows even better that Zaječar and Kosjerić must not fall during the anti-government protests that have lasted for seven months.