Karan spent four times more money on campaign than Blanuša

(Patria) - Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina has published a report on the pre-election campaign ahead of the early elections for the President of Republika Srpska.

According to their report, the campaign of SNSD candidate Siniša Karan cost around 651,000 KM, while around 142,000 KM was spent on the promotion of opposition candidate Branko Blanuša.

TI BiH, through field monitoring across Republika Srpska, recorded 437 promotional posters at paid advertising locations, with a total estimated value of around 297,000 KM for the 15-day campaign. The SNSD candidate had 2.5 times more such advertisements.

Pre-election rallies in the first 11 days of the campaign cost an estimated 407,000 KM according to TI BiH, with the SNSD spending a significantly larger amount, primarily due to several large rallies where substantial sums were spent on restaurant services.

Siniša Karan's media campaign, according to estimates by the media monitoring agency hired by TI BiH, cost over 80,000 KM, while the SDS candidate had no paid advertising spots on television stations based in Republika Srpska that were monitored. On the other hand, interviews and promotional texts about the candidates were recorded on portals and social networks, which were not marked as paid but, by their nature, indicated paid promotion.

The campaign on Meta company platforms was much more modest compared to regular elections, and the SNSD hardly used this form of advertising, at least through official channels.

As TI BiH notes, the public service broadcaster RTRS played a special role in promoting Karan.

In its news programs over 11 days of the campaign, this television station showed Siniša Karan as many as 57 times, totaling 2 hours and 20 minutes of airtime. In the same period, in RTRS news programs, Branko Blanuša received about 20 seconds of airtime, where two of his statements were shown.

Since the Election Law prohibits the promotion of parties and candidates in news programs during the campaign, Siniša Karan was presented as a minister in the Government of Republika Srpska and as a "professor of constitutional law," while Professor Branko Blanuša holds no public office.

During the campaign, SNSD President Milorad Dodik also appeared, who, since the revocation of his mandate as President of Republika Srpska, holds no public office.

He appeared as many as 66 times in RTRS news programs during the campaign, with one hour and 45 minutes of airtime dedicated to promoting him and his views.

In just 11 days, Dodik had 18 activities, which were presented as institutional events in news programs. These included visits to local communities, laying foundation stones for the start of public works, and visits to private and public companies. In most cases, he was accompanied by Siniša Karan, Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska, and these events, which had the typical character of an official campaign, were shown in news programs, according to TI BiH's assessment.

This happened even though the Election Law clearly prohibits the use of public office for the promotion of candidates in elections.