SDS, SDA and HDZ - no campaign funds

The meeting of Consultation Council of political parties

Banjaluka, 7 August, 1997 (AIM) -" The three parties in power in B&H (SDS, SDA and HDZ) will not get funds for their election campaign, since they have state budget, various fonds and media at their disposal" said Mr. Ditrich Andreas, OEBS representative for the relations with political parties, at the meeting of the Consultation Council of the political parties in Banjaluka. Mr. Andreas explained that, due to the increased number of the registered parties and lowered overall resources, the amount of resources given out to the political parties would be substantially lower than in 1996.

According to Mr. Andreas, three parties in power are getting majority of the resources. Although the parties should get equal amounts of resources, 83% of resources from the federal budgets is given to SDA and HDZ", said Mr.Andreas, and added that he was not familiar with the situation in RS but that all parties should be equal with respect to this. "These and such advantages serve as a justification for not approving additional resources for the election campaign to these three parties" emphasized Mr. Andreas.

He also informed that 91 political party was registered in B&H, 9 coalitions and 159 independent candidates. "Twelve political parties will nor participate in the elections, three parties did not provide candidate lists, and nine parties are in a coalition", said Mr. Andreas. He further stated that division of the funds excluded the Party of Serb Unity, because its leader ªeljko Raºnatoviå Arkan is sought by Interpol.

OEBS also established criteria in accordance to which the resources would be divided. Mr. Andreas explained that the initial basic resources would be the same for everyone, parties and independent candidates, while the additional resources would be given out based on three criteria. "The first is the number of municipalities having relevant candidate lists, then the factor of adjusting to the absolute number of candidates registered by the party, and finally based on the bonus for political effectiveness, as proved by the voters supporting the party on the last elections", said Mr. Andreas. (end)