Certain parties do not show accurate data on expenses during the election campaign, which raises the suspicion that they spend much more than the legal limits.
This is shown by the study of the Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector (MANS) on the example of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) during the last parliamentary elections.
“During the election campaign, in August 2020, DPS had increased expenses of financing of the regular operations compared to the same period of the previous year. Two days before the elections, on August 28, 2020, that party paid out around 94,000 euros through 205 payments, around 450 euros each on average. Those funds were paid from the account for financing the regular operations of the party”, according to the MANS’ study.
At the same time, the document emphasizes that in the report on the financing of the election campaign, DPS states that it did not have the expenses of per diems of its activists at all.
“On the very same day, there was a payment of over 50,000 euros from the account for regular financing, for which can be concluded to have been paid to the Tax Administration. In addition, on that day, there were three more payments to unknown suppliers worth a total of around 10 thousand euros”, the study states.
The study also contains statements from the account for financing the regular operations of DPS as of August 28, 2020.
According to the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, the financing is controlled by the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC), on which a report is created which is delivered to the controlled entity and mandatorily published on the Agency’s webpage.
The law provides that a political entity that has funds in its regular account can make a decision to use the funds collected for regular operations for an election campaign based on a special decision submitted to the Agency.
However, this money must be paid into a special account for financing the election campaign.
The Director of the MANS Investigative Centre, Dejan Milovac, says that the data from the NGO’s investigation on the finances of political parties show a tendency that the expenses of the regular operations of parties, as well as turnover through the regular account, increase significantly during the election year compared to the non-election period.
Dejan Milovac
“Although the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns stipulates the opening of a separate bank account in order to control expenses in the pre-election period, practice shows that certain parties significantly increase the expenses of regular operations precisely in those categories of expenses that can be classified as election expenses. In this way, the real expenses of the campaign are concealed, while the election game is conducted on an unequal basis”, Milovac told “Vijesti”.
Thus, he claims that the data from the regular financing of the DPS showed that just a few days before the last parliamentary elections, this party had paid out about 94 thousand euros from the bank account for regular operations.
“…Through as many as 205 individual payments of around 450 euros each on average. At the same time, in the report on the financing of the pre-election campaign for the 2020 elections, this party did not report any expenses of engaging its activists. This kind of behaviour opens up a huge space for suspicion that this party spent much more for the election campaign than is allowed by the law and than it reported to the competent institutions”, Milovac emphasizes.
According to him, what makes it particularly difficult to monitor the finances of political parties is the practice of withholding information from the public, violating the Law on Free Access to Information.
“…And as in the case of the DPS, they make additional efforts to hide information from citizens that may indicate a violation of the law regulating the financing of election campaigns. “Unfortunately, such and similar practices have not yet been subject to due attention of any competent institution, while the controls that have been carried out so far have not resulted in an end to the very widespread practice of violating the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns,” Milovac concluded.
According to the Law, funds paid into a separate account for financing the election campaign can be used exclusively for that purpose.
“The funds from the separate account for financing of the election campaign may not be subject of enforcement in accordance with the law governing enforcement and security, except for payment of costs for the election campaign. If, after settling all liabilities, some unspent funds remain in the separate account for financing of the election campaign, the political entity shall transfer the funds to its regular account by the time the separate account is closed”, the Law states and emphasizes that the funds from the separate account, raised to finance the election campaign, may be used solely for covering the costs of the election campaign.
“The political entity whose electoral list has been verified by the decision of the competent Election Commission shall not spend the funds from the separate account in the amount exceeding the maximum allowed amount set by this Law. Within three days from the date of the electoral list verification, the Agency shall adopt a decision on the amount of funds that the political entity may spend to finance the campaign for election of MPs and councillors, as well as to finance the election campaign of the candidate for the election of the President of Montenegro”, the Law specifies.
In 2020, parties received 2.4 million euros from the budget
Parties receive money for regular operations and election campaigns from the budget and private sources (contributions, gifts, loans) in accordance with the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns.
For the parliamentary elections in 2020, close to 2.4 million euros was allocated from the state budget, of which a fifth, i.e. slightly more than 473 thousand euros, was shared by 11 parties competing for seats in the Parliament.
After the elections, parties and coalitions shared the remaining money, nearly 1.9 million euros, depending on how many seats they won. This means that slightly more than 23 thousand euros is allocated for one seat.
Citizens then voted for several electoral lists – “Social Democrats – Ivan Brajović – We decide, consistently”, “Bosniak Party – Correctly – Rafet Husović”, “HGI – With all heart for Montenegro”, “SDP – Strong Montenegro”, Croatian Reform Party of Montenegro, the “In Black and White” platform, Albanian Coalition “Unanimously, DP, DUA and DSCG”, and the coalition “Decisively for Montenegro! DPS – Milo Đukanović”, “For the Future of Montenegro”, “Albanian List, Genci Nimanbegu and Nik Đeljošaj” and “Peace is Our Nation”.
APC then announced that the parties were also allowed to collect nearly 1.3 million euros from private sources to finance campaign activities. In mid-August, DPS had nearly half a million in contributions from natural and legal persons.
Although they won the most votes individually, DPS lost in the 2020 parliamentary elections, since it was not enough for them to form a government.
The government was formed by the coalitions “For the Future of Montenegro”, “Peace is Our Nation” and “In Black and White”, which are the parties of the previous opposition. Those coalitions together have 41 MPs in the Parliament, while DPS with former coalition partners (Social Democratic Party, Social Democrats and minority parties) has 40 MPs.
DPS won 35.06% of the votes in the elections, “For the Future of Montenegro” 32.55 %, “Peace is Our Nation” 12.55%, “In Black and White” 5.53%, Social Democrats won 4.1%, Bosniak Party 3.98 %, SDP 3.14%, Albanian List 1.58%, and the Albanian Coalition 1.14%. The Croatian Civic Initiative and the Croatian Reform Party did not pass the census.
