Although the Croatian government has made a significant step towards achieving international standards and better regulation of that problematic area by proposing a new bill on political activities and election campaign financing, some important areas will still remain insufficiently regulated.
Although the Croatian government has made a significant step towards achieving international standards and better regulation of that problematic area by proposing a new bill on political activities and election campaign financing, some important areas will still remain insufficiently regulated.
Positive sides to this proposed bill are a more detailed regulation of campaign financing, introduction of a wider range of sanctions for violations of the Act and the introduction of spending limits as well as the reduction of the amount of allowed donations, which are all recommended by the European Council.
However, there are still a few problems that need to be better dealt with:
1) Under the current proposal, the State Election Commission (DIP) can only prescribe administrative sanctions. For DIP to be able to make an effective and independent supervision and prescribe sanctions its responsibilities should be expanded and it should be given the opportunity of prescribing harsher sanctions during election campaign, therefore before E-Day.
2) According to the new Croatian National Television (HRT) Act, HRT does not have to disclose the advertising rates during election campaign, which prevents transparency and reduces the credibility of information given in the official parties’ and candidate’ statements regarding the costs of their campaigns. In addition, it prevents the independent control over the election campaign costs, as well as determining the real equality of candidates and political parties in the media, which brings into question the very meaning of the Act. It should be legally binding for all the media to publish their advertising price lists during election campaigns, the amounts they have received from political parties and candidates and discounts they approved.
More detailed comments on this proposed bill can be found on GONG’s website as well as numerous election reports and recommendations made by GONG in the last 10 years.
Finally, it is important to note that it is possible to reach the best solution for ensuring the legal framework of this bill only with the participation of the wider professional community. However, in the process of drafting this bill, the Code of Practice on Consultation with the Interested Public in Procedures of Adopting Laws, Other Regulations and Acts as a basis for transparent law-making and a quality public participation in legislative procedure was not followed.
Quality of regulation of political parties and electoral campaigns financing and the right to access information reflects the real degree of political will to fight corruption. When the laws on transparency are not made in a transparent way, the Code remains just one in a series of documents adopted only for showing to the European Commission, and not due to a real desire to change the actual practice for the better.