Serb List: Rasic is abusing institutions and buying votes ahead of the elections

The Serb List announced today that, during the allocation of subsidies by the Ministry for Communities and Return, headed by Nenad Rasic, citizens were also given ballot papers—an act which, it says, constitutes evidence of the abuse of institutions for vote-buying ahead of the upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

“By reviewing the website of the Ministry for Communities and Return, one can find a news item about the allocation of individual subsidies by this Ministry, and the photographs clearly show that, along with the handover of contracts, citizens were also given election material in the form of ballot papers. Everything was carried out on the official premises of the Ministry by Mr. Igor Rasic, the brother of Nenad Rasic. Namely, a careful review of the photographs shows that, together with the subsidy contract, citizens were also handed a sample ballot paper, which constitutes evidence of the abuse of institutions for vote-buying ahead of the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, in violation of the law,” the Serb List said in a statement, accompanied by a video posted on Instagram showing the subsidy distribution.

They add that the news item was published on the website of the Ministry for Communities and Return four days ago, which means that campaign material was distributed within an institution even before the official start of the election campaign.

They therefore call on the competent authorities to react urgently and prosecute those responsible in accordance with the law.

The Serb List also recalls that Article 4 of the Law on General Elections strictly prohibits the use of public offices, resources, or staff of any institution at the central or local level for the purpose of supporting a political entity in elections, while Article 36 states that “a person exercising a public function, whether elected or appointed, may not use that function or any part thereof for the purpose of soliciting votes.”

“None of the resources of any public administration institution, whether at the central or local level, or of any enterprise owned by or under the control of central or local authorities, may be used or made available in support of any political entity in elections. No political entity during the election campaign period shall encourage or benefit from a public official by using that official’s public position to conduct the political entity’s campaign. Except in cases provided for by law, the sources or resources of public institutions or bodies at the central or local level, or any other type of public institution, may not be used or made available in support of political entities in elections,” the Serb List quoted from the Law on General Elections.