Kosovo’s political parties are under fire for exploiting state resources during the election campaign. In the first week alone, dozens of cases were reported, raising concerns about fairness.
Monitoring organizations say government vehicles, public spaces, and civil servants have been used to boost party efforts. Violeta Haxholli, a senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), revealed that several fines have already been issued for these violations.
“Both the ruling and opposition parties, like PDK, LDK, and AAK, have been caught using government vehicles and public servants at events. Some cases have been reported to the Election Complaints Panel (PZAP), and fines totaling over €100,000 have been imposed so far,” Haxholli told KosovaPress.
Kosovo’s election law bans the use of state resources during campaigning. Yet, in the first week of the campaign, Haxholli confirmed that around 20 incidents of misuse have been recorded. This includes the use of official cars and civil servants working during office hours at political rallies.
Under the law, only high-ranking officials like the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister are allowed to use state cars for official purposes. Public employees, meanwhile, can only attend political events outside working hours.
The campaign, which started on January 11, is heating up ahead of parliamentary elections on February 9. Despite clear rules, the political bickering and misuse of state assets appear to be continuing. (TemA)
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