Newsroom
Clarification on political party finances in Bosnia and Herzegovina
SARAJEVO 30 November 2000
SARAJEVO, 29 November 2000 - The OSCE would like to respond to a press release of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), which alleged that OSCE Head of Mission Ambassador Robert L. Barry was not correct when he told the Washington Post that the SDA had diverted money from the "Widows and Orphans Fund", controlled by the SDA, for campaign purposes.
The fact of the matter is the SDA obstructed the PEC's request for full disclosure of its finances, as called for in the electoral Rules and Regulations. Now, the SDA is attempting to spin the situation, to portray itself as an innocent victim of the international community's lies. This is
simply not the case. The SDA would like the people of BiH to forget that the Election Appeals Sub-Commission (EASC) found that the SDA sought to hide the fact that the SDA had received a contribution of 75,000 KM from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" organization. Disclosure of the contributions is required by Article 1601 of the PEC Rules and Regulations, and this failure to properly disclose and itemize this contribution, despite specific requests from the PEC, resulted in an SDA candidate to the Federation House of Representatives being removed.
There were actually two contributions from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA, one for 75,000 KM and 29,704.60 KM, though the latter one - which was used to buy a Skoda automobile - was not subject to the original EASC investigation. Interestingly, both of these contributions originated from the Federation government. On May 29 the Federation Ministry for Disabled Soldiers gave 75,000 KM to the "Widows and Orphans Fund", and on May 30 that same amount went from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA. On July 4, 30,000 KM went from the same ministry to the "Widows and Orphans Fund", and on July 5, 29,704.60 went from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA. On July 6 the SDA spent exactly the same amount of money to purchase a Skoda automobile.
"If the SDA had been honest and transparent with regard to this transaction, all of this unpleasantness could have been avoided," said Luke Zahner, Spokesperson of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. "The SDA violated the Rules and Regulations - and misled the public - by failing to disclose its control over the Widows and Orphans Fund, and no amount of posturing in the press will change that. If they want to talk about outvoting injustice and lies, they should start by fully disclosing their finances before cases are referred to the EASC."
The OSCE would also like to note that the Washington Post quoted Ambassador Barry as referring to the diversion of "thousands of dollars from a fund for Bosnian widows and orphans". Unfortunately, the translation of the article which appeared in Oslobodjenje - the source of which was the SENSE news agency - wrongly translated that Barry said that "hundreds of thousands of dollars". The OSCE Press Office can provide original language copies of the Washington Post article upon request.
The OSCE established its present Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 December 1995. In accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP), the OSCE Mission activities are to: promote Democratization and the building of a vibrant civil society, foster the development of professional journalism and monitor the rights of journalists, monitor and advance the Human Rights situation, supervise the conduct of Elections, and encourage Regional Stabilization through arms control and confidence and security-building measures. The OSCE Mission continues to work closely with other international organizations and local institutions to implement the Dayton Peace Accords.
For further information please contact OSCE Spokesperson Luke Zahner at ++387/(0)33 292-449 or ++387/(0)66 144-311.
The fact of the matter is the SDA obstructed the PEC's request for full disclosure of its finances, as called for in the electoral Rules and Regulations. Now, the SDA is attempting to spin the situation, to portray itself as an innocent victim of the international community's lies. This is
simply not the case. The SDA would like the people of BiH to forget that the Election Appeals Sub-Commission (EASC) found that the SDA sought to hide the fact that the SDA had received a contribution of 75,000 KM from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" organization. Disclosure of the contributions is required by Article 1601 of the PEC Rules and Regulations, and this failure to properly disclose and itemize this contribution, despite specific requests from the PEC, resulted in an SDA candidate to the Federation House of Representatives being removed.
There were actually two contributions from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA, one for 75,000 KM and 29,704.60 KM, though the latter one - which was used to buy a Skoda automobile - was not subject to the original EASC investigation. Interestingly, both of these contributions originated from the Federation government. On May 29 the Federation Ministry for Disabled Soldiers gave 75,000 KM to the "Widows and Orphans Fund", and on May 30 that same amount went from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA. On July 4, 30,000 KM went from the same ministry to the "Widows and Orphans Fund", and on July 5, 29,704.60 went from the "Widows and Orphans Fund" to the SDA. On July 6 the SDA spent exactly the same amount of money to purchase a Skoda automobile.
"If the SDA had been honest and transparent with regard to this transaction, all of this unpleasantness could have been avoided," said Luke Zahner, Spokesperson of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. "The SDA violated the Rules and Regulations - and misled the public - by failing to disclose its control over the Widows and Orphans Fund, and no amount of posturing in the press will change that. If they want to talk about outvoting injustice and lies, they should start by fully disclosing their finances before cases are referred to the EASC."
The OSCE would also like to note that the Washington Post quoted Ambassador Barry as referring to the diversion of "thousands of dollars from a fund for Bosnian widows and orphans". Unfortunately, the translation of the article which appeared in Oslobodjenje - the source of which was the SENSE news agency - wrongly translated that Barry said that "hundreds of thousands of dollars". The OSCE Press Office can provide original language copies of the Washington Post article upon request.
The OSCE established its present Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 December 1995. In accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP), the OSCE Mission activities are to: promote Democratization and the building of a vibrant civil society, foster the development of professional journalism and monitor the rights of journalists, monitor and advance the Human Rights situation, supervise the conduct of Elections, and encourage Regional Stabilization through arms control and confidence and security-building measures. The OSCE Mission continues to work closely with other international organizations and local institutions to implement the Dayton Peace Accords.
For further information please contact OSCE Spokesperson Luke Zahner at ++387/(0)33 292-449 or ++387/(0)66 144-311.