Transparency International Croatia (TIH) and GONG urged the presidential candidates to announce the funds they plan to spend in their campaigns because, they say, without a transparent financing of election campaigns, no transparent electoral process is possible.

The two organizations, who will jointly monitor the election campaigns, asked the presidential candidates to publically announce the amount and sources of their funds by the December 20. They also asked that this report be made available to the State Election Commission (SEC).

Since the financing of presidential campaigns is not clearly prescribed in the Croatian legislation, this kind of practice would ensure the transparency of financing and draw Croatia closer to democratic practices by reducing the space for political corruption, the executive director of GONG, Sandra Pernar, says.

Refrain from misuse of public resources

TIH president, Zorislav Antun Petrovic, said that the Law on Financing of election campaigns gives plenty of room for the candidates, and that their campaigns are a great opportunity to demonstrate that they are against corruption.

Association called on the presidential candidates to refrain from abuse of public resources and the use of space owned by the state government, cities, municipalities, counties and public enterprises.

No candidate has a reason to ‘lower’ their expenses because they are not limited by law, said Petrovic.