22.05.2026. » 21:16 | ACDC
#DiA: Electoral use of public funds undermines fair competition and electoral integrity
Democracy in Action assesses that the decision of the caretaker Government to distribute one-time payments to various categories of citizens, only a short time before the elections, constitutes a legal violation and a classic case of misuse of public resources during the electoral period. Moreover, the distribution of large-scale financial packages creates a direct impact on the electoral environment and undermines the level playing field among political entities, creating an unfair advantage for the ruling party.
Electoral legislation clearly prohibits the use of public resources for purposes that influence or may influence the will of voters. This principle applies in every form, including the use of the state budget, as well as the use of vehicles, offices, and public administration during the campaign to create electoral advantages.
DnV recalls that the Assembly of Kosovo did not approve the initiative to amend and supplement the Budget Law, within which funds for such a financial package had been foreseen. Therefore, in this regard, this decision also represents an overreach of the provisions of the Law on Government, which clearly limits the mandate of a caretaker government in making decisions with financial implications, especially when they do not derive from regular annual planning and the current budget.
This situation becomes even more problematic due to the fact that the financial assistance is being distributed broadly and without any new emergency situation that would justify such urgent measures. This makes it difficult to distinguish between social policy and electoral intervention, as support for citizens should be built through sustainable and planned policies implemented through regular institutional procedures, rather than through improvised decisions on the eve of elections.
Democracy in Action calls on institutions to refrain from using public resources for campaign purposes and to respect the legal and democratic standards that guarantee free and fair elections. Furthermore, we believe that such cases should be subject to institutional and legal review by the mechanisms responsible for protecting the integrity and legality of the electoral process and the management of public funds. Failure to act against such practices risks normalizing the use of the state budget for political gain during election campaigns.
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