From March to September of this year, public officials in Serbia had about 1.200 performances, and according to the organization's report record, every fifth contained elements abuse of public office.
At the same time, as assessed at the presentation of the report "Campaign before the announcement", the inequality of political actors is deepening, while the pressures on citizens and institutions are becoming more and more complex.
The head of the observation mission of Crta, Raša Nedeljkov, said that the pressures are no longer hidden, citing as one example the publicly left list of "safe voices" in the Niš Clinical Center, writes FoNet.
According to his opinion, the stakes in the current election race are very high, and the government, faced with a challenger, keeps the whole society in a state of nervousness and uncertainty.
Increasing polarization
Nedeljkov singled out increasingly pronounced polarization, threats and announcements of violence as three key phenomena of the pre-election period, as well as the increasingly rough erasure of the border between the state and a political party. He also pointed out that citizens live in two different realities, depending on the media through which they are informed.
From May to August, 85 politically motivated physical and verbal conflicts were recorded, while, as Nedeljkov recalled, in one case 14 members of the student movement and the opposition had phones infected with the Pegaz software. He also assessed that extraordinary elections in Serbia were called for no meaningful reason.
What does the Pegasus software used to spy on students do?
The head of Crta's reporting team, Tamara Branković, stated that the government had strategic control over the election calendar and warned of serious pressures in the public sector. As an example of abuse of institutions, she singled out the Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance and the Post of Serbia, which were used to distribute the letter of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to pensioners.
Elements of clientelism
According to Crta data, elements of clientelism were recorded in every seventh activity of the Serbian Progressive Party. Party members handed out packages and white goods and promised various benefits, while Vučić also promised a household a flock of sheep in August.
The report also points to political pressure towards socially vulnerable citizens. In Indjija, there was a case of threats to withdraw social assistance if the citizens did not support the ruling party. Branković also stated that before the elections, the state will allocate around one billion euros for one-time assistance to citizens.
When it comes to the opposition, the activities of the student movement were registered in 80 cities and municipalities, while the activities of other opposition parties were recorded sporadically in around 50 cities and municipalities.
Data on media reporting show a marked imbalance on RTS. In the news broadcasts of that public service during August, the ratio of time devoted to the government and the opposition was 98 to two percent, while Vučić himself occupied half of the total time in RTS news.
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