Dimitrijević: This Election Campaign Is Setting Records for Blurring the Line Between Party and State

This election campaign is breaking every record for erasing the boundary between party and state, CRTA representative Pavle Dimitrijević told FoNet. He described the trend as an abuse of public office that has become a defining feature of the campaign.

CRTA counted 129 appearances by Aleksandar Vučić on live programmes in August alone. Since March, the organisation has also recorded 1,000 separate field activities involving public officials. For Dimitrijević, the figures show how heavily official visibility and public functions are being used during the campaign.

He said it remains too early to judge the practical effect of recent amendments to Serbia's Law on Prevention of Corruption and Law on Financing Political Activities. But he argued that the changes did not address the central problems of the electoral process. Those include pressure on voters, the work of the prosecution, impunity for electoral violations, unequal media treatment and the misuse of public resources.

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The pressure on voters, the work of the prosecution, impunity in the electoral process, media inequality and the misuse of public resources.

Without progress in those areas, Dimitrijević said, it would be impossible to speak of significant changes to the election process itself. He also cautioned against treating opinion-poll results as a direct forecast of votes, saying the outcome would depend greatly on the environment and the moment in which the election is actually held.

Still, he said there was an impression that most people were ready for change, not only a change of government but also a change in how power is exercised. “For the first time, we are in a situation where we have a competitive electoral process, meaning there is not just one actor who is the undisputed winner of the election while everyone else is merely running to cross the threshold,” Dimitrijević said.

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For the first time, we are in a situation where we have a competitive electoral process, meaning there is not just one actor who is the undisputed winner of the election while everyone else is merely running to cross the threshold.