Kosovar media have published today the results of two independent monitoring organizations, Demokraci Plus and Çohu!, regarding the electoral campaign expenses of the political parties in Kosovo.
The focus of this monitoring has been the electoral campaign in the media, including television, websites, newspapers, and live transmissions of meetings. The organizations monitored campaign expenses for four days.
The coalition of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), led by former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, has spent the most in comparison with other parties and coalitions, a total of €135,151 during just four days of campaigning.
The other major coalition of former Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Behgjet Pacolli’s New Kosovo Allians (AKR), and the new party Alternativa spent €115,430.
The Vetëvendosja movement of Albin Kurti, which participates on its own in the elections, spent significantly less, €33,621.
Representatives of both NGOs state that political parties have not been transparent and refuse to reveal the sources of their income. Isuf Zejna from Demokraci Plus declared:
The first reason is that donors don’t want to have their names revealed. Political parties do not declare everything because they would violate the legal limits, the boundaries set by the Central Election Commission. In other cases, the political parties don’t have individual candidates under their own control.
