Elections in Mionica, Negotin, and Sečanj – Ministers Intensively Campaigning, Irregularities in Financing

The campaign for the November elections in three municipalities is the clearest indication that there is no intention to implement the key ODIHR recommendation from June 2024 – separating party activities from the state and preventing the misuse of public resources. In addition to local officials, national-level officials also participated in the campaign. Over the past five weeks, they visited these three municipalities 27 times more often than during the previous non-election period, presenting these visits as their “regular activities”.

Such activities intensified from mid-October, and the number of ministerial visits increased severalfold compared to the non-campaign period. In the 198 weeks preceding the election campaign, a total of 23 ministerial visits were recorded in these three municipalities. In the past five weeks of the election campaign, there were 16 such visits, meaning they were 27.5 times more frequent than in the non-election period.

This data clearly shows that these are not “regular duties” of institutions and executive officials, but rather deliberate use of public resources to provide additional promotion to the ruling coalition’s electoral lists. Supporting this is the fact that the current presidents of the municipalities of Negotin and Mionica, who are also candidates in the local elections, regularly participate in these promotional events alongside ministers.

The leading figure in this “incumbent campaigning” was the Minister of Economy, Adrijana Mesarović, though other ministers were also highly active. In Negotin, Minister of Interior Ivica Dačić ceremonially opened a new Fire and Rescue Department facility. In Sečanj, the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Aleksandra Sofronijević, announced the construction of new roads and the resolution of property-legal issues, presenting these as new investments for the municipality—even though they fall within the ministry’s regular responsibilities and should not be tied to the electoral process. In Mionica, works were inspected by Minister Sara Pavkov and Minister Darko Glišić.

The key ODIHR recommendation following the 2024 local elections was “Taking measures to ensure the separation of the state and party and the impartiality of the public administration during the campaign.” To implement this, significantly stricter rules on the activities of public officials and institutions during campaigns must be adopted, and TS has already submitted a number of concrete proposals in that regard. However, even current legal restrictions were not consistently respected in the campaign. One example is a post published on the official website of the Municipality of Negotin that openly favored the policy of the Serbian Progressive Party, prompting TS to file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Agency.

In addition, as in many previous instances and contrary to ODIHR recommendation, the ruling coalition’s list and promotional materials contain the name and likeness of the President of the Republic. He also participated in a public gathering in the village of Jaša Tomić, in the Municipality of Sečanj, where he was welcomed by the audience as the President of the Republic, and the media reported on him in that capacity. Yet the Law on the Prevention of Corruption obliges public officials to clearly indicate to interlocutors and the public when they are acting in the capacity of their public mandate and when expressing views of their political party.

The Agency has not yet published any decision regarding the submitted complaints, nor any information indicating that it acted ex officio in any case of a possible violation of the law.

Although the political significance of these elections exceeds the boundaries of the three municipalities, these are local elections financed exclusively from municipal budgets. This means that local citizens’ groups will be in an unequal position compared to lists backed by parliamentary parties, which can invest in this campaign using funds received from the state budget for their regular operations—and especially compared to ruling parties, whose main promotion is carried out through the activities of public officials and state and local institutions.

In the Municipality of Mionica, six electoral lists were certified, with a total of 328,000 RSD allocated from public funds. This means that each list will receive only 21,867 RSD before the elections, while the rest will be distributed based on election results. In Negotin, four lists were certified, with a total budget allocation of 802,605.30 RSD; each list will receive 80,260.53 RSD before the elections. Although these elections are regular, Mionica initially failed to properly allocate these funds in its budget but corrected this after receiving a letter from TS. Meanwhile, Negotin did not publish the amount planned in its budget (in its response to TS, it stated only that the funds would be allocated in accordance with the law).

In Sečanj, extraordinary elections are being held, so financing must come from the budget reserve. The amount has not been published, but according to TS calculations, the total should be 278,867 RSD, or 22,293 RSD before the elections for each of the five certified lists.

One of the main characteristics of previous isolated local elections (Zaječar and Kosjerić) was the significant engagement of public resources, both national and local, for the enhanced promotion of candidates of the ruling coalition. Data collection on these practices is still ongoing and will be published subsequently.

The Transparency Serbia Election Monitoring Team monitored the activities of political entities, public bodies, and officials in the three municipalities where local elections will be held on 30 November 2025 (Mionica, Negotin, and Sečanj). Based on the information collected so far, we highlight several key findings related to financing of electoral lists, transparency of data, and activities of public officials during the campaign.

Regular elections for Negotin and Mionica were called on 1 October, while early elections in Sečanj were called three weeks later, on 24 October. Documents confirming the legal basis for calling elections in Sečanj (the resignation of the municipal president and the inability to elect a new one within 30 days) were not published. Additionally, on the official municipal website, the president, municipal council, and municipal assembly continue to be presented as if they are still in office, although their mandates ended more than a month ago by decision of the Government of Serbia and the appointment of a Provisional Authority.