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E-TJERA

CEC turns a blind eye to public institutions' 'propaganda' for Belinda Balluku

Politiko 2025-04-24 09:51:30

CEC turns a blind eye to public institutions' 'propaganda' for

The Central Election Commission on Wednesday qualified the posts with propagandistic images of the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku, as informative in nature - approving their reposting by public institutions and companies.

"From the verifications carried out, it results that the posts published by the company Albgaz sh.a are of an informative nature and contain activities related to the public functions of the institution itself," the Commission said in a written response, referring to one of the companies that distributed Balluk's electoral propaganda.

“These posts do not fall under the category of prohibited activities,” the CEC added through a spokeswoman, referring to the Electoral Code and Decision No. 9, dated 24.12.2020, “On the rules for reporting public activities of public institutions, agencies and/or state enterprises, categories of prohibited activities, as well as monitoring the activity, behavior and use of human, financial and logistical resources of the state administration before the elections.”

Social networks have long become important tools of electoral propaganda, with candidates and parties spending hundreds of thousands of euros on advertising and with dedicated staff to manage their content.

In the battle to dominate social networks, the ruling party is advantaged by the public administration and dozens of state institutions, which serve to distribute, like, and comment on electoral messages.

During the first week of the elections, BIRN discovered that an 'election poster' of Minister Belinda Balluku was re-distributed by the Facebook page of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and a number of subordinate institutions, including the Albanian Road Authority, the Road Transport Task Force, the State Agency for Expropriation and Albgaz.

“Within the fourth term. Elbasan bypass. Saranda bypass,” it says in capital letters on a purple background, above photos of machinery at work. The poster adds: “Albania 2030” and “#SocialistParty.”

This position of the CEC is seen as a double standard and a violation of the Code by lawyer Dhimitër Zguro.

"In my assessment, the position of the State Election Commissioner contradicts not only the Electoral Code and the bylaws issued on its basis and for its implementation, but also the administrative practice of the Commissioner," he said.

"The latter, in analogous cases, has found posts similar to Belinda Balluku's post, in the content of which the words 'Albania 2030' and 'Socialist Party' are observed, with an electoral character," said Zguro, adding that the content of these posts clearly shows "political messages and electoral slogans."/ BIRN

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