In the election campaign, the national broadcasts are to offer free by five minutes of airtime on television and by ten minutes of airtime on the radio to electoral contenders in the national constituency, outside the airtime reserved for electoral advertising and electoral debates. The public broadcasters will also offer by a minute of free airtime a day to the electoral competitors registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC) and participants in the referendum for placing electoral advertisements. This is provided in the regulations concerning the coverage of the election campaign prior to the parliamentary elections and the national referendum of February 24, 2019 by broadcasters that were approved by the CEC, IPN reports.
The electoral advertisements and electoral debates will be broadcast only in a special rubric called “Elections 2019” so as to measure the airtime allotted to the electoral contenders. The TV viewers and listeners will be informed about this through subtitles and video and audio messages. It is banned using images of foreign citizens, national and foreign state institutions or public authorities or international organizations in electoral advertising. The used archive materials will be accompanied by a clear mention “Archive”, if necessary a video or an audio message as well.
The national and public broadcasters are obliged, while the local and regional ones have the right to organize electoral debates during the election campaign prior to the parliamentary elections and the referendum in the national constituency. The local and regional broadcaster are obliged, while the national and public broadcasters have the right to organize electoral debates during the election campaign prior to the parliamentary elections in single-member constituencies. When holding talk-shows and other programs, the broadcasters will ensure the observance of such principles as balance, impartiality, responsibility and pluralism of opinions.
The electable period for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019 started on December 10 and will end when the election results are confirmed by the Constitutional Court. The election campaign for all the competitors registered by the CEC at national level and by the electoral councils in single-member constituencies will start 30 days before the elections, which is on January 25, 2019.
