Electoral competitors required to submit financial reports every two weeks

Every two weeks until election day on April 5 the electoral competitors will have to present financial statements to the Central Election Commission (CEC), under a regulation on election campaign financing adopted by CEC on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. The statements will have to detail all the incomes resulting from membership fees, donations and any other activities, as well as the party's expenses. According to the regulation, financing of the electoral participants from abroad, from international organizations or government-funded institutions is forbidden during the election campaign. Anonymous donations are also banned. Within a month from the official start of the campaign, the registered competitors must reveal the financing or any other form of assistance meant to help them through the campaign. If CEC finds the financial statements to be inaccurate, this could entail disqualification from the race, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice. Also on Friday, CEC amended the regulation on the placement of electoral outdoor advertisement, forbidding the police to interfere in the content of the ads. At the same time, the police will have to issue an authorization for the placement of outdoor ads within 36 hours, as opposed to 3 days previously. The amendments came after a number of electoral competitors complained to CEC that the police misused their authority when their authorization for ad placement was requested.