Civil society organizations drew the attention of the Venice Commission delegation representatives to the fact that, when giving an opinion on the draft constitutional amendments concerning the judiciary, it is necessary to consider the state of democratic institutions, and the political context, having in mind that whether the constitutional changes will indeed ensure the independence of the judiciary depends on these two factors.
CRTA analyzed the Measures to Improve the Conduct of the Electoral Process, proposed by the co-facilitators in the course of the Inter-Party Dialogue mediated by the European Parliament, published on 18 September 2021. One segment of the proposed measures comes as a result of a political agreement – these measures constitute temporary solutions, and go beyond the existing legal and institutional framework. Assessing their enforcement will, therefore, require analzying their actual effects in practice, during the observation of the upcoming elections. The following analysis is strictly focused on legal solutions which are in line with the existing legal and institutional framework, and their possible reach and compliance with domestic legislation, as well as with international standards and recommendations by domestic and international observers.
The Assembly of Serbia has never worked without a break in June and July, and even at the beginning of August, as it happened this year. Even though, statistically speaking, the Assembly functions great without opposition, the MPs tried hard to remind everyone how bad the previous government was and how absolutely all oppositionists are…
For the purposes of maintaining the Open Parliament website as a part of project “Back to Basics – Parliament as a Backbone for the Rule of Law”,`Crta is opening a job position for a colleague developer who would join our IT dev team! We are a group of civil society activists devoted to strengthening democratic…
The Serbian political scene has long been characterised by a worrying lack of political pluralism and the collapse of the basic mechanisms that protect democracy. The last parliamentary elections were preceded by a dialogue on improving election conditions, which did not yield results.
Extremely uneven representation of ruling parties and the opposition – this is the main finding of CRTA’s year long post-election media content analysis of central news on televisions with national coverage: RTS, Pink, Prva, Happy, and B92. Between July 2020 and the end of June 2021, representatives of the ruling majority garnered as much as 93% of time in television programme covering political actors, while the opposition was present in the remaining 7% of time.
In this issue, the Parliamentary Insider brings assessments of the work of the Parliament from January to May 2021. At first glance, from the beginning of the New Year to the end of May, in their addresses, the MPs were trying to correct mistakes that the European Commission had pointed out last year. Sittings were scheduled on time, the MPs had the opportunity to ask questions to the executive, and the plenum was held only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. This still did not shroud the fact that it was easy to organise all this in a practically one-party system.
The following case study speaks about one of the most blatant examples of abuse of public resources by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, during the election campaign for elections held in June 2020 at all levels. There were many similar examples, but this is one of the few that was efficiently processed in compliance with the legally prescribed short deadlines, and in which it was determined that the provisions of the Law on Financing Political Activities had been violated. In the same case, certain shortcomings of the existing legal framework were noticed, as well as certain weaknesses and inconsistencies in the actions of the Anti-Corruption Agency, which is responsible for the implementation of this law. Public resources are being misused, primarily by public officials, but also by civil servants, in order to promote political parties during the election campaign. In this way, political parties, which are in power at the time of the election campaign, gain a great and insurmountable advantage over other actors in the election game, primarily over opposition parties.
Hiding data on the value of monuments is the most current example, but it is actually just one in many examples of public authorities calling for the secrecy of data in a way that has no basis in law. This case sheds yet again light on a problem that the Commissioner has been constantly pointing out for more than fifteen years of his work. In the search for solution of this problem, different institutions at different levels of power have been setting the hurdles, in an orchestrated manner.
Our topics
Democratic culture
Because politics is not just for politicians. It is our human and citizen right to participate in the processes of making decisions which influence our lives. A dialogue has no alternative.
Free and fair elections
Because elections are the pillars of democracy. It is every citizen’s right to decide on whom to give his/her vote in free and fair conditions. Our vote is valuable and it can make a difference.
Open institutions
Because institutions serve the citizens. We need strong institutions with integrity which protect the public interest.
Free media
Because media should ask questions and critically analyse the reality. We need the media which protect the public interest and tackle the needs of the citizens.
