Today, the Chairman of the Committee on Petitions and Proposals, Sasa Dujovic received the President of the Serbian Unity Congress Dr Slavka Draskovic to discuss the promotion of cooperation between the National Assembly and civil society. The Committee Chairman stated that in the past year the Committee had received more than 900 civic proposals, half of which had been resolved. Dujovic said that the Committee acts on the received complaints and proposals so as to protect the citizens’ rights and interests. The Committee is open to the citizens and enjoys excellent cooperation with the independent regulatory bodies and non-governmental organisations, stressed Dujovic.

The representative of the Civil Society Office, Dr Slavka Draskovic said that, as part of project “Civil Society Office at the Parliament”, a study was completed examining the examples of cooperation between civil society and the parliament in several countries. The study contains conclusions and recommendations on which of these experiences could be applied in Serbia.

The Office representative pointed out that the project was supported by several European funds and its main idea is to connect the citizens with the parliament. She said that there was an initiative to found a civil society office at the National Assembly to address the citizens’ queries.

Endorsing the proposal, the Petitions and Proposals Committee Chairman pointed out the need to improve further cooperation between the parliament and citizens. He announced that the National Assembly would organise a public hearing on unsuccessful privatisations in September since many of the citizens’ complaints pertain to this issue. He also endorsed the initiative to organise a public hearing on establishing stronger ties between the parliament and citizens.