National Assembly Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic said that the project set the guidelines for the National Assembly’s work. He said that the contract signed last year by the National Assembly, Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gives considerable support to achieving the National Assembly’s two goals – strengthening its oversight role and improving transparency. Stefanovic stressed that it is necessary to raise the citizens’ awareness of the work done by the National Assembly and other state institutions by improving communication. He was pleased that a great many MPs are involved in the project, thus helping improve the National Assembly’s image.
Swiss Ambassador to Belgrade Jean-Daniel Ruch deemed the Parliament’s role important because the citizens can control the Government’s work through the Parliament, which is why it is important for the citizens to have insight into its work. The Ambassador said that working in the field, transparency and financial influence of the adopted legislative framework are crucial for the National Assembly’s work. He pointed out that it is extremely important to conduct the project with the consensus of all the parliamentary groups, because its realisation is in the common interest both on the national and local level.
UNDP Resident Representative William Infante said that the project stimulated the Government, legislative and judiciary to promote democratisation and raise the public trust. Infante said that the project will boost the supervision of public spending in the future because the Government’s accountability before the citizens can only be improved by monitoring how the budget is spent.
The Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Isabel Perich said that the Parliament is essential for democratisation and overcoming political differences in society. She added that she shared the opinion that communication with the citizens needs to be promoted in order to improve the National Assembly’s image.
The results achieved by the project so far were presented in the continuation. National Assembly Deputy Secretary General Mladen Mladenovic and Biljana Ledenican of UNDP stressed that eight public hearings were organised so far, the Education Group endorsed the Mobile Parliament programme, the publication of Quorum newsletter was endorsed, as was the formation of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption National Branch, while funds were also allocated for the Assembly committee’s work in the field. The most important part of the project in the upcoming period will be strengthening the oversight role and controlling the spending of public budget funds by MPs.
The National Assembly began the realisation of the three-year project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly in September 2012, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the United Nations Development Programme.