National Assembly Deputy Secretary General Mladen Mladenovic said that, in addition to the introduction of e-Parliament, the National Assembly dedicated itself to expanding the content of its webpage so as to increase the transparency of its activities. Mladenovic said that the National Assembly’s webpage makes relevant information relating to its work and activities available to the public, such as the Information Booklet on the National Assembly’s mode of operation, shorthand notes of the National Assembly sessions, statistics covering the period from 1991 to date, Quorum information newsletter, as well as the opportunity to send questions to the MPs. In order to promote its transparency, the National Assembly has begun live streaming the National Assembly sessions, the sittings of its working bodies and all the other activities organised by the National Assembly on its webpage, said Mladenovic. The results of the poll should provide guidelines for the National Assembly’s further work on boosting its transparency, concluded the Deputy Secretary General.
The results of the poll, published by CESID, were presented by CESID Executive Director Djordje Vukovic and CESID researcher Bojan Klacar. The research was conducted between 15 and 23 May 2013 on a sample of 1,108 citizens on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, without Kosovo-Metohija, and is one of the first of its kind in Serbia, intended as a comprehensive investigation into the citizens’ attitude toward the National Assembly. The poll included the citizens’ trust in the political institutions, their knowledge of the National Assembly’s work and functions; assessment of the changes in the National Assembly’s work and its openness to the public; recognisability of the MPs and National Assembly Speaker, as well as the topics that the National Assembly should debate the most. The research also covered polling the citizens’ attitude on how the National Assembly’s work is reported on and how the communication between the National Assembly representatives and the public, via the media, could be improved. The results of the research show that the trust in the National Assembly is on a rise, said the CESID representatives.
In the course of the ensuing debate, the MPs and media representatives noted that the National Assembly continues to be in the shadow of the executive which affects the citizens’ perception of the National Assembly. In addition to e-Parliament and live streaming of the National Assembly activities, the amendments to the election law and direct election of MPs, as well as their intensified communication with the citizens via constituency offices at the local level, could contribute to the further increase of the citizens’ trust in the National Assembly and MPs, noted the participants of the debate.
The public opinion poll on the citizens’ attitude toward the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was conducted as part of the project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly, realised by the National Assembly in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).