Interview with Slavica Biljarska, MOST Spokesperson
Your activities are directed at the improvement of the democratic relations in the country. At the moment, it mostly involves cooperation with the international organizations active in Macedonia, as well as with the state institutions. What are your experiences, both positive and negative, regarding that cooperation?
The implementation of our mission makes the cooperation with the state institutions, electoral bodies and international organizations unavoidable. One of the programmes active under the MOST framework, is named Open Institutions, with the basic goal to increase the responsibility of civic, political and governmental institutions for the needs of the citizens. Under this programme, activities are implemented with close ties to the institutions. The majority of the activities are focused on the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, i.e. on the inclusion of the citizens in the decision-making processes. During elections, on the other hand, MOST cooperates with electoral bodies and the competent government ministries, in order to ensure for a more transparent and democratic electoral process. The same period also brings in the most intensive cooperation with international institutions. If we summarize our past experience, we could freely say that we have a good and correct cooperation with the state institutions and the international representatives in the country. I don’t think it would sound like bragging if I said that it is due primarily to the professional and efficient way in which MOST realizes its obligations towards our partners. Election monitoring is one of the main activities of MOST. Which elections have you monitored in Macedonia and which abroad, so far? MOST was established in May 2002 as an organization for monitoring elections in Macedonia, and later it grew in the biggest group of citizens that observe elections as domestic monitors. So far, in Macedonia, we have monitored the Parliamentary Elections 2003, the additional Local Elections 2003, Presidential Elections 2004, the last Local Elections 2005, and we also monitored the Referendum on the Territorial Map in 2004. Our databases list some 10,000 names of citizens that have participated as monitors at the polling stations in some of the past elections. I would use this opportunity to express our gratitude for their enormous contribution for the increase of transparency of electoral processes. Internationally, the largest monitoring mission we have taken part in was the Monitoring Mission for the Presidential Elections in the Ukraine. Under the auspices of the NDI and OSCE/ODIHR missions, our representatives have also monitored elections in Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Russia. At the moment, we are preparing to take part in other international missions. Are there important differences between elections in Macedonia and those abroad? The differences result, above all, from the different electoral legislation and its implementation, as well as the cultural and educational differences of the citizens of these countries. Nonetheless, each new monitoring mission brings opportunities to acquire new experience which could be later implemented to improve the election processes in Macedonia. Which are the main challenges you face prior to, and during the actual balloting monitoring? The electoral process is much more than just the ballot day. It is a whole system of activities, various by character and nature, including precise deadlines. For example, the coordination of regional coordinators, monitoring of election campaigns, recruitment and training of the observers, distribution of monitoring materials, these are done simultaneously, not to mention that parallel to this, contacts have to be maintained with all direct and indirect participants in the process. The deadlines need to be respected and activities implemented in the best possible manner. The greatest challenge, by a long way, is to train the citizens who volunteered to monitor the elections. In additions to the obligation to have the legal procedure explained to them, you have to convince them that they are, indeed, important to the process, to convince them that, by their presence at the ballot stations, they do contribute to the transparency of the process and reduce the opportunities for illegal actions. Of course, their reaction and comments provide the additional motivation to fulfill our obligations. Another obvious challenge is the allocation of ballot stations among the observers. You have to have a good view of the general situation in the field to be able to decide which ballot stations heed observing. The ballot day itself is strenuous and dynamic, but all the hardships are quickly forgotten when you realize that you have done a lot of good for the voters. The regional cooperation, especially in the SEE, has turned into a priority for a good number of NGOs. What are your experiences in that regard? The cooperation with other organizations with same or similar goals and mission is welcome, both in terms in exchange of experiences and knowledge, and in terms of implementing regional projects. MOST is a member of ENEMO, network of election monitoring organizations, which has members from 16 countries of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe. MOST maintains good relationships with all organizations in the network, but the most intensive is the cooperation with organizations from Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro. Outside the narrow subject of election monitoring, and in terms of exchange of knowledge and experience, MOST cooperates with other organizations, such as the International Centre for Non-Profit Law from Budapest. The experiences of the past cooperation shows that, as organizations that work for the public interest, we all face the same or similar problems, similar challenges and obstacles in the implementation of our activities. The Macedonian public knows you primarily by your election monitoring activities. What other activities are you involved in? All MOST activities are divided into three main programmes: Citizens’ Education, Open Institutions, and Accountability and Transparency. The projects are implemented through the central office located in Skopje, and 19 regional offices throughout the country. One of the most important activities we have is connected to the office we opened in cooperation with the Parliament, dedicated to the cooperation between the NGOs and the parliamentary committees and the MPs. We should also mention the Address Book of NGOs for Cooperation with the Parliament. Then, there was the Mobile Parliament project, which was the pioneering step to get the electorate closer to their elected representatives. It included meetings of citizens and MPs, to be able to discuss the current issues. The participants in the meetings presented their views and suggestions to the MPs, in terms of improvements of the legislation and making in closer to the actual needs and wishes of the citizens. Over the last year, MOST initiated debates on the election legislation and presented its views and proposals for improvements in the electoral legislation at round-table discussions, with participation of experts and members of parliament. The real benefits of this should be felt over the coming period, when we plan to prepare the Code of Electoral Legislation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. The Code would include all Laws that regulate various aspects of elections. I would also mention here the projects implemented under the citizens’ education programme, which are not directly related to the elections, but are designed to facilitate the achievement of our mission. These projects are just some of the activities implemented by MOST. I should say here that all activities are implemented timely, professionally and efficiently, thanks primarily to the dedicated work of our team. All of the people involved, including the regional coordinators and the citizens that volunteer to monitor the elections, contribute to a more stable, prosperous and democratic Macedonia. |
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