The First Inter-Party Dialogue in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on improving the conditions for Parliamentary Elections took place on 9-10 October 2019.
The dialogue was established following consultations with all political forces. It was formally set up following an exchange of letters between Mr McAllister, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Maja Gojković.
After two days of substantive discussions, Mr Knut Fleckenstein, European Parliament Facilitator and Ms Maja Gojković, Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly made the following statement:
“We want to thank all participating political groups for engaging in constructive and substantive discussions on what concrete measures can be pursued to implement the EC Report and OSCE/ODHIR Recommendations to improve the conditions for holding parliamentary elections.
The cooperation between the Skupština and the European Parliament in the framework of the Inter-Party Dialogue process presents an important opportunity for political actors to deliver on the expectations of the Serbian citizens for a democratic election process.
The attached conclusions represent the outcome of the first round of the dialogue. Whilst welcoming the new initiatives, these are not addressing all shortfalls, therefore further steps should be taken before the next Inter-Party Dialogue in mid-November to further improve the conditions for holding parliamentary elections.
This in particular includes creating a level playing field for all political parties participating in the elections to have equal access to the media particularly the public broadcasters (RTS, RTV).
The participants emphasised the importance that all such proposals are subject to transparent procedures, public consultations, including full parliamentary scrutiny, before their implementation. Participants also underlined the importance of ensuring such proposals are subject to feedback from the OSCE/ODHIR to ensure they are fully aligned with its recommendations.
We agreed that the next round of the dialogue will take place in mid-November in the National Assembly“.
