The Committee for Further Reform of Electoral and Other Legislation cannot and will not have essential work until it includes representatives of the government and the opposition who have at least two-thirds of the votes in the Assembly, said the executive director of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), Dragan Koprivica.
He emphasized that the only way to measure the success of the work of this temporary Committee, and thus the success of the complete electoral reform, is the adoption of new, significantly improved electoral legislation and politically agreed mechanisms for its implementation.
"And that cannot be replaced by anything. Nor can it be done without the opposition", pointed out Koprivica.
"Vijesti" announced on Saturday that, according to unofficial information, despite the announcement of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) that at the end of the month the relevant parliamentary committee will present proposals for the reform of electoral laws, nothing will be done about that work until September.
The Presidency of the Democratic Front (DF) would only then be able to take a political position regarding a possible return to the board, participation in the elections and the conditions surrounding it.
Koprivica pointed out that the Committee for Further Reform of Electoral and Other Legislation has not been meeting due to the absence of the opposition since the end of November last year.
"Even without representatives of the opposition, the working groups formed within the Committee work with varying intensity and quality," said Koprivica, who is a representative of one of the three NGOs participating in the work of the Committee. He stated that the formed working groups, with more or less success, perform preparatory activities, analyses, comparative research, meetings, collection of proposals and development of proposed solutions for some identified problems.
"However, the Board cannot and will not have essential work until there are representatives of the government and the opposition who have at least two-thirds of the votes in the Assembly," emphasized Koprivica.
Two days ago, the DPS parliamentary club announced that, despite the boycott, work in the Committee's working groups took place "continuously and efficiently".
"By the end of July, we will have ready all solutions for election laws that will not be submitted to the parliamentary procedure, but what we have done so far will serve to create a platform with the aim of returning the opposition to the Committee and continuing the dialogue on election and other legislation", it was announced from DPS.
Koprivica pointed out that the analysis of laws and the collection of proposals from domestic and international institutions, non-governmental organizations, which is carried out by working groups, even without the presence of the opposition, can be a useful thing.
"Also, the preparation and development of several alternative solutions for the most important problems can also be very useful only if a new dialogue process is finally started regarding the work of the Board and the mechanisms for implementing the adopted solutions. This "preparation" for the dialogue will speed up the work of the Committee if it is complete", assessed Koprivica.
The committee for further reform of the electoral legislation was formed in October last year, but the opposition parties decided to boycott its work after only one month.
The government should start a dialogue as soon as possible, and the opposition should accept it
Koprivica pointed out that the responsible representatives of the government must energetically initiate an honest and fair dialogue and be ready for concessions, and the responsible representatives of the opposition should accept it and make realistic demands in that process:
"This should happen as soon as possible because time is running out. And that is exactly why it is important that the working groups have done part of the work. But key work and key decisions are yet to come."
He pointed out that the time until the election is getting shorter, and that quality reforms require time.
"If we add to that the fact that the electoral legislation is not changed in the election year, it is clear that these are the last moments to renew the dialogue. "Today, the political elites are choosing whether they will solve problems in a European way or whether they will follow the path of instability, tensions and deepening of the crisis," said Koprivica.
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