More and more citizens are contacting the relevant institutions with specific requests, asking for social problems to be recognized and resolved in a timely manner. That is why it is important to have a tool that will unify their initiatives and forward them to the relevant authorities, without fear of possible consequences, which is one of the reasons why the Preokret movement created a mobile solution, the “Preokret” application.
Commenting on this decision, a councilor in the Capital City Assembly Mirza Krnić, told "Vijesti" that social policy "must return to the operational field":
"More and more citizens are reaching out with a reason, and we are here to encourage them to participate and insist that the system be better. The application is a tool designed to strengthen and accelerate that process. Citizens and businesses can anonymously or publicly report a specific problem to us, and we process it with the competent authorities. Small businesses in particular sometimes avoid reporting, because there is a common prejudice, which is certainly not uncommon and quite justified, that a public complaint can mean additional controls or inspections, which in practice can be perceived as a punitive expedition."
The idea for launching the application, according to Krnić, stemmed from "a determination to redirect politics towards the principles of direct democracy":
“And to show that it must first be possible within the organization itself, in order to make sense in the wider society. That is why the application is conceived as a tool that allows citizens to participate, propose and decide, and not just to occasionally vote or comment on other people's decisions.”
The development, he said, was a demanding process - from designing the model and method of functioning, to developing the software solution and harmonizing it with the institutional framework.
Krnić said that this ensures that the application functions in accordance with the domestic legislative framework and relevant professional standards in the field of information technology.
According to Krnić, through the application, citizens can actively participate in community planning and development:
“Almost every day, questions will be put to the vote on topics ranging from municipal importance to state-level issues. In this way, we check whether our experience of reality is in line with the perception of citizens and ensure that decisions are based on the real needs of the community.”
The "Vijesti" interlocutor also said that users will be able to track the status of requests, and there is also an option to schedule an interview with a specific Preokret member or councilor.
"The presented application allows citizens to propose initiatives, participate in discussions and monitor the implementation of decisions. In this way, Preokret further strengthens the model of direct public participation in decision-making, both within its internal organization and in the functioning of the system as a whole. Until now, we have forwarded citizens' comments to institutions, but the application represents a more systematic and transparent tool, which we expect to enable a greater number of initiatives and better interaction of citizens with our work," said Krnić.
The "Preokret" application can be downloaded from the movement's website, and is now available for direct download for Android devices. As Krnić said, it will be available in app stores within a month, and then for iOS as well.
Almost every day, questions will be put to the vote on topics ranging from municipal importance to state-level issues. In this way, we check whether our experience of reality is in line with the perception of citizens and ensure that decisions are based on the real needs of the community.
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