More meetings between Serbian authorities and opposition to come

NEWS 31.07.201912:48
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The Open Society Foundation and Belgrade University Political Sciences Faculty (FPN) said on Wednesday that they would continue organizing meetings between representatives of the authorities and opposition to discuss elections.

A press release said the next meetings would focus on the financing of election campaigns, access to the media, electoral rolls and election administration and securing the right to vote to all eligible citizens.  

The press release, signed by Foundation Executive Director Milan Antonijevic and FNP Dean Dragan Simic, said that the participants in Tuesday’s first meeting were given analyses of the election process and problems which have to be solved but with respect for the principle that the election process can’t be changed in an election year.  

According to the FPN and Foundation, representatives the CRTA and CeSID election watchdogs NGOs presented their analyses and issues and problems in the election process which can be resolved in the short term before the next elections as well as problems which demand large-scale system solutions after the next elections.  

In the long term, a dialogue between authorities and opposition could help remove the problems in the election system, reinforce the legitimacy of democratic authorities and strengthen the trust of the population in institutions and democratic order, they said.  

The meetings are being organized as moderated debates without media present and under Chatham House rules which means participants can’t make public statements about what was discussed.  

The press release said the representatives of relevant political parties, civil society organizations involved in elections and experts were invited to take part in the dialogue.