Monitoring local elections 2008
Monitoring local elections in the context of the Code of Ethics for Local Officials
This project represents support to the Councils for Monitoring the Implementation of the Code of Ethics as part of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in Serbia's program to monitor the implementation of the Code of Ethics for Local Officials.
The aim of this project was to increase transparency and accountability among local councilors. The project monitored the campaigns of candidates in the 2008 local elections in eight municipalities in Serbia (Smederevo, Plandiste, Prokuplje, Pirot, Vranje, Arilje, Sabac, Mladenovac). Monitoring focused on specific issues such as election campaign financing and other areas covered by the Code of Ethics.
Most of the problems relate to the application of the provisions of the Code (Articles 10 and 11) dealing with local election campaigns and the financing of local election campaigns. Many of the Monitoring Councils are composed of party members or even candidates in local elections which makes it difficult for the Councils to assess whether the relevant provisions of the Code have been complied with. The councils also lack the resources to address this issue after the election campaign is over. In such a situation, citizens remain uninformed whether these important provisions of the Code were respected during the election campaign.
More specifically, the project addressed issues related to the implementation of election campaign financing. For example, in the area of electoral regulation, there have been discussions on how to change the electoral system to encourage proper representation of citizens in the local assembly. Regarding the financing of the election campaign, there were problems related to all types of elections (insufficient supervision of the Republic Election Commission, many different interpretations of certain legal provisions).
This project was made possible by a donation from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy
Project partner organizations:
- Centar za društvene inicijative – Smederevo
- Asocijacija građana Impuls – Plandište
- Toplički centar za demokratiju i ljudska prava – Prokuplje
- Građanska čitaonica Pirgos – Pirot
- ABC centar za mir, sigurnost i toleranciju – Vranje
- Centar kreativnog okupljanja – Arilje
- Osvit – Šabac
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