Negotiations: Times of responsibility

CIVIL - Center for Freedom welcomes the continuation of the working groups of the political parties - signatories of the Agreement to overcome the political crisis in the country. We are aware that political parties are facing responsible tasks before the state and society; any delay or breach of the obligations accepted by signatories may severely affect the future of this country and its citizens.

We take this opportunity to prompt all political parties that are directly involved in the negotiations of our recommendations and comments published from the beginning of June onwards. They are all posted on our website; one of them is Macedonia needs true democratic reforms.

We, as representatives of civil society, can provide valuable contribution to the legitimacy of the process with our proposals and expertise in many areas relevant to the political process.

Although negotiations are held behind closed doors, and does not include the public and the civil society directly, the process as a whole is very complex and encompasses many more stakeholders, such as the smaller political parties, civil society organizations, the media, and above all, the citizens of our country. Therefore, it is very important to understand that this political process, in general, should be inclusive and transparent, regardless of the closed character of the direct negotiations.

CIVIL will be available for consultations during the negotiations and the process as a whole, and will continue monitoring the implementation of the Agreement, as well as all aspects related to the electoral process.

CIVIL has already established numerous monitoring teams operating from January 2015, and meanwhile has formed a team of experts composed of representatives of CIVIL and GONG (Croatia), available to the public, political parties and institutions. GONG’s team of experts will be in Skopje from August 28 to September 2; the agenda of our joint activities in this period will announced soon.