Wednesday, 9 March 2022
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND SENIOR REGIONAL OGP COORDINATOR FOR EUROPE, SANDRA PERNAR
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met today with the Senior Regional Coordinator for Europe of the Open Government Partnership, Ms Sandra Pernar and the National Coordinator for the Open Government Partnership from the Ministry of Information Society and Administration, Ms Gordana Gapic-Dimitrovska.
Ms. Pernar thanked for the opportunity for a meeting, for the inclusion of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia in the Open Government Partnership and for the two Action Plans made so far, which is a bright example of cooperation. She announced that the new OGP Memorandum was adopted last year and that they expect new guidelines regarding the areas in which parliaments could be involved and more specifically, what are the challenges and in which segments they could support our Assembly. The starting point remains the already established basis for opening the Assembly, strengthened oversight role and adoption of legislation in consultation and cooperation with the Government, upgraded with priority concrete results, that is, better oversight of Government activities and oversight of public procurements and their legal implementation and finalisation.
President Xhaferi agreed with the interlocutor Pernar, informing that he is well acquainted with the whole process of engagement in the Open Government Partnership, both in terms of the legislature and the executive branch. He informed that following the directions and time frames of the two Action Plans, the Parliament worked in the direction of greater transparency and openness, and to that end it works in the area of information by creating a new website, publishing all the information there, including public procurement and their epilogue, upgrading the e-parliament and reconstruction of the plenary hall, in order to provide technical conditions for smooth operation. Regarding the independence of the Assembly, amendments were made to the Law on the Assembly, which provided a special status of the parliamentary service and financial independence. The process of independence of the internal security of the Assembly has started, which will certainly require amendments to the Rules of Procedure. In any case, a lot is being done in the direction of transparency because, as President Xhaferi said "...the public is the best control of what we do..." and that is why it is very important to engage NGOs and the citizens themselves in the oversight, after being well informed where to find and how to understand the open data.