The Central Election Commission and American Democratic Institute (NDI) organized today a joint round table on “The regulatory framework of political parties ‘funding”. The round table brought together political parties, members of the Special Commission on Electoral Reform, public institutions, representatives of civil society organizations and election experts.

In his opening address, the State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi stated that this round table is the first in a series of others sessions that will follow, in the context of the commitment CEC has undertaken to establish a common language among all the stakeholders in the election process, especially those which are related to the funding of political parties during election campaigns.

The Commissioner highlighted the need for improvements of the Electoral Code and the law on political parties regarding the funding of political parties, coverage of election campaign in the media, and the behavior of media during the election campaign and the behavior of public institutions during the election campaign. There is an increasing interest and attention by all the involved actors, to work in this area, and by discussing and consulting each -other, -this will lead us to a unified understanding regarding what is permissible and not permissible in the financing of election campaigns, the public activities and election campaign coverage in the media.

The head of NDI, Mrs. Ana Kovacevic underlined the importance of dialogue and continuous  cooperation of the actors involved in the process, in order to make possible the improvement of the legal framework, but also its implementation. Kovacevic underlined that the legal gaps have brought the needs for improvement and addressing of various election issues, through a thorough reform.

During the first day, the consultation focused on the financial reporting of political parties and candidates, the income and expenses of the parties during the calendar year and election campaigns.

The participants tackled the problems they encountered, the legal regulation, the applicability of the legislation in force, the CEC approach towards the involved parties and the overall assessment of the regulatory framework.

During the second day,  the round table will be focused on the behavior of public institutions during the election campaign , media coverage of election campaign and media  behavior during the election campaign.