Civil society initiative: We demand all parties to have clean lists and accountable programs

July 7, 2014 Alisa Karović

bosna_glasanje Civil society organizations in BiH, this way, wish to express their dissatisfaction with the work of political parties participating in the government in BiH, as well as with their representatives in governments at all levels. Since there is only 3 months until the election, and the parties’ lists of candidates must be submitted in the near term, we believe that it is the time for accountability. We believe it is necessary that political parties make a fundamental change in their attitude towards electorate, and that they demonstrate accountability within the electoral process, primarily through the process of nominating candidates for electoral lists and other actions arising during the election time.

Bearing in mind:

that according to public opinion polls and all other relevant indicators citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are extremely dissatisfied with the work of political parties and their representatives, they will enjoy a very low level of public trust;
that the effect of the government mandate 2010-2014 at this point can only be characterized as minimal;
that all of the economic, social, development and other indicators are very low;
that the vast majority of the promises given to voters remain unfulfilled;
that the government during this mandate was constantly shaken by scandals and inter-party crises;
that in the previous term large number of parties took part in the government, and they are all responsible for the current situation;
that in this term citizens repeatedly demonstrated enormous dissatisfaction with governing structures, which culminated in the February protests and the dismissal of four cantonal governments;

civil society organizations demand from political parties taking part in the upcoming elections:

that they will put on election lists put candidates who haven’t betrayed the trust of citizens in the previous term;
that they will promote the inclusion of new candidates who don’t bear the burden of failure and irresponsibility;
that they will seriously and substantially include young people and women in parties’ work and on the electoral lists;
that they will present on time realistic and clear pre-election programs with clear goals;
that parties and their candidates will act in a fully transparent manner, particular with regard to declaring their assets as well as regarding the financing of the election campaigns.

Civil society organizations gathered around this initiative will in the upcoming period analyze the electoral lists of political parties’ candidates for the forthcoming general elections and offer the voters analysis that will present if the parties respect the established requirements, specifically:

how many new candidates would the parties put on the lists;
how many parties have quality, realistic and clear pre-election programs;
dossiers of candidates who previously held the mandate in the government, with clear indicators by which voters will be able to assess whether these candidates deserve their trust.

Finally, civil society organizations will offer a ranking of political parties regarding given indicators and prepare information that will help voters to more easily make their choice.

Civil society organizations will present, in the period up to the elections on October 12th, the results of this initiative to as many potential voters in BiH and thus assist them in making decisions about the choice of parties and candidates who have most clearly demonstrated interest and desire to work for their wellbeing.

ACIPS
Centar za infromativnu dekontaminaciju mladih – Buka
Centar za političke studije
Dokukino
Fondacija CURE
Fondacija Ekipa
Fondacija za kreativni razvoj
Institut za mlade KULT
OKC Abrašević
Omladinski pokret Revolt
Oštra nula
Sarajevski otvoreni centar
Transparency International BiH
UG Zašto ne
UNSA Geto
Žene Ženama