At the panel discussion titled “Citizens for the country or the country for the citizens”, organized by CIVIL – Center for Freedom, professor Mirjana Najcevska, activist Merita Maksuti and professor Jasna Bacovska spoke about (non)transparency and (non)responsibility in the political processes, the rule of law, human rights., the media and citizen participation.

The panel discussion was opened with questions on whether the transparency coincides with the real picture of the institutions and what constitutes a service of the state towards the citizens.

Professor Mirjana Najcevska reflected on how far along we are in democracy in terms of how much we have learned and how far along we are with the control. According to her, we have a problem because in these 20 and some years, we have been learning about democracy and still haven’t learned and that we have even become repeaters.

“Democracy is based on individuals, not on groups, we have parties, NGOs, fan groups, ethnic and religious ones, we just don’t have individuals, the individual is the basis and we won’t move forward if we don’t learn. There is always some group that is to blame, but our individual responsibility is lost, we don’t feel responsible for anything that is happening in the country. The third element is the quality of the individual. The institutions are worth as much as the people in them are worth and we often forget this. We see them as structures and urban elements, and not as a sum of qualities of individuals from which their quality depends. it does make a difference who will be a minister, who will be at the front desk and so on. When we vote, we don’t vote for individuals, instead we circle the sign of the party, we circle some structure, and not individuals and we cannot come out of the closed circle of non-democracy”, added Najcevska.

According to Najcevska, control should have three elements. The first one refers to the legal basis, which should go slowly, if it doesn’t go slowly, it won’t be able to be controlled.

“The second element is accessibility, meaning to explain to the people what is being done in an appropriate way, and the third element, for those who are responsible for something to be punished”, stated Najcevska.

Activist Merita Maksuti said that the relationship of the citizens and the state should be mutual and that this relationship should not be terminated.

“We are witnesses of old practices and that reforms in some captured institutions are difficult to implement. The state has to understand that it is here for the citizens and no other way. The rule of law is the most important element”, said Maksuti.

Maksuti says that with the previous government, the association “Eco Guerilla” had absurd cases, like the one for Jugohrom, which was protected as a white bear, and as a similar event mentioned the most recent case with the tobacco in Ljuboten, and considers that injustice towards citizens still exists.

“The laws should apply to everyone equally, but justice is not fully respected. I say this from my own personal experience as well. The state needs to commit essentially to the reforms at all levels”, added Maksuti.

According to her, it takes time for changes, but those who have been elected to power should be drivers of changes, and not act as though their positions have been inherited.

Professor Jasna Bacovska said that for 27 years we just cannot obtain democracy and that democracy is not that formal moment, it is not measured with whether you have division of power, but through the individuals’ feelings.

“Three elements are important for democracy, and these are whether we trust the institutions, whether we tolerate others, citizen participation in the decision-making process, and whether we have the feeling that we are deciding for something. Four years there is no transparency, it has been destroyed with several incidents and rather immense ones, and in normal countries dismissals follow after such things”, said Bacovska.

CIVIL advocates for freedom of expression and media freedom, without censorship, honest to themselves and to others.

Angela Petrovska
Photo: Biljana Jordanovska