Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) held today a roundtable discussion with members of the Assembly of Kosovo, representatives of civil society and media about the monitoring the work of the Assembly and the impact of monitoring in increasing the transparency and accountability of MPs. Through this meeting was marked the beginning of a new concept of citizen-led monitoring of the Assembly.

At the opening of this discussion Albert Krasniqi from KDI stated that after 12 years of regular monitoring of the work of the Assembly, KDI intends to create new monitoring approach in order to include citizens, civil society, students and other stakeholders by providing opportunities for monitoring the work of MPs through the use of technology and information tools.

Whereas the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli, said that “we should reflect to improve the work of the Assembly”. He emphasized that the role of civil society and the media, their critical role does not harm the institutions but improves the work of the Assembly. “We need partnership with civil society that will help us to be more transparent and accountable to Kosovo’s citizens. KDI with its work has contributed to increase performance and transparency in the Assembly,” he added.

While talking about the work of the assembly Mr. Veseli added that the agenda of the assembly is overloaded with issues that are not directly related to the Assembly, and many issues being discussed are passing in personal issues. “We have difficulties with the quorum, because there are MPs who come just to sign up and this is affecting the good work of many other MPs. There are almost the same deputies who are passive in the work of the parliamentary committees too,” he said further.

While Artan Murati from KDI, emphasized that despite the fact that Kosovo Assembly is one of the most transparent institutions in the country, however, the highest institution in the country is constantly facing inefficiencies in the work. Mr. Murati presented some basic statistics on the functioning of the Assembly’s work during the sixth legislature, highlighting the frequent lack of quorum and the small number of laws approved. In the end, he presented to the MPs and other participants the platform “My Vote”, and many opportunities that this platform offers in monitoring the work of the Assembly as a whole and for MPs individually.