POINT 5.0 - Political Accountability and New Technologies Conference

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been a partner of the conference for years. This year, Dialogue South East Europe (Dialogue SOE) co-sponsored the conference and took part in one of the panels.  Denis Piplaš, project manager at Dialogue SOE, moderated the panel Elections in the Balkans – What can Citizens do?

The panel discussion was meant to give an overview of the current state of electoral processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia and comment on how they are framed through a regional outlook framework.

All panelists agreed that a regional pattern is visible when it comes to elections – a vast pattern of a democratic crisis and a steep disinterest in electoral processes. Citizens in all of the countries lack trust in institutions and the state generally, whilst elections are not percieved as fair and free processes.    

The panelists spoke as well about their organizations and personal involvement in elections, showing that the engagement of civil society actors and citizens can significantly influence the process and make it more transparent, inclusive and open.

More information on the conference and a broader report can be found under:

http://point.zastone.ba/en/democracy-crisis-stories-region/