Transparency addresses issue of corruption

Transparency Serbia President Vladimir Goati says the overall anti-corruption clampdown “is only as strong as the weakest link in the anti-corruption chain.” Goati told a press conference that the wave of information on corruption had now reached its zenith, but that, conversely, the measures to tackle that scourge had “remained at more or less the same level. Transparency addresses issue of corruption He added that “that judicially neglected talk of corruption, which is only ever mentioned in terms of a phenomenon, can but lead to ambivalence.” A case in point, he said, were the statements of certain officials concerning the Horgos-Pozega and Gazprom agreements, the problem of MPs defecting from one party to another for financial “incentives”, as well as party spending during election campaigns. According to the Transparency president, the struggle against corruption required a synchronized campaign, all the more so given that the institutional framework had been established by and large. Speaking of the ongoing problems with MPs’ mandates and resignations, he said that these documents were “anti-democratic institutions”, but that “a bad law is still a bad law.” Responding to questions on the Gazprom contract and highway concessions deal, Goati said that his only criticism was that the media had not been in a position to gain a sufficient insight into the course of these talks and all the elements of those contracts. Transparency program director Nemanja Nenadic said the NGO had monitored parliament’s work, and that it was vital to change the relationship between parliament and independent bodies, “all in the interests of strengthening parliament’s supervisory role and bolstering the position of independent bodies.” Transparency financial director Danilo Pejovic highlighted the new Law on Public Purchasing, saying that new measures had been adopted that more clearly defined the accountability of those responsible for pubic purchasing and those who monitor them, thus increasing transparency and control.

Transparency addresses issue of corruption

He added that “that judicially neglected talk of corruption, which is only ever mentioned in terms of a phenomenon, can but lead to ambivalence.”

A case in point, he said, were the statements of certain officials concerning the Horgoš-Požega and Gazprom agreements, the problem of MPs defecting from one party to another for financial “incentives”, as well as party spending during election campaigns.

According to the Transparency president, the struggle against corruption required a synchronized campaign, all the more so given that the institutional framework had been established by and large.

Speaking of the ongoing problems with MPs’ mandates and resignations, he said that these documents were “anti-democratic institutions”, but that “a bad law is still a bad law.”

Responding to questions on the Gazprom contract and highway concessions deal, Goati said that his only criticism was that the media had not been in a position to gain a sufficient insight into the course of these talks and all the elements of those contracts.

Transparency program director Nemanja Nenadić said the NGO had monitored parliament’s work, and that it was vital to change the relationship between parliament and independent bodies, “all in the interests of strengthening parliament’s supervisory role and bolstering the position of independent bodies.”

Transparency financial director Danilo Pejović highlighted the new Law on Public Purchasing, saying that new measures had been adopted that more clearly defined the accountability of those responsible for pubic purchasing and those who monitor them, thus increasing transparency and control.