On January 31, Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) organized a Roundtable Discussion on the topic: “Draftlaw on Financing of Political Parties: an opportunity to establish financial control and transparency”, held in Prishtina.  The aim of this event was to discuss the draftlaw of Financing of Political Parties in Kosovo with the relevant actors and present recommendations on how this draftlaw can better be implemented.

Mr. Shamolli, Senior Research Fellow at GLPS, among others, stressed that despite the improvement of the legal framework with the new draft law to be better implemented should include elements such as: Independence and the statute of the Office for Registration and Certification of Political Entities, and especially communication between this office and the Central Election Commission (CEC). He also argued that the method of publishing financial reports beyond a legal obligation should be more innovative through solutions of advanced technological means to enable effective communication between political entities and the Office.

On the other hand, Mr. Borovci from the Office of the Prime Minister argued that the draftlaw is under discussion in parliamentary committees, and additional consultations are being organized with political parties, civil society organizations and international organizations. He stressed that the draft law was approved at the 52^nd meeting of the government and more concrete steps are already expected from the MPs in the next parliamentary sessions. Among other, he noted that the independence of the Office for Registration and Certification of Political Entities should be strengthened and the draftlaw should be harmonized with the Law on General Elections in Kosovo.

As EU representative, the Head of the Office for the Rule of Law and Human Rights, Mr. Helppikangas said once again that the adoption of this draftlaw is a clear step in the fight against corruption. According to him, this law is one of the promises of the government in increasing financial transparency and, nevertheless, a strong political will is needed for its approval. He also added that since 2018 this draftlaw is in the drawers of the government so the moment to initiate its approval, as well as electoral reform is now.

It was concluded that the approval of the draft law on the financing of political parties, which has been drafted with the comments of the Venice Commission as well as those of civil society is a crucial step in Kosovo’s path to EU integration and anti-corruption framework.

Panelists:

Mr. Mentor BOROVCI – Director of the Legal Office, Office of the Prime Minister;

Mr. Jarmo HELPPIKANGAS– Head of Rule of Law and Human Rights Section, EUSR Kosovo

Mr. Naser SHAMOLLI – Senior Research Fellow, GLPS.

This Roundtable Discussion was organized within the framework of a project supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Venue: Hotel Swiss Diamond (Ulpiana Hall), 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo.