Interim Activity Report

(1)        Literature review  of corruption in the region and elsewhere, concentrating on uncontrolled political power as the  cause of corruption; 

 

(2)        Consultations about  the initial hypothesis, the main issues and the indicators  of state capture with about 20 people who are experts, professors, NGO’s activists,  former- government functionaries, media and party leaders. They supported my hypothesis “that all that is public (that is not private) is at the parties’ disposal”. They gave me recommendations about  literature, necessary laws to consult, possible legal changes,  and they offered their assistance for my policy study.

 

(3)        Issue Paper was submitted on June30, 2006

 

(4)        Data collection:

 

·        Data collection started out  in the City of Novi Sad, as  a case study of a state capture  at the local level. I  identified my collaborators among journalists and members of  the City Assembly, as the source of information about the structure of the local parliament and authority by party affiliation, and about the division of public companies  and institutions among the ruling parties for the last two election periods: 2000  when the coalition of democratic parties held the authority in the city and 2004  (the last local elections) when elections were won by the nationalistic Serbian Radical Party.

·        Research  on  National Government  functionary appointments  in  public enterprises, funds and agencies; investigation of their function-accumulation and concentration of power. Among sources of information was the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia.

·        Research of 250 MPs of the National Parliament for accumulation of functions, by number, content, and party;

·        Investigation of how parties’ cadres are distributed in the governmental ministries and institutions in the same activity  area, on horizontal and vertical  levels;  as case studies, two ministries were investigated: the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Sport;

·        Survey of public opinion on corruption, criteria about appointments for state positions, attitudes on accumulation of functions, and confidence in the institutions. The survey was carried out  with the assistance of Strategic Marketing, the best known public opinion survey firm: I formulated 15 questions fulfilling the needs of my survey. They were included in a regular public opinion survey;

 

(5)        Creation of connections and alliances with:

·        Transparency Serbia (NGO)

·        Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies (NGO)

·        CESID,  an NGO for Free and Democratic Elections, holds conferences on party financing 

·        Strategic Marketing – Research Agency

·        The Anticorruption Council of the Government of Serbia which invited me to a conference  - “Anti-corruption Days”, June, 2006

·        The Committee of the Democratic Party for Public Services. It offered to cooperate and invited me to a debate  about policy issues as a preparation for the next elections;

·         NALED'S  Working Group Forum on Business-Government ( I became a member of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development, founded by USAID)

·        Media such as the daily newspaper in Novi Sad “Dnevnik”, the daily newspaper “Danas”, the weekly magazine “Vreme” and the monthly journal “Republika” .

 

       

(6)        I have written four articles for Belgrade dailies; two of them I have posted on Policy Document Center pdc.ceu.hu.;

(7)        I have finished my first draft Policy Paper, and submitted it to the Mentor, October 25, 2006. My draft was positively evaluated;

(8)        Participation in Seminar on how to write policy paper, Istanbul, November;

(9)        Second draft policy paper was finished in December, 2006 and submitted at the beginning of January;

 

(10)     I have started realizing my Advocacy plan:

 

·        Networking: to make contacts, create alliances, supporters and partners by

developing cooperation with NGOs, media, governmental and party bodies, and other agents that can make my advocacy process more effective and visible.

I already started to make contacts as presented in my Work- Advocacy Plan.  Report;

 

·        Writing articles for daily newspapers and speaking in electronic media (Radio and  TV shows) on how to build accountable, transparent and corruption free government, public offices, enterprises and services, and to promote interests of the  citizens, by advocating de-accumulation of functions, political independence, professionalism, competitiveness,  and neutrality of the officials in the public sector;

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