Editorial

Delegates and civil society associations, tet –a – tet communication 

This autumn, Skopje, that is Macedonia, got its Contact Office for the civil society associations and the Macedonian Parliament located opposite the Parliament building and in the vicinity of the City Hospital, the Green Market and “Zena Borec” Park, which has been a witness of many turbulent events from the recent history of our country. There definitely could not be a better location for the Office that should provide communication between both sides of a very important social process, building a civil country. The civil society organizations will now be able to give information to the members of the parliament, information that will be important for preparing the legal acts; on the other hand, the Parliament will provide the civil society organizations with materials and information on its work, that the civil society organization will analyze further and submit their proposals. An ideally conceptualized opportunity for overcoming the number of mutual misunderstandings, for getting to know and facing with the citizens, but also with the members of the Parliament whose work influences the direction that our country is heading for.

Around the new office there are always people, citizens rushing somewhere and burdened with their everyday problems. They probably don’t even notice that they are passing by the Parliament, where every day, regardless of the ruling political parties, new laws are being made, the old ones are being corrected and a specific battle between the past, presence and future is being fought. The power of information and their accessibility can demystify many things in this respect, bring into surface new moments, for instance, how much are the civil society organizations really interested to influence the legal regulative, but also to bring into light how much the members of parliament are open for communication and application of the international experiences for which the parties (without exception) strive for in their programmes.

The office is a step towards bringing closer the citizens and the Parliament, but also a way to approach the world trends and examine the maturity of the both sides.

It will not be long before we see the first results. However, this is the first semester, and what counts is the results from the one.

 

Katerina Bogoeva