The Prime Minister of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, Nezir Pivić, is one of the panelists of the two-day conference called “Open government for an open society“which is held in Mostar, organized by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH).
The conference is intended for representatives of the executive and legislative authorities at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of a joint dialogue on improving the openness of institutions and strengthening democratic processes. It also aims to present good practices of governments and parliaments and exchange experiences of representatives of institutions at all levels of government, in order to identify successful models and common solutions for improving transparency and accountability.
Prime Minister Pivić pointed out that transparency and a homely attitude towards the spending of the public budget are one of the key policies of the Zenica-Doboj Canton Government, which he leads and which was appointed two years ago.
The organizers stated that the Zenica-Doboj canton is an example of good practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the measures and mechanisms that the government of this canton applies in its work – especially in terms of transparency and openness of the decision-making process – contribute to increasing the trust of citizens in institutions, reducing the scope for abuses and strengthening the responsibility of the authorities.
They especially praised the transparency and availability via web-platforms of work programs, materials for Government and Assembly sessions, which are fully accessible to the public, as well as all other adopted acts and regulations. It was also pointed out that all budget funds are allocated through public calls and clearly specified criteria.
The establishment of publicly available registers of employees and appointed persons in this canton was also evaluated very positively, and several more important registers are being prepared, with the aim of reducing the risk of corrupt activities.
It was pointed out that all these mechanisms fit into the principles of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which recognizes the need to improve transparency and openness. Through the measure of ensuring inclusive access and involvement of the public in the stages of creation, implementation and monitoring of strategic plans, public policies and regulations, and through increasing the availability of public administration information, the Strategy seeks to address these issues.
