By Klaudija Lutovska for Southeast European Times in Skopjе -- 23/12/11
Journalist Petranka Taleska, 30, participates in e-democracy. [Klaudija Lutovska/SETimes]
Macedonia's Ministry for Information Society and Administration announced last week it will implement the e-democracy portal project, spurring strong interest in various segments of society.
"The portal represents a modern method of public debate through which the citizens -- through an easy and easily accessible means -- can give their opinions about the government's proposed decisions and documents, as well as participate in the decision-making process," Information Minister Ivo Ivanovski told SETimes.
Using the portal, citizens can offer proposals, comments and suggestions regarding laws; offer comments regarding the public administration and state bureaucrats; write blogs; and directly communicate with government employees.
The portal consists of seven parts. The first is "Laws in the Making", which is directly connected to Macedonia's Electronic registry of Regulations (ENER). A database "Strategic Documents" of the government offers them to the public in their final draft version. A "Forum" for citizens' thematic debates is also included, based on the recommendation of administrators as well as polled citizens.
Then there is the part "Blog" accessible to groups of citizens such as associations, chambers of commerce and others which can post articles and engage in expert debates.
The portion "Make a Suggestion How to Eliminate Administrative Barriers" includes specific citizen proposals for more efficient functioning of the public administration.
Another part "Engage Yourself" allows for two-way communication with the state administration.
Finally, in the part "Provide an Idea", citizens can offer brief explanations of an original idea, similar to the current practice during the "open day" with the government, which was established to enhance face to face communication between citizens and the government.
The e-democracy idea is not unique, as regional countries have actively tried to use new channels to implement democratic processes, including IT technology. The prefix "е" is becoming dominant in just about all areas of public life, such as e-education, e-courts, e-business, e-healthcare.
The Macedonian government however, wanted to take IT use a step further, to enable all citizens to participate in facilitating decisions through "Day for Ideas", initiate public debates, have two-way interaction on the various ministries' web portals and the government web portal itself, as well as via social media through the profiles of elected representatives.
"The progression [to e-democracy] comes after the government decided on a policy to secure every child access to a computer in the primary and secondary schools with which Macedonia became a global leader of number of students per computer ratio," Ivanovski said.
He added that this determination to emphasise IT technology made Macedonia the first country in the world to have Wi-Fi on its entire territory several years ago.
It also created projects like "WiFi in Rural Regions" and secured 680 internet kiosks in such areas throughout Macedonia for free wireless internet services.
The investment has had a big effect on local economic development and closing the digital gap in these regions. The gap is almost non-existent, as there is continual IT training free of charge, and over 54% of households have their own computers," Ivanovski said.
Parliamentary democracy and new media experts fully support the e-democracy concept. They caution however, that e-democracy will turn into real civic participation only if the elected representatives consider citizens' ideas.
"To effectively use the many possibilities e-democracy offers, it is necessary to establish mechanisms that will guarantee the citizensˈ input will be taken into account in the creating and decision-making process. It is necessary to [include] realistic and measurable indicators for the use of such tools," Institute for Parliamentary Democracy Programme Manager Dimitar Spasenovski told SETimes.
Internet communication is a necessary tool for open and transparent work by the MPs but also an opportunity for presentation and auditing of what has been done, according to Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski.
"Consistent communication ensures the necessary flow of mutually useful information about the laws we pass, the application of the adopted laws and the work of the competent authorities," Veljanovski said.
Citizens, particularly those in the private sector, praise e-democracy.
"It is an excellent way for us, entrepreneurs, to state our opinion and criticism, especially in the area of laws related to the business sector," private business owner Jove Brglevski, 40, told SETimes.
Others praise the initiative but are not sure whether the government can identify many if not most useful proposals.
"Will the government be able to systematically recognise and use the suggestions?" asked 57-year-old worker Dragisa Simonovic.
He told SETimes that people are full of original ideas for improving the living standard.
"While the government implemented other democratic tools, it will now provide much greater impetus to save time when bringing these ideas to the right person. They also save time and money by not having paper documents, paper requests and letters as well as time-consuming meetings," he said.
One segment however, the elderly, seems largely adversely affected.
"Even though I do not know how to work on a computer, my view is that this idea is good. My grandson is often in front of the computer and I direct him to leave my responses," Menka Hristovska, 71, told SETimes.
Source: SETimes.com
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