The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Rodoljub Sabic believes that strict application of and the right attitude towards the relevant provisions on the Financing of Political Parties Act, the participants of the latest parliamentary elections could considerably contribute to the recognition of the freedom to access information as being a strong tool of democratic control and an efficient anti-corruption mechanism.

In this regard, Commissioner Sabic says:

“It is very important that the provisions of the Financing of Political Parties Act, whose aim is to provide the publicity of the information about the financing of the campaign and, if necessary, the possibility to change it, are finally applied in practice.

“In the pre-election campaign all participants were pointing out how important fight against corruption is. The willingness to provide the public with the correct and concrete information about the part of expenses to be covered from the Budget and all other relevant information, including the sources of financing, would be the best way to confirm their anti-corruption commitment.

“In addition to anti-corruption, this approach would be effective on another important level. It is the level of legitimacy of the future government, which should be as high as possible. The first precondition is to take all necessary actions in order to eliminate any doubts that are currently present in the public about the legality of the financing of the campaign. There is no doubt that one of the best ways to eliminate those doubts is to provide the public with as much concrete and relevant information as possible.”