Strength in unity. This was the sentiment that resonated in exchanges between parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) in the Western Balkans during an event hosted in Sarajevo by the National Democratic Institute (NDI).  

From April 17 to 18, 11 PMOs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia gathered in a two-day workshop centered on parliamentary openness, monitoring and building networks. Participating institutions featured a wide range of organizations from the Western Balkans, each with its own focus but with a broader interest in parliamentary oversight. In addition, PMOs from Latin America (Directorio Legislativo), West Africa (Parliamentary Network Africa), Malaysia (Sinar Project) and Greece (Vouliwatch) presented their respective parliamentary monitoring tools, achievements, challenges and lessons learned, including experiences on creating regional networks. The workshop aimed to 1) share a diverse set of experiences on legislative openness and tools, 2) identify approaches to improve monitoring and cross-pollination of methodologies, and 3) explore opportunities to scale up PMO alliances. In doing so, PMOs reaffirmed their interest in continued knowledge exchanges and leveraging qualitative and quantitative tools in support of greater parliamentary openness against common illiberal influence threats across varying political contexts.

The convening transpired amid a series of acute and mounting threats to democracy in the Western Balkans and beyond. Highly sophisticated information manipulation – domestic and foreign, often in coordination – has been weaponized by illiberal actors to undermine and sow distrust in democratic principles. These information operations stoke division, exacerbate political polarization and limit citizens’ access to information that is impartial and factual. The degree of democratic openness among the six countries varies. In some cases, the PMOs collaborate closely and effectively with members of parliament and their staff. In other contexts, ‘closing space’ hinders civic-parliamentary collaboration and cross-party engagement. Further, cases of executive control over the legislature undermine checks and balances, impacting, in particular, the ability of legislators to conduct oversight of the executive branch. 

Against a challenging democratic backdrop, PMOs in the Western Balkans are adapting and innovating to reinforce democratic norms, including citizen participation, openness and transparency, and legislative integrity and independence. These vital elements put protective measures in place to identify and counter possible illiberal influence threats in addition to safeguarding democratic institutions. Examples include a discourse index to monitor the quality of debates in the legislature; a “My Vote” (Vota Ime) platform that captures information on legislators’ engagements and committee hearings; Javna Rasprava, featuring a comprehensive database of legislation and interactive design for citizens to review proposed laws; an Open Parliament Initiative that is rooted in the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness; and transparency through open data standards and usability. Many of the participating PMOs also advocate for transparency and oversight through the Open Government Partnership (OGP) framework. As such, NDI dedicated a session led by OGP’s Regional Lead for Europe to discuss the global Open Parliament agenda, obstacles when engaging legislatures in varying political contexts and potential entry points for PMO coordination with legislatures. Coalition building, domestically and internationally, as a means of more effectively countering shared threats emerged as a major theme of the workshop. 

The workshop was also used to launch a new report by NDI and Directorio Legislativo, Parliamentary Monitoring in Tough Times: Lessons Learned for Building Networks and Achieving Results, that re-examines parliamentary monitoring and networks with national and regional case studies from established PMOs in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The report delves into the evolving landscape of parliamentary monitoring and its impact on building more resilient democracies. 

Citizens are not bound by finite terms of office and serve a permanent, critical role in ensuring that legislators make decisions that are informed by and respond to multi-stakeholder input, not with oral or written words alone, but with actions. Active citizen participation magnifies the lens on parliaments and pressure on legislators to seek the public good, rather than private gain. PMOs are essential in this pursuit and by nurturing ideas, adapting methodologies to evolving threats and working together within and between countries, they can increase prospects for a more accountable, independent and durable legislature.   

Author: DoYun Kim, Program Manager, NDI Democratic Governance Team

NDI's engagement with this program is implemented with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). 

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.