Local elections in Serbia
September 2004

Pro-electoral Campaign

Information - media - GOTV

The number of electoral abstinents in Serbia is constantly increasing. Main reasons for political passiveness are lack of trust in politicians, disappointment with so far achieved results of democratic governments; orientation to economic issues solely, difficult consequences of political and economic transition in Serbia .

Local elections became the crucial issue in the political life of Serbia , with a potential to further strengthen or maybe slightly annulate results of the presidential elections, depending on the winner.

Mobilization of civil society around local elections could help considerably to its consolidation and visibility. According to the study of the Center for Political Alternatives "Aspirations of the Citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, 2004", publicly promoted on May 26, and supported by UNDP and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, NGOs have higher rating than political parties in the public perception.

EMinS GOTV campaign for local elections goals could be summarized as follows:

•  To involve as many citizens possible in the political process, to raise level of citizens' participation and give them the opportunity to acquaint with candidates and political parties programmes which will influence their future;

•  To promote the principle of subsidiarity, democratic values and European standards in the electoral process;

•  To evaluate new Law on local self-government and promote its eventual advantages, real impact of new Law on interdependence of different political subjects;

The campaign of EMinS will be performed in the following 30 municipalities where our Local Councils operate: Čukarica, Čačak, Pančevo, Vršac, Kikinda, Požarevac, Paraćin, Vrbas, Velika Plana, Kruševac, Užice, Majdanpek, Lazarevac, Zaječar, Zrenjnanin, Ivanjica, Kragujevac, Kovin, Bor, Valjevo, Jagodina, Niš, Novi Sad , Novi Pazar, Požega, Sremska Mitrovica, Sombor, Subotica , Smederevo and Bajina Bašta .

Activities performed during project implementation will be:

•  Media- Informative campaign

•  Consultative meetings

•  Meeting with political parties' representatives

•  Meeting with the candidates for mayors

•  GOTV campaign