GOPAC Constitutive Meeting Held in the National Assembly: Strong Institutions are the Foundation of the Fight Against Corruption

Belgrade, 9 April 2021 – The Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) in Serbia held a constitutive meeting in the new term of the National Assembly. Dubravka Filipovski MP was re-elected as Chairwoman of the GOPAC Serbia’s Executive Board. Jahja Fehratović MP was elected Deputy President of the EB, and Elvira Kovač MP was elected Secretary of the EB. The members of the newly elected EB addressed the gathering, and then Dubravka Filipovski proposed the Work Plan of the national GOPAC chapter in Serbia for the period 2021-2022.

Constitutive meeting of the GOPAC Serbia chapter in the new parlimaentary term

“A strong parliament and strong institutions are the foundation stone in the fight against corruption. Serbia has recognized the importance of the fight against corruption, we are fighting against it systematically, which means that all institutions in society are participating in that fight”, Filipovski emphasized. “Since its establishment, GOPAC has actively participated in the adoption of a number of anti-corruption laws. We actively participated in the adoption of the Law on Lobbying, the Law on Whistleblowers, the Law on Public Procurement, the Law on the Origin of Property, the Law on Organization and Competences of State Bodies in Combating Organized Crime, Terrorism and Corruption”, Filipovski said.

She mentioned that one of the important contributions of GOPAC was the introduction of the parliamentary Portal for the Public Finance Oversight, and pointed out the successful long-term cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as well as the organization Transparency Serbia. She emphasized that she hopes to continue cooperation with the civil society, through partnership and mutual respect.

In addition to GOPAK members, Ivica Dačić, Speaker of the National Assembly, Vladimir Orlić, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Dragan Sikimić, Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, and Dražen Maravić, UNDP Portfolio Manager in Serbia, attended and addressed the constitutive session.