Open Government Partnership Operational Team’s IV session: Consultations in April, Action Plan drafting by the end of May

Open Government Partnership (OGP) Operational Team decided on its IV session held on 18 March 2014 to prepare a draft version of the II Action Plan by the end of March, on the basis of the inputs of Team members, in order to be able to hold a series of public consultation meetings throughout April with various stakeholders such as the academic community, employers, media, etc. The session defined technical details related to the exchange of information and ideas. The Team has adopted a schedule of future activities, according to which the process of public consultations should be completed by the end of April, in order to finish the process of drafting the II Action Plan by the end of May, which the Government would then proceed to adopt by the end of June.

In relation to preparing the II Action Plan, several priority measures and activities were identified by Team members from the Government and the non-governmental sector, most of which are related to public administration transparency and general respect for regulations.

The Team’s Coordinator and members tasked with official communication with the OGP Secretariat informed the Operational Team of the hitherto exchange with the Secretariat. A special emphasis was put on the fact that the OGP Secretariat has on several occasions welcomed the efficient approach by the Operational Team and that it put itself at the Team’s disposal for any assistance that might be required during the drafting of the II Action Plan and in Team’s other activities.

The Operational Team was informed of the written communication by the Team member appointed by NGO UPIS, Prof Dr Blagota Mitrić, submitted on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 late in the afternoon to the Team’s Coordinator. In his letter, Prof Mitrić stated that he no longer wished to participate in the Operational Team’s work, citing as reasons for leaving the statements by Team member appointed by NGO Mans, Vuk Maraš, which he took as offensive, and the failure of Team’s Coordinator to respond to them in the way he had expected.

The Operational Team’s Coordinator stated that the written communication by Prof Mitrić, which was sent via e-mail, failed to meet the required form for a letter of resignation, noting that it therefore may not be formally treated by the Operational Team as a resignation from the Team. In that regard, the presence of Marko Piletić, representative of NGO UPIS, at the IV meeting of the Team was treated as replacement, according to the rules of procedure guiding the Team’s work. Two NGO Team members stated they were against treating Mr Piletić in that capacity, voicing their opinion that the written communication by Prof Mitrić should be treated as his resignation. Two NGO Team members were undecided on the matter.

The Operational Team discussed the written submissions by NGO MANS and NGO UPIS addressed to the Team’s Coordinator and members on the relations and mutual perceptions of the two organisations. The Operational Team dismissed both organisations’ requests, with the Coordinator’s explanation that the requests went beyond the mandate and main tasks of the Operational Team. The Coordinator noted that the Team has lost valuable time dealing with the two organisations’ relations, which are not directly related with the Team’s work, and in that regard he warned that the disputes on the relations of individual Team members are from this meeting onward considered as finished and that at future sessions he would not allow straying from the Team’s main task – drafting the II Action Plan in accordance with OGP principles.