Skopje, 11 November 2022 (MIA) – The citizens’ perception of the work done by Parliament is generally not positive, trust is low and greater transparency is needed, said MPs Rashela Mizrahi and Sanela Shkrijelj at Friday’s final event of the “Parliament for the Citizens” caravan which visited 12 cities in the country. “Parliament is an institution of the people and for the people and as MPs we are aware that we should improve our work to that end, in order to deliver better policies and measures for the citizens. However, we would like to send a message to the citizens that Parliament is an open institution and that they can contact us at any moment, schedule a meeting and meet any of us to discuss all of the current issues,” said SDSM MP, Sanela Shkrijelj. According to her, there is room for improvement when it comes to the transparency of Parliament. “There is room for improvement of the transparency regarding the work done by Parliament. As MPs we should always put the interests of the citizens first, so there is room for us to improve our work as well, because the citizens pay us to work for them,” said Shkrijelj. VMRO-DPMNE’s MP Mizrahi said that Parliament has a relatively low rating when it comes to the citizens’ trust. “Parliament has a relatively low rating, according to certain polls it is the institution that the citizens trust the least. We should all work to improve that perception – so that Parliament is not perceived as a home of the political parties, but for it to be a home of the citizens which solves the issues of the citizens. Transparency is the number one factor,” said Mizrahi. She said that regarding the rhetoric used in Parliament, answers should be made more understandable for the citizens. “In order for us to have such discussions, the ministries that submit laws should explain the laws in ways that are acceptable and understandable for all of us,” said Mizrahi. Regarding youth participating in the creation of policies, the assessment is that Parliament is becoming more open and more transparent. “We often tend to criticize the youth for not being sufficiently active in society, however the institutions are obliged to create an environment that will stimulate the youth to participate,” said Shkrijelj. The final event in Skopje marked the end of the caravan. Activities began in Shtip, on October 25, and then continued in Kavadarci, Gevgelija, Strumica, Radovish, Kochani, Veles, Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid, Debar and Gostivar. The “Parliament for the Citizens” campaign is being implemented as part of the “Parliamentary Support Program”, a 10-year project supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the Swiss Embassy in North Macedonia. The “Parliamentary Support Program” is being implemented by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS) and the Center for Change Management (CUP). ad/nn/