Political will as a precondition for effective parliamentary oversight of the Republic of Macedonia’s security sector

• Main Authors: Sevilj Muaremoska Abduli, Naser Etemi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje 2017-12-01
• Series: Bezbednosni Dijalozi
• Subjects: political will; parliament; parliamentary control; security sector
• Online Access: http://periodica.fzf.ukim.edu.mk/sd/SD%2008.2%20(2017)/SD%2008.2.07%20Muaremovska,%20S.%20&%20Etemi,%20N.%20-%20Political%20will%20as%20a%20precondition%20for%20effective.pdf
• ISSN: 1857-7172; 1857-8055

The political will is an essential prerequisite for achieving effective parliamentary control. The importance of this requirement is especially emphasized in the countries with fragile democracies where the members of the parliamentary majority refer to as “party soldiers” to the interests of the mother party which is put before the social interests of the state and thus intellectually do not penetrate deep into the core of specific questions to control if they do not concern their political party. There are several factors that influence the (non) existence of political will of lawmakers to perform effective oversight of the security sector. The problem of (non) existence of the political will of lawmakers is closely connected to the (non) existence of the authority of parliament as an institution, also the (non) existence of the personal integrity of parliamentarians, and the degree of democracy and professionalism of deputies, especially with the political priorities which are put ahead by deputies and so on. This paper will elaborate in detail the importance of the political will to implement effective parliamentary control of the security sector. At the same time, we will try to propose a way to minimize partisanship, politicization, and the abuse in the functioning and implementation of mechanisms of parliamentary control of the security sector in a the way that political will is a prerequisite for more effective parliamentary control, not a factor in the tactics and defocus of the control function of the parliament because of various political interests.