Prizren's municipal government meetings so far remain closed to civil society and journalists, despite public pledges by the local leadership that they will be open to NGOs and the media.

From January 11, 2022, when the appointment of the majority of directors was made, only two invitations to the municipal government meetings were sent to the electronic address of EC Ma Ndryshe, which, however, still took place behind closed doors. Also on the official website of the Municipality of Prizren, announcements for the two meetings of the Municipal Executive, the one on January 12 (https://kk.rks-gov.net/prizren/news/kryetari-z-shaqir-totaj-mbane-mbledhjen-e-pare-me-drejtoret-e-drejtorive-komu?fbclid=IwAR1dg-TLWZgX-xI08X5BcD160151o_fniCvxtLJMpz25BK1pv8zXTYfoHxc_aem_Aag9-lfYXj1ROedQVubONiejTQCOQcKzjvfYCg767pyTUqDdcjg6vz9nq6Q8fqEJkq3ZBGT6GBlNdUWv2Zser1xi)

and January 25 (https://kk.rks-gov.net/prizren/news/kryetari-z-shaqir-totaj-mbane-mbledhje-me-drejtoret-komunal/l?fbclid=IwAR0xsNS8cAH9pgrM9pW9fKotZTtrx_TscTn0WrtQFf_0DvF3_TFdBf63W3w_aem_AajcYLjurxo9bJeazka4DCNkj-HINdvts_UzCK46Bp3dX2J_T1M6kwIaokX6qX3RU9X4i3EZ8Ut8-W0nWyQb5SSa), in which it was emphasized that they had an informative character regarding the work, challenges and internal analyzes that the municipal directors have done after taking office. EC has requested information from the Municipality regarding the number of meetings the mayor has held with the directors within the time period January - April 2022, but has not received an answer.

It should be noted that in the last pre-election campaign, two of the most prominent promises of the current president were radical transparency and accountability to the citizens.

Meanwhile, the practice of closing the meetings of the Executive contradicts the basic principles of transparent governance and also does not comply with the efforts to promote good governance standards, since in the meetings of the mayor and municipal directors, sensitive decisions are made about the management of the municipal budget, which is provided by taxpayers. Moreover, in the last term, the current mayor of the municipality, Mr. Shaqir Totaj, has criticized the former local government for closing the meetings of the municipal executive for civil society and journalists.

For this reason, EC Ma Ndryshe expresses dissatisfaction with the inability of the media, civil society organizations and citizens to participate in the meetings of the mayor of the municipality with the municipal directors. This closure of municipal decision-making is a direct obstacle to the work of these stakeholders, especially the media, which aim to increase public information.

EC Ma Ndryshe calls on the mayor of the municipality of Prizren to open them as soon as possible, enabling the participation of journalists, civil society monitors and citizens. Any delay in the realization of this request is a failure to promote an elementary standard of transparent governance and a violation of the citizens' right to information.