On 7 June 2021, one of the key phases for the organisation of the Citizens’ Assembly in Mostar which will be held in July this year, has started. With the support of a public opinion research agency, 5000 letters were distributed to randomly selected households with a residence in Mostar, proportionaly to the number of citizens by city area, according to the 2013 census. The letters consisted of a questionnaire in two parts, one concerning the final selection of a topic for the Mostar Citizens’ Assembly, and the other related to the participation in the Assembly itself.
From the three previously defined topics: cleanliness of the city, cleaning and maintenance of public space, creating new jobs and tackling unemployment and support for youth employment and assistance in starting own business, citizens of Mostar who received the letter could vote for the topic of the Assembly. A maximum of two persons per household over the age of sixteen could apply to participate in the Citizens’ Assembly as well as vote for their preferred topic. The answer to the questionnaire could have been submitted via an online form, telephone (viber), and via a ballot box in the City Council. In addition, the interviewers who distributed the letters conducted an informative survey with a number of citizens who received the letters, during which they presented them the entire process.
During the registration period which lasted until 20 June, 250 citizens of Mostar registered to participate in the Assembly.The topic that will be discussed during the Citizens’ Assembly is the cleanliness of the city, cleaning and maintenance of public space, which received 97 votes. A detailed overview of applications by criteria, as well as the results of the topic selection, are available at this link, in local language: https://mostargradimo.ba/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Izvjestaj-o-registraciji-za-Skupstinu-gradana.xlsx.
The next step is the selection of 48 citizens of Mostar, which is going to be organised in the upcoming days.