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Why the Ukrainian Parliament Voted to Change the Election System Against Its Own Will -Euromaidan Press | 11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press | EuroMaidan Russia Putin Crimea Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will About the Source OLENA MAKARENKO Olena Makarenko is a journalist at Euromaidan Press. In 2014, Olena started working as a volunteer on http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/11/why-the-ukrainian-parliament-voted-to-change-the-election-system-against-its-own-will/ 1/13 11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press | A session of the Ukrainian Parliament, or the Verkhovna Rada. Photo: 112.ua public initiatives focusing on building civil society and 2017/11/11 - 03:31 • ANALYSIS & OPINION promoting dialog between Like 82 Share people from different regions of Ukraine. Article by: Olena Makarenko On November 6, the most unexpected vote since the Euromaidan revolution took place in Verkhovna Rada (Parliament). » Analysis & Opinion » Why the Ukrainian parliament It concerns changing the rules of the election legislation. The corresponding bill voted to... was passed in the rst reading. The successful vote was unexpected because the majority of the MPs from the current Parliament is not interested in changing the existing rules. Outside the parliament, protests have been ongoing for the Previous post: third week in a row. Their participants, led by ex-Georgian President Mikheil NGOs worldwide call upon Saakashvili, are condent that the vote took place due to the pressure of the Ukrainian authorities to stop street: an electoral reform was one out of three initial demands of the protesters. persecuting anti-corruption However, some MPs are now saying that the bill passed the rst reading by activists mistake and that it probably will not be adopted in the second reading, which is planned in two weeks – unless the pressure of society and Ukraine’s international partners will persuade the MP’s to do the opposite. Let’s take a look Next Post: at what the proposed changes can bring. US, EU actions on Russia a remake of what brought the 226 MPs voted for the bill of the Election Code. It was initiated by Andriy Parubiy, much stronger USSR to its Speaker of the Parliament, Oleksandr Chernenko, an MP from Petro end, Yakovenko says Poroshenko’s Bloc, and Leonid Emets, a Narodnyi Front MP. The Code which might start the election reform had been registered already in 2015. It consists of almost 450 pages and the main change it makes is moving from the current mixed voting system during Parliamentary elections to the proportional one. The Related Posts main benet of this is believed to be reducing the chances of voters being bribed in single-mandate constituencies. But is the new system a panacea for changing the political situation in Ukraine in general? Civic Decentralizat watchdog in the mortal Why there is a need to change the system Ukraine: we threat to were used Ukraine’s to... entrenched What Why the Ukraine can populist learn from demonstratio Estonia’s in Kyiv will healthcare not... http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/11/why-the-ukrainian-parliament-voted-to-change-the-election-system-against-its-own-will/ 2/13 11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press | “This buckwheat will cost you a lot” SUBSCRIBE TO THE Now Ukrainians choose their Parliament by electing one-half of the 450 MPs WEEKLY NEWSLETTER based on the lists of political parties, and the other half in the majority Email address: Your email add constituencies. Both components of the current system have their own drawbacks: News and analysis highlights The majority one opens the doors for using “administrative resources,” which LetMyPeopleGo means direct and indirect bribing of voters with the help of state funds. Most Friends of Ukraine Network often, this bribing includes giving money or event the infamous practice of giving out packages of food products such as buckwheat to voters and the Sign up urgent renovation of infrastructure (building playgrounds, paving the streets, painting the walls) just before elections (which might be left unnished if a candidate does not win). EUROMAIDAN PRESS Another drawback of the majority component is that it allows candidates SURVEY who aren’t supported by the majority of the population but gained only a slight advantage compared to other candidates, to get into Parliament. Help us get better! Take the And the proportional system with closed party lists doesn’t promote the Euromaidan Press survey renewal of the political elites either. Discussions on changing the system had been taking place in Ukraine for a long time and were activated after the Euromaidan Revolution, after the dictator president Viktor Yanukovych ran away from the country in February 2014. Petro Poroshenko was elected as a new president and it became clear that there will be early parliamentary elections, which took place on 26 October 2014. FEATURED HOME NEWS ANALYSIS & OPINION UKRAINE CRIMEA ABOUT US Three and a half years of attempts to turn to ⤭ ☍ + SEARCH the proportional system Attempts to change the system a few months before the 2014 early elections had failed. First, because many preparations were necessary, and without the proper amount of time, to carry them out, chaos would be unavoidable. Also, there was a need to educate voters and explain to them how to vote in terms of the more complicated proportional system. Second, at that time, the ruling politicians were also not interested in changes. Knowing that the changes would not be adopted anyway, they resorted to populism and made a show of demonstrating their will and efforts to implement the changes, which were a demand of civil society. Decentralization: In the end, the system was not changed for the early elections of 2014. the mortal threat to Ukraine’s After the new Parliament was elected and the coalition was formed, the coalition entrenched elites agreement signed by the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Narodnyi Front, Batkivshchyna, Radical Party of Oleg Liashko and Samopomich envisaged changing the In April 2014, Ukraine electoral rules. The last three left the coalition, and Petro Poroshenko Bloc and launched its decentralization reform. So http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/11/why-the-ukrainian-parliament-voted-to-change-the-election-system-against-its-own-will/ 3/13 11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press | Narodniy Front are the least interested in changing the system now. The far it is believed to be the parliamentary groups Vidrodzhennia and Volia Narodu (together 46 MPs) are not most successful reform in interested in proportional system as well, because they consist mostly of the country – local majoritarian MPs who don’t want to be involved in big party projects. communities nally received the power and nances to deal with local issues themselves. However,... An alternative version of why the Parliament READ ARTICLE supported changing the system ADVERTISEMENT The Speaker of Parliament Andriy Parubiy. Photo: perspectivatv.com Despite the fact that the protesters wrote down the vote for the Election Code on the list of their victories, some MPs are condent that the parliament supported the bill by mistake. Ukrayinska Pravda, referring to its own sources of the inner circle of the Speaker Parubiy, wrote that a few weeks ago he tried to persuade President Poroshenko that the proposed proportional system is very similar to the existing majoritarian one and called to support it. But the president was still against any changes. However, the voting for the Code, according to the media, is not a sign that the president nally agreed, but just a coincidence. They suppose that the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and Narodnyi Front voted in support of the Code, expecting that it wouldn’t pass anyway and they would come out as heroes, while the Volia Narodu, Vidrodzhennia, and Opposition Bloc [the successor of the disgraced president Viktor Yanukovych Party of Regions] voted against the law: http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/11/why-the-ukrainian-parliament-voted-to-change-the-election-system-against-its-own-will/ 4/13 11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press | “Then they [Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc and Narodniy Front] would be able to say ‘See, we voted and tried to implement changes, but they [other abovementioned political forces] prevented us’,” Ukrainska Pravda quotes the explanation of an MP from Narodnyi Front. Co-chairman of the Opposition Bloc and oligarch Vadym Novynskyi, in his turn, said that his political force voted “for any proportional system which will not allow using administrative resources in constituencies.” However, the media writes that the key three votes came from majoritarian MPs who, according to the groups they belong to, voted by mistake. Therefore, it is extremely likely that the Code will not be adopted in the second reading. But there is one condition which might change the situation – the attention of society and Ukraine’s western partners. The reaction The voting caused a lively response in Ukraine – despite the discussions, the election issue seemed frozen for a long period. The adoption of the Code in the rst reading was already welcomed by the EU. The Delegation of the EU to Ukraine reminded that the election reform is a key element of the agenda of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and expressed expectation that the work on the Election Code will be nished by the end of 2017, because it is crucial to nalize the changes long before the next elections which planned for 2019.
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