Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against … · 2017. 11. 15. ·...

11/15/2017 Why the Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will -Euromaidan Press |

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Why the Ukrainianparliament voted to changethe election system againstits own will

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Olena Makarenko is a

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Press. In 2014, Olena started

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A session of the Ukrainian Parliament, or the Verkhovna Rada. Photo: 112.ua

2017/11/11 - 03:31 • ANALYSIS & OPINION

Article by: Olena Makarenko

On November 6, the most unexpected vote since the Euromaidan revolution took

place in Verkhovna Rada (Parliament).

It concerns changing the rules of the election legislation. The corresponding bill

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

third week in a row. Their participants, led by ex-Georgian President Mikheil

Saakashvili, are con�dent that the vote took place due to the pressure of the

street: an electoral reform was one out of three initial demands of the protesters.

However, some MPs are now saying that the bill passed the �rst reading by

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

at what the proposed changes can bring.

226 MPs voted for the bill of the Election Code. It was initiated by Andriy Parubiy,

Speaker of the Parliament, Oleksandr Chernenko, an MP from Petro

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

main bene�t 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?

Why there is a need to change the system

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Now Ukrainians choose their Parliament by electing one-half of the 450 MPs

based on the lists of political parties, and the other half in the majority

constituencies. Both components of the current system have their own

drawbacks:

The majority one opens the doors for using “administrative resources,” which

means direct and indirect bribing of voters with the help of state funds. Most

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

urgent renovation of infrastructure (building playgrounds, paving the streets,

painting the walls) just before elections (which might be left un�nished if a

candidate does not win).

Another drawback of the majority component is that it allows candidates

who aren’t supported by the majority of the population but gained only a

slight advantage compared to other candidates, to get into Parliament.

And the proportional system with closed party lists doesn’t promote the

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.

Three and a half years of attempts to turn tothe 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.

In the end, the system was not changed for the early elections of 2014.

After the new Parliament was elected and the coalition was formed, the coalition

agreement signed by the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Narodnyi Front, Batkivshchyna,

Radical Party of Oleg Liashko and Samopomich envisaged changing the

electoral rules. The last three left the coalition, and Petro Poroshenko Bloc and

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Narodniy Front are the least interested in changing the system now. The

parliamentary groups Vidrodzhennia and Volia Narodu (together 46 MPs) are not

interested in proportional system as well, because they consist mostly of

majoritarian MPs who don’t want to be involved in big party projects.

An alternative version of why the Parliamentsupported changing the system

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 con�dent 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:

READ ARTICLE

far it is believed to be themost successful reform inthe country – localcommunities �nallyreceived the power and�nances to deal with localissues themselves.However,...

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http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2017/11/8/7161047/http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/07/decentralization-the-mortal-threat-to-ukraines-entrenched-elites/



“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 reactionThe 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.

The Council of Europe also released its statement with a call to conduct the

reform as soon as possible.

After the �rst reading, the Ukrainian election watchdog Civil Network OPORA

called on the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Parliamentary

Committee on Judicial Policy and Justice to guarantee the preparation of draft

Election Code on the basis of openness and transparency standards, in line with

the regulations, and with consideration of expert suggestions from non-

governmental organizations.

“Taking into consideration that draft Election Codes have not been

discussed in 2014-2015, the MPs should abstain from making any non-

systemic amendments and propositions to the draft Election Code, which

have already been adopted in the �rst reading, without prior discussion

and coordination with deputy factions and groups. Many amendments,

made by MPs individually to the draft Election Code, which are not

discussed or supported by their factions or groups, must not become a

reason for slowing down the law-making process. On the contrary, only a

https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2017/11/9/7073412/https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680764c16https://www.oporaua.org/en/news/45089-only-thorough-discussion-at-the-level-of-committees-and-factions-without-unsystematic-amendments-from-mps-can-guarantee-a-successful-electoral-reform-opora



thorough discussion at the level of competent committee, deputy factions

and groups, can guarantee a successful adoption of the draft Election

Code, and is a sign of systematic amendment of electoral legislation,” says

the statement.

What are the regional listsLet’s take a look at the way how parliamentary elections will take place if the

changes are adopted.

The majoritarian component will be canceled. But the proposed new system

is still not strictly proportional.

According to the Election Code, Ukraine will be divided into 27 counties.

They will correspond to the administrative division of oblasts, with

exceptions made for Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which would have 2

counties. Also, South County will include Kherson Oblast, Crimea, and

Sevastopol.

Perhaps the most important change being made is the introduction of open

lists. At its congress, a party will have to nominate a nationwide list of

candidates. A part of them should be included in the regional election lists

with which a party will run in every county. A regional list should include no

more than 5 candidates.

Voters will receive a bulletin with two columns. In the �rst they should put

the number of the party they vote for. In the second they can but don’t have

to put the number of the candidate from the regional list they support. If a

voter leaves the second column empty, his vote will go just for a party.

Therefore, voters can in�uence the lineup of party candidates on the list.

Previously, Ukrainians voted via closed lists, i.e. voting for a political party

itself and having no in�uence on who actually gets into parliament.

Currently, only parties who are supported by at least 5% of the population

receive a mandate in parliament. This threshold was reduced to 4%.

The drawbacks



In 2007, the pro-Russian Party of Regions of ex-President ViktorYanukovych (pictured) came to power. Photo: obozrevatel.com.

Ukraine is a country with an unstable electoral legislation. During its 26 years of

independence, almost every election had taken place under new rules. A

proportional system but with closed lists was already introduced in Ukraine

during the parliamentary elections in 2006 and early parliamentary elections in

2007.

Then, the usage of the proportional system was described as a step full of

bene�ts, which should have:

Helped opposition parties, which previously were prevented from entering

parliament by the numerous pseudo-independent self-nominated and pro-

governmental candidates in majoritarian counties;

Eliminated corruption at single-mandate constituencies;

Created conditions for the emergence of ideological parties;

Changed elections from the competition of personalities that they were into

a competition of political programs.

In 2007, then President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved the Parliament elected

according to the proportional system in 2006. It led to early elections which also

took place according to the proportional system. In fact these elections showed

the following results:

It bene�ted the party leaders, but did not solve the questions it was called to

solve;

A lot of representatives of the large businesses were included on the party

lists (on a commercial basis), cementing the connection between business

and politics;

MPs were totally dependent from the party leadership – the candidates to

party lists initially were selected by the criteria of loyalty to the leaders;

Representation of different regions was hugely disproportionate.

In 2007, Yanukovych’s Party of Regions gained the majority of votes. Later it

helped Yanukovych to usurp power.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2014/08/19/7034941/http://vgolos.com.ua/articles/pozachergovi_parlamentski_vybory_2007_r_v_ukraini_poperedni_vysnovky_100933.html



This experience shows that the election system alone can’t change the situation.

Other aspects of Ukrainian elections

Graphics: Ganna Naronina

Apart from the election system, another crucial question on the agenda is the

Central Election Commission. Its members continue working, despite the

expiration of their terms.

Before the early Presidential Election in 2014, the Verkhovna Rada passed

several amendments to the law on the Central Election Commission. In the old

version, members of the CEC were to work a term of 7 years. The amended

envisions provides that they stay in of�ce until a new CEC is appointed. Back in

2014, this decision was reasonable because of the urgent need to elect a

president after the upheaval of the Euromaidan revolution and provided legal

security in case the election results would be doubted. However, the old body

continued to work during the Early Parliamentary Elections 2014 and until now.

News on possible changes in the composition of the CEC appear often, however

so far there is no consensus between the president and political parties.

As long as the old CEC is operating, the legitimacy of every election in Ukraine

can be questioned. The EU also emphasized this problem in its statement.

Another problem is the responsibility of the population, which allows politicians

to bribe itself and be manipulated. The people who sell their votes are usually

criticized for being irresponsible and corrupt. However, this is the reality which

Ukraine inherited. Lectures about voters’ responsibility are useless when people

can’t feed themselves or their family. The solution is creating such conditions

where a person will survive without the additional UAH 500 (less than $20). But

so far, Ukrainian politicians are interested in maintaining the current state of

http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1932-15/page2



SHOW COMMENTS

affairs. As well, parties can avoid punishment for violating election legislation,

which doesn’t help.

Last but not least, there is a lack of conditions allowing political forces

independent of oligarchs to enter the political arena. The main reason is that

they can’t compete with the bloated budgets of existing parties. During the last

years, Ukraine made important steps towards transparency of parties’ budgets.

However, it was not enough, as oligarchic money is still an important component

of Ukrainian politics.

So if adopted, the proposed Code will be only the �rst step towards improving the

political situation in the country. Also, the process of its implementation should

be under strict supervision.

Read also: Electing bad leaders in Ukraine: how to break the vicious cycle

#UAreforms

Edited by: Alya Shandra

Tags: elections, electoral reform, political reform, reforms

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