Stefanchuk proposes changes to deprive MPs of their powers
29 July 2024 16:23
In an interview with Ukrainski Novyny, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the parliament should have an institute for recalling MPs and there should be more grounds for depriving MPs of their powers, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The institution of recalling MPs would allow the people who elected them to recall them back, Stefanchuk explained.
“I think that in the context of democracy, we should also think about the institute of recalling an MP. This is an absolutely normal practice that exists in many countries of the world,”
– said the Speaker of the Rada.
According to him, discussions are also underway about the “mandatory mandate”. Stefanchuk said this would allow him to influence an MP who will be elected to the Rada in the potential next election on the list of a party and start “pursuing his own policy”.
“This is a matter of discussion, because, on the one hand, we don’t want to turn this into a joint-stock company where a person with 40% of the votes can simply sit and suppress the deputy’s initiative. On the other hand, the party structure of society is also very important for future processes,” he says.
The parliamentary chairman says that he recommends expanding the list of grounds for depriving an MP of his or her powers, including absenteeism and button-pressing.
“One of them, in particular, is absenteeism. That is, if you are absent from work and do not fulfil your duties, this is a reason for you to be deprived of your powers. The second reason is button-pressing. Can this list of cases be expanded? Of course, it can,” the Speaker of the Rada explained.
Stefanchuk noted that the list of grounds for deprivation of mandates is spelled out in the Constitution, but it cannot be changed during the war.
“Everyone should understand that we cannot change the Constitution during martial law. Only the Constitution provides for seven cases in which MPs can be deprived of their powers. And all those deprivations of powers that took place in general, despite all the hype in society, we tried to carry out exclusively in accordance with these very clauses of the Constitution,” Stefanchuk said.
He stressed that this was done to ensure that none of those who were deprived of their parliamentary powers had the slightest legal chance to refute this in court.
“And even so, the former MP, but now a traitor, Medvedchuk is suing the Verkhovna Rada today, claiming that he was illegally deprived of his parliamentary mandate. But as a lawyer… I am absolutely calm about the prospects of this court case,” the Speaker of the Parliament said.
It is worth noting that the Servant of the People party won a record 254 MPs in the early elections – 124 from the list and 130 from the majority.
Over the almost five years of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation, the Servant of the People party has significantly changed its composition of MPs.
In July, the Servant of the People party lost a number of MPs: MP Yulia Yatsyk left the parliamentary faction. Recently, MP Mariana Bezuhla left the Servant of the People faction. She, like Yulia Yatsyk, does not lose her mandate when she leaves the faction, as they were elected to the Verkhovna Rada in a majority constituency. The coalition now officially has 233 MPs.
