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2016 MONITORING PROJECT OF OPORA: ANALYZING ACTIVITIES OF 105 MAJORITARIAN MPS
OPORA conducts monitoring in 105 electoral constituencies of 24 Ukrainian oblasts and Kyiv city under USAID's Accountability, Responsibility, and Democratic Parliamentary Representation (RADA) Program, supported by the Eastern European Fund.
We analyze activities of 105 MPs, elected in majoritarian districts, every month under the monitoring campaign. For example, we monitor activities of an MP in an election precinct (visits, reception of citizens, speeches on local mass media, participation in activities of local councils and executive bodies) law-making efforts, reports on activities, functioning of his public receptions, personal website or pages etc. We have carefully studied the problems existing in territorial communities included in the analysis, and checked whether MPs aim to resolve them.
We created under the project a network of public consultants in 24 oblasts and Kyiv city, who gather the corresponding information and inform the citizens about results of activities of an MP in the certain district. Besides that, they organize awareness-rising events for communities, urge the citizens and MPs to start a dialog.
We are also planning to publish monthly activeness rating for 105 MPs, based on their activities in the Parliament and in electoral districts, as well as on their availability for the voters and territorial communities. All the monitoring results will be published each month in the section "Ratings" on website RADA.
Monitoring criteria and assessment methodology
Law-making activeness
Attendance at committee meetings [%]: percentage is calculated based on the number of meetings a committee has during the month covered by monitoring, and the number of meetings attended by an MP. n/a means that there were meetings of the committee an MP belongs to during the month. Data from the minutes of committee meetings, answers to monthly inquiries sent to committees by OPORA. Awarding of points: 1 attended meeting = 1 point
Attendance at plenary sittings:
Based on participation in each voting [%]: attendance during all the voting conducted at plenary sittings over the month. Data is taken from the website They Vote for You. Awarding of points: % attendance/10 = number of points. In the formula, presence percentage is divided by the coefficient “10” to preserve the balance of points in relation to other criteria of MPs' attendance (around 10 plenary sittings a month in average and, correspondingly, around 10 points for attendance based on written/electronic registration).
Based on written registration [%]: indicators of the official written registration. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Awarding of points: 1 attended meeting = 1 point
Based on electronic registration [%]: indicators of the official electronic registration. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Awarding of points: 1 attended meeting = 1 point
Number of missed plenary sittings:
Valid reason [number]: indicator is based on the official written registration data. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It means that an MP missed a plenary sitting in the Parliament, but provided illness/business trip certificate to the VRU Apparatus. Awarding of points: 1 sitting missed for a valid reason = 0.5 points.
Unknown reason [number]: indicator is based on the official written registration data. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Resolutions [number]: number of resolutions registered by an MP over the month. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Awarding of points: 1 resolution = 0.2 points/number of initiators.
Draft laws [number]: number of draft laws registered by an MP over the month. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Awarding of points: 1 draft law = 1 points/number of initiators.
Draft laws called to solve problems in a district [number]: number of draft laws, which concern solution of specific problems in a district/oblast of an MP (in contrast to national). Awarding of points: 1 draft law called to solve problems in a district = 1 point
Draft laws called to fulfill electoral promises [number]: number of draft laws based on election program of an MP. Awarding of points: 1 such draft law = 1 point
Inquiries [number]: Number of unique inquiries submitted by an MP over the month. Inquiry concerning one topic but submitted to various authorities and officials counts as 1 inquiry. Data is taken from official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Awarding of points: 1 unique inquiry = 1 points/number of initiators.
Inquiries concerning problems in a district [number]: number of inquiries, which concern problems of specific voters, a group of voters or even the whole district/oblast of an MP (in contrast to national). Awarding of points: 1 such inquiry = 1 point
Speeches [number]: number of speeches given by an MP in the session hall. We didn't count requests to pass the word to other MPs. The data is taken at rada.oporaua.org and official site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (shorthand records of plenary sessions). Awarding of points: 1 speech = 0.2 points
Activeness in the district/oblast
Number of reception offices outside of a district: Number of reception offices outside of a district where an MP was elected. Awarding of points: 1 reception office outside of a district = 1 point. This criterion was used only once in February. However, it will be counted in the final assessment of MPs over the year of monitoring.
Number of reception offices in a district: Number of reception offices in a district where an MP was elected. Awarding of points: 1 reception office in a district = 1 point.
Whether reception offices in a district work: Monthly monitoring of reception offices by OPORA's representatives (visits, phone calls). Awarding of points: 0 points – there is no reception office or it/they doesn't work; 1 point – work but not regularly (for example, answer the calls from time to time); 2 points – work regularly.
Received the citizens personally: How many times an MP received the citizens personally over the month of monitoring. One reception day is counted as 1 reception, but if an MP receives citizens in 2 (3,4,...) settlements, we count as 2 (3,4,...) receptions. Personal reception is counted when it's planned (announced in advance, indicating the place and date of reception, or based on prior appointment), and provides personal, private, and long enough communication of an MP with a citizen concerning the problems. Communication of an MP with citizens on public events is not counted as personal reception, because the voters can't communicate with an MP privately. Observation of an MP, MP's public reception offices, mass media, personal websites/pages in social networks belonging to MPs/parties/local authorities etc. Awarding of points: 1) 1 reception = 1 point
Whether personal reception days are in line with Parliament's schedule: Checking whether personal reception days of MPs are in line with Parliament's scheduleiportal.rada.gov.ua/meeting/awt. Awarding of points: 0 points – an MP didn't receive the voters personally, 1 point – an MP received the voters during the plenary session or committee weeks and none on the days scheduled for constituency activities, weekends, meetings of conciliation boards; 2 points – had at least one reception on the days scheduled for constituency activities, weekends, meetings of Conciliation Boards; 3 points – conducted only on the days scheduled for constituency activities, weekends, and meetings of Conciliation Boards.
Activities in/for a district: Number of visits (number of days) to an MP's district/oblast during the month: participation in public events, meetings of communities, expert discussions, programs on regional (not national) radio and TV channels, meetings with the voters, labor unions, officials and employees of enterprises etc. This category also includes points for activities of MPs outside their districts/oblasts and for international activities (meetings with foreign officials, participation in international events), which are directly related to solution of specific problems in their districts/oblasts or to the voters in their districts/oblasts. Personal reception of citizens, participation in activities of local authorities are not counted in this category. OPORA doesn't monitor activities of charitable foundations belonging to MPs, particularly financial assistance that is provided to the citizens on behalf of an MP.
When an MP has a series of the same-topic meetings/events (for example, negotiations with various officials concerning development of football in an oblast), we group them by topic and give 1 point in this monitoring category. Besides that, we group activities that fall under this category and conducted on the same day, giving 1 point for such grouped activities. Awarding of points: 1 activity in/for a district = 1 point
Participation in activities of local authorities (number): Number of times an MP participated in: 1) meetings of conciliation boards and sittings of local councils (at raion and oblast levels) in an oblast; 2) sittings and working meetings of local executive authorities (raion and oblast state administrations); 3) meetings/negotiations with heads of raion and oblast state administrations, local judges, prosecutors, and state officials. Participation of assistants to MPs wasn't counted. Awarding of points: 1 participation = 1 point
Reports on the work done: Dissemination of information about activities of an MP during the month of monitoring. We counted written (in a newspaper, leaflet, printed or online material) or oral (television, press-conference, meeting with the voters) report for the certain period of work as a complete report. As a partial report, we counted speeches of an MP during a visit to a district, which covered results of his/her work including law-making or other meaningful (international communications, constituency activities, cooperation with local authorities etc.), information in open access, in the media, on personal website/ pages of an MP in a social network. At the same time, we didn't count MPs speeches concerning his/her attitude to any political issues or situations. Awarding of points: 0 points – didn't report, 1 point – reported partially, 2 points – fully reported for the period of work (orally or in written). If an MP reported on a public event in a district/oblast, we gave points for both reporting and constituency activities.
Constituency activeness of MPs : A table of data set covering activeness of all 105 MPs monitored under the project. Events in the table, participated by MPs personally, may be sorted by: date, name, content and category of an event (visit to a district/oblast, reporting, personal reception of citizens, participation in activities of local councils and executive bodies, international activities, related to solution of specific problems of a district/oblast of an MP, local broadcasting/interview/press-conference etc.).
Rating and assessment of an MP
OPORA gives monthly assessment to MPs based on these 19 criteria, which are summarized and make two scores in two categories – law-making and constituency activities. These points make up two scores of MPs on a 100-point scale, based on the best monthly results in each category (thus, an MP with the best result in the corresponding category receives 100 score).
The final score of an MP comprises 70% points for law-making and 30% points for constituency activities because the VRU Apparatus establishes the following proportion of activities: 2/3 – law-making (plenary sessions, work in committees) and 1/3 – voter engagement. The final score is calculated by the formula: Total score=law-making score*0.7+constituency score*0.3
Thus, OPORA creates three types of monthly ratings for 105 MPs based on the received results: based on law-making activeness, constituency activities and totaled score.
Where are monitoring results published?
Monthly ratings of 105 MPs, monitored by OPORA under the project, are published in the section “Ratings” of the RADA website. Besides that, monthly points, scores and places in ratings are displayed in profiles of each 105 MP.
Should an MP having 100 score in the rating be an example?
OPORA's ratings give monthly winners in three nominations – law-making activeness, constituency activities and totaled score. Our monthly ratings show who worked the hardest on the certain month. Is such leading MP an example for others? We will make such conclusion only in the end of 2016 based on the data for all months of the monitoring.
What will happen on the final stage of the monitoring?
In late November 2016, OPORA will summarize the project results and create a rating of 105 MPs based on their activeness results during the whole monitoring period.
Read about duties of MPs in constituencies and ways of communication with them in our material You and your MP: principles of collaboration”.
Reference: In 2015, OPORA had already realized a similar pilot project, which monitoring covered constituency activities of 36 MPs. This year, a comprehensive observation covered 105 electoral districts in 24 oblasts of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv and, respectively, 105 MPs elected in majoritarian districts. 105 MPs were selected for monitoring purposes based on proportional representation of all parliamentary parties, gender representation, and previous activities in their districts.