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Activeness and responsibility of parliamentary members: the first VRU session

On January 11, 2013, the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of VII convocation came to an end. Six plenary meetings were conducted during the session, and now we may assess the first results of parliamentary activities. According to the effective legislation, members of parliament are empowered to represent interests of Ukrainian people. However, exercising such duties without informing voters about their activities in the legislative body is impossible. Therefore, the Civil Network OPORA will systematically publish surveys of different activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the year 2013.

Parliamentary attendance on plenary meetings

People's deputies of Ukraine have a direct duty provided by the Ukraine's Constitution and laws, which is to attend meetings of the Verkhovna Rada. Ignorance of plenary meetings testifies to deputies' irresponsible attitude towards performance of their duties and undermines legal principles of parliamentary law. The absence of some members of the parliament on plenary meetings leads to non-personal voting during consideration of agenda issues. And non-personal voting is a gross violation of the Constitution of Ukraine. On the contrary, dutiful attendance of deputies on plenary meetings is a guarantee of lawful and legitimate decisions taken by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

According to OPORA's calculations, members of the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda faction were the most disciplined during parliament's first session. They have 99% attendance on plenary meetings. The UDAR and CPU factions have also demonstrated a high level of attendance – 96%. Members of the Party of Regions and the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland ("Batkivshchyna") turned out to be less responsible. They have 88% and 87% attendance respectively. Non-faction deputies are leading in the number of absences with 84% attendance.

The first place in the individual rating of shirkers is taken by a member of the Party of Regions Yurii Ivashchenko. He has missed83% of plenary meetings. Five deputies (one from the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland faction, three from the Party of Regions and one non-faction deputy) have missed the biggest part (67%) of sittings in the Verkhovna Rada. They are: Ihor Skosar, Artem Shcherban, Pavlo Baloha, Oleksandr Volkov, and Andrii Tabalov. 15 other members of parliament missed half of plenary meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Parliamentary inquiries prepared by Ukrainian MPs

Parliamentary inquiry is a key control method available to members of parliament. MPs may receive tthrough inquiries socially important information, attract officials' attention on urgent problems of citizens, or initiate investigation of abuses and violations. Actively submitted inquiries show that deputies are interested in keeping permanent connection with the voters, as well as defending their legal rights and interests.

MPs of Ukraine have submitted 73 parliamentary inquiries during the first session of the parliament of the seventh convocation. The biggest number of them were submitted by the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda faction members (24 inquiries) and the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland (18 inquiries). The CPU faction members – 11, the Party of Regions – 9, the UDAR party – 7. Non-faction deputies have prepared 4 parliamentary inquiries. Parliamentary inquiries, as an available mechanism for parliamentary control, are actively used by opposition factions.

73 inquiries of 29, prepared by Ukraine's parliamentary members, covered matters pertaining to protecting interests of citizens and communities. In 26 inquiries, deputies initiated investigations on illegal activities, violations, and abuses of power by officials. Infrastructural issues in election districts are on the third place by significance according to the number of inquiries submitted by MPs – 14. 4 inquiries concern to political problems and legislation. At the same time, majoritarian deputies nominated by the Party of Regions actively initiated infrastructural projects in single-member districts where they were chosen.

MPs of Ukraine of the seventh convocation addressed most of their inquiries to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, ministries, and other central executive bodies (59 addressees, including 29 inquiries addressed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov). 28 inquiries are addressed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka and public prosecution departments. Local state administrations and local governments are addressees of 5 parliamentary inquiries. During the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, one inquiry was addressed to the President of Ukraine, but it wasn't supported by the deputy corps. It is connected to a special procedure of addressing inquiries to the President of Ukraine, which provides that the inquiry shall be supported by the majority of parliamentarians. Taking into consideration the complement of pro-power majority, inquiries addressed to Viktor Yanukovych are unlikely to become common practice. 

FULL VERSION OF THE RESEARCH

1. VRU Deputies' attendance on plenary meetings during the first session of the VII convocation

The most disciplined during first two working months of newly-elected Verkhovna Rada turned out to be the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda faction members, which were present on 99% of plenary meetings. The UDAR and the CPU factions have a little smaller, but equal attendance – 96%. The Party of Regions and the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland have 88% and 87% attendance respectively. Non-faction deputies are the least disciplined – they have 84% attendance.

Table 1. Attendance of deputy factions on parliamentary plenary meetings (%)

Table 2. Number of absent deputies on plenary meetings

First places in the list of parliamentary shirkers, compiled by the results of the first session of newly-elected parliament, are taken by member of the Party of Regions Yurii Ivashchenko and the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland faction member Leonid Yemets. They both have missed 83% of plenary meetings of the parliament. Five deputies (one from the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland faction, three from the Party of Regions and one non-faction deputy) have missed the biggest part (67%) of sittings in the Verkhovna Rada. They are: Ihor Skosar, Artem Shcherban, Pavlo Baloha, Oleksandr Volkov, and Andrii Tabalov. 15 other members of parliament missed half of plenary meetings of the Verkhovna Rada.

Table 3. Greatest shirkers of the Verkhovna Rada of the seventh convocation

Evaluation methods

To analyze the attendance of MPs during plenary meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, we used information on written registration of deputies, published on the VRU website (http://iportal.rada.gov.ua/). According to the Article 26 (1) of the Law of Ukraine "On the rules of procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", members of parliament shall be registered in person by demonstration of a personal parliamentary ID card and confirm their presence with their personal signatures. A national deputy‘s salary for participation in plenary meetings shall be calculated based on written data register (The rules of procedure of the VRU, Article 26 (4)).

Registration data gathered through the use of electronic devices in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada was not taken into consideration because ID cards of absent MPs were used for voting (registration) by the other MPs.

When determining the major shirkers, we took into consideration the information on the presence/absence of floor speeches given by a deputy in the parliamentary session hall. In case there is an official note that the member of parliament gave a floor speech on parliamentary meeting, but wasn't registered before the meeting – he is considered to be present.

2. Parliamentary inquiries: quantitative and qualitative analysis

According to the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of National Deputies". submitting inquiries to the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, other state and local governments, enterprises of any ownership, is a key right of the deputy of Ukraine. The parliamentary inquiry is a request of a deputy or a group of deputies of Ukraine, submitted to a governmental body, enterprise or institution, to give an official answer on issues within the scope of their competence. During the fifteen day period, governmental bodies or other organizations shall inform the MP of Ukraine about results of consideration of issues which were covered by his inquiry. Upon request of not less than one-fifth of the total composition of deputy corps, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine may organize the discussion and take a corresponding decision after the governmental body or the organization provides an answer on the inquiry. Thus, parliamentary inquiry is a key control method available to members of parliament.

The analysis of inquiries, forwarded during the first session of the VRU of VII convocation

According to the Law of Ukraine "On the rules of procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", 30 minutes shall be reserved every Friday for the announcement of parliamentary inquiries and taking decisions on their support. Inquiries to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, other state and local governments, establishments and enterprises, are announced on a plenary meeting, but do not require a separate decision of the parliament[1]. There is a separate procedure to forward a deputy inquiry to the President of Ukraine. The inquiry shall be supported by no fewer than one third of the elected parliamentary assembly (150 deputies). Whereupon, the majority of the national deputies shall support forwarding the inquiry to the President of Ukraine (226 deputies).

On a plenary meeting held on January 11, 2012, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine announced 73 parliamentary inquiries, one of them – to the President of Ukraine (see the full list of inquiries in table 4) the inquiry of the MP of Ukraine Mykola Katerynchuk to the President of Ukraine on the status of accomplishment of the Law of Ukraine "On Nationwide Program for Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to the European Union Legislation" wasn't supported by the deputy corps. Only 158 deputies supported this inquiry to be forwarded to V. Yanukovych, and the minimal number of votes – is 226. All the other inquiries didn't require a special voting and were forwarded to different governmental bodies after the announcement.

Number of parliamentary inquiries

Table 4. Inquiries submitted by different deputy factions (plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine 1/11/2012)

The biggest number of inquiries was announced from the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda and All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland factions. Most of them are from deputies, elected in single-member districts. All nine inquiries from the Party of Regions factions were submitted by majoritarian deputies. 4 announced inquiries were submitted by non-faction deputies (2 from V.Lytvyn and 2 from O.Liashko).

Subjects of parliamentary inquiries

Table 5. Thematic division of parliamentary inquiries

Parliamentary inquiries mostly concerned with issues related to protecting interests of citizens and labor groups. In particular, problems with paying wages, closing enterprises and budget institutions, observance of human rights etc. MPs also actively initiated investigations into activities and violations of state officials and submitted them to law enforcement agencies. Some parliamentary members began to attract budget resources in order to solve infrastructure problems in their election districts.

Division of parliamentary inquiries by addressees

Most addressees of parliamentary inquiries were the Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, central executive bodies (59 addressees, including 29 to the Chairman of Ukrainian Government Mykola Azarov). The second demanded person is the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, a recipient of 28 parliamentary inquiries. The other institutions and officials received considerably less inquiries. Only one inquiry was submitted to the President of Ukraine, but it wasn't supported by the deputy corps.

Table 6. Addressees of parliamentary inquiries (all addressees in every inquiry are included)

Short review of parliamentary inquiries (divided by factions)

The Party of Regions faction members

Parliamentary inquiries of the Party of Regions faction members concern with attracting resources to solve local infrastructure problems, some of them – paying off salaries on a state enterprise and investigation into unlawful activities of officials in communal enterprises (see table 7).

The All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland faction members

Inquiries of the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland faction members mostly concern with investigations into illegal activities of state officials. In particular, the MP of Ukraine S. Vlasenko has addressed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine an issue concerning possible involvement of the Minister of Justice of Ukraine O. Lavrynovych in corrupt activities connected to the conclusion of a contract with the Scadden company (USA). Vlasenko has addressed to law enforcement agencies an inquiry concerning the systematical violation of basic human rights in relation to Yuliia Tymoshenko. The MP of Ukraine Volodymyr Ariev has addressed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on the issue of bringing state officials, which have allowed illegal gambling establishments, to the account. At the same time, A. Pavlovskyi in his inquiry to the Office of the Prosecutor General has initiated the investigation into electoral violations committed by the district election commission in single-mandate election district #11 (Vinnytsia oblast).

The All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland party members have raised issue of protecting interests of citizens and labor groups. In particular, the MP I. Kupreichuk stressed the urgency of industrial safety in coal mines of Dzerzhinsk city (Donetsk oblast). MPs V. Boiko, M. Apostol, V. Derevlianyi addressed an inquiry to the Prime Minister of Ukraine concerning fully financed salaries for state employees of Ternopil oblast (see Table 7).

The UDAR faction members

The UDAR faction members have focused on protecting the interests of citizens and investigating violations and abuses (see Table 7). For example, the MP R. Solvar has addressed an inquiry to the Minister of Finance of Ukraine concerning an unpaid annual cash award for teachers of a school in Fastiv rayon of Kyiv region in 2012. V. Klychko and I. Herashchenko have addressed an inquiry to the Prosecutor General concerning the reversal of a decision of Kyiv City Council on a transference of a land on which the building of Hostynnyi Dvir (Kyiv) stands to the UKRRESTAVRATSIIA Corporation. The MP S. Kaplin has appealed to the public prosecution concerning the prevention of raider takeover of the IDA Group Ukraine (mineral water manufacturer).

The All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda faction members

MPs of the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda are mostly initiating investigations and raise issues of protecting the interests of citizens. For example, A. Illienko has appealed to the Office of the Prosecutor General concerning inaction of law enforcement agencies in attempts to misappropriate accommodation of Hanna Moskalenko (this situation has became widely known[3]). The leader of the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda Oleh Tiahnybok has focused on the problems of Zhytomyr Regional Pedagogical Lyceum. The MP I. Sabii has addressed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine concerning preventing closure of Khmelnitskiy Stiomi-Holding bread-baking complex, and dismissal of its employees. MPs I. Miroshnychenko and A. Mokhnyk have addressed an inquiry to the Head of Security Service of Ukraine concerning MPs of Ukraine of VII convocation which possess the citizenship of other countries. Besides that, A. Mokhnyk has appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine concerning an objective investigation of election fraud in single-mandate election district #223, Kyiv city (see Table 7).

The CPU faction members

The CPU faction members have addressed inquiries related to protecting interests of citizens and labor groups. In Particular, I. Spirin have addressed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine concerning worsened working conditions of directors at municipal medical institutions in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, which participates in a pilot project for healthcare system reform. The MP O. Prysiazhniuk has addressed to M. Azarov an issue of increased funding of the National Academy of Sciences. O. Zubchevskyi has paid heed to political and humanitarian issue – the suitability of the "Narodna viina" ("the People's War") exhibition, organized by the Memorial Society of Vasyl Stus, to the curriculum of educational institutions (see Table 7).

Non-faction deputies

V. Lytvyn and O. Liashko have both prepared two inquiries. In particular, V. Lytvyn has addressed to the Prime-Minister concerning repayment of debts to local governments in Novohrad-Volynskyi city, Yemilchynsk, Novohrad-Volynsk and Chervonoarmiysk rayons of Zhytomyr oblast, which belong to his election district (see Table 7).

Table 7. Full list of parliamentary inquiries, announced on the plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held on 1.11.2012