New political season must pass under the sign of reforms
“No doubt, the beginning of the new session of the Verkhovna Rada will be complicated with political confrontations between the factions, including with respect to amendments to the Constitution and the start of the campaign for elections to local councils and elections of city, town and village mayors. Besides, personnel changes in the Cabinet of Ministers have already been announced.
It is difficult to imagine a more adverse environment for reforms: the instability of coalition could rise up and result in its reformatting, a downpour of populist bills and initiatives is expected, a lot of energy will be spent on local conflicts with oligarchic groups that can recover with renewed vigour. Not to mention the approach of the heating season and “maneuvers” of the aggressor.
However, political elites must realise that the reforms must not only remain in the first place on the agenda. The process of making strategic decisions must be accelerated, or at least not slow down. And it’s not just the position expressed by Ukraine’s Western partners and pressure from the active part of our society – the price can be a political career.
What is needed for a more coordinated work of the Verkhovna Rada, the Government and the President? Communication. Discussions of the most controversial issues should take place even at the level of working groups working on a specific solution. If people’s deputies take part in the development of draft laws, such as the regulator law or the law on a new electricity market, their consideration in Parliament will be faster and less conflict.
The Government must use more opportunities to communicate with the coalition that formed it, without being limited to the format of ‘an hour for questions’ and their participation in the work of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada. Finally, the Coalition itself will have to respond to a crisis of confidence that has emerged among its members. It is worth appealing once again to the obligations envisaged in the Coalition Agreement.
The confrontation is a dead end: loss of voters’ trust and hope for positive developments can bury both projects of many reforms and many political projects. Instead, the compromise is a winning way for everyone when it is possible to achieve win-win conditions and abide by promises given to voters. So, it is difficult and unusual for Ukrainian politicians to compromise, but this is a democratic decision-making system.”
Roman Nitsovych
Research Director
