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2<br />
No.43 AUGUST 23, 2018<br />
DAY AFTER DAY<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
By Daria CHYZH, Yuliia DOVHAICHUK,<br />
Den’s Summer School of Journalism,<br />
2018Members of parliament have<br />
gone on vacation – but not all<br />
of them. Oksana Syroid,<br />
Deputy Chairperson of the<br />
Verkhovna Rada, has visited<br />
the Den’s Summer School of Journalism.<br />
Although the school finished as far back<br />
as July, the practice of students was so<br />
intensive and fruitful that they are still<br />
discussing results. All the more so that the<br />
subjects lecturers covered are still topical.<br />
As Ms. Syroid serves in parliamentary for<br />
the first time, students first of all asked<br />
her what she thinks about the Ukrainian<br />
Parliament’s performance in the almost<br />
four years of the present convocation.<br />
Did she expect to see this when she was<br />
running for a legislative seat?<br />
● “A CLAN OLIGARCHIC<br />
SYSTEM BEGAN TO FORM<br />
IN THE MID-1990S”<br />
“I knew what to expect from this parliament<br />
because I had seen the ups and<br />
downs of many people and the Verkhovna<br />
Rada’s rules. I worked as an MP’s assistant<br />
for several years from 1995 and cooperated,<br />
in other capacities, with politicians for<br />
a long time, so I used to say categorically<br />
that I would never set foot in there. But the<br />
Revolution of Dignity and the war changed<br />
many things. Everybody was trying to<br />
give off something in addition. I knew I<br />
could do nothing on my own there, but I<br />
found a team that became a shoulder to rely<br />
on in the attempt to begin making<br />
changes. I don’t regret my decision today<br />
from the viewpoint of confidence in people,<br />
for I stay in a sincere society, although it<br />
is very difficult to be in politics.<br />
“A clan oligarchic system began to<br />
form in the mid-1990s, when a few people<br />
received access to governmental funds, natural<br />
resources, and privatization. They<br />
would suck out, cash in on, and smuggle<br />
these resources abroad. The next goal was<br />
to form an oligarchic government in order<br />
to preserve or increase access to resources,<br />
the budget, and the management of staterun<br />
businesses.<br />
“The Euromaidan and the war opened<br />
the window that allowed about 60 non-oligarchic<br />
people to make their way to parliament.<br />
This is the first time since the formation<br />
of a clan oligarchic system that we<br />
have people in parliament whom oligarchs<br />
do not control. This makes the current parliament<br />
unique to some extent.”<br />
● “SOME OF THE NEW MPS<br />
HAD ALREADY DEPENDED<br />
ON OLIGARCHS, AND<br />
OTHERS SUCCUMBED TO<br />
TEMPTATION IN THE<br />
PARLIAMENT ITSELF”<br />
Olha KRYSA, Ivan Franko National<br />
University of Lviv: “Many new young<br />
Maidan and NGO politicians, now MPs,<br />
used to say they would unite when they entered<br />
parliament. But, as a result, they in<br />
fact melted into various political projects.<br />
Why did they fail to form a united party?<br />
How effective do you think they are in parliament?”<br />
“Formally, parliament has been renewed<br />
to a large extent. There are several<br />
groups of new people in it. But do they represent<br />
a new generation? Some of them had<br />
already depended on oligarchs when they<br />
became MPs, and others succumbed to<br />
temptation in the parliament itself. If one<br />
goes into politics in pursuit of fame, he will<br />
burn himself out quickly, for politics suggests<br />
service. You should be confident in<br />
yourself to such an extent that temptations<br />
and challenges could not influence your<br />
way – only in this case you can stand your<br />
ground. People often fail to stand the test<br />
and lose confidence in themselves and in<br />
what they do. Going through this several<br />
times, they demotivate themselves or lose<br />
focus. This is also one of the reasons why<br />
young people have partially blended in. It<br />
is very difficult to keep things in focus,<br />
knowing that nobody may appreciate it or<br />
that you will gain nothing from this.<br />
“As for political parties, you cannot<br />
form parties in parliament, for they<br />
should be formed ‘from the bottom up.’<br />
Believing in success<br />
Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day<br />
cisions horizontally, i.e., when they all<br />
sit at the same table. Now imagine how<br />
difficult it is for a faction to work,<br />
when 25 ambitious figures sit at table,<br />
each of them wants to explain something,<br />
while the faction should make a<br />
joint decision. At first, our faction’s sittings<br />
lasted for seven hours. It takes time<br />
for people to learn to hear each other. For<br />
example, we discussed withdrawal from<br />
the coalition for 14 hours in a row. Very<br />
few were prepared for this.”<br />
● “ONE MORE PROBLEM IS<br />
DEVALUATION OF<br />
PARLIAMENT BY OTHER<br />
INSTITUTIONS. ALL<br />
PRESIDENTS OF UKRAINE<br />
‘SUFFERED’ FROM THIS”<br />
Yuliia DOVHAICHUK, Taras<br />
Shevchenko National University of Kyiv:<br />
“According to various polls, about 80 percent<br />
of people do not trust the Verkhovna<br />
Rada. This raises a question: what is the<br />
progress of the promised parliamentary reform?<br />
For MPs still vote for one another,<br />
the new Rada system does not function, to<br />
say nothing about almost daily violations<br />
A political force must be linked with<br />
people – otherwise it is a bubble, an empty<br />
brand. It is very difficult to form a new<br />
political party first of all because the very<br />
notion of this has devalued. What also<br />
matters very much is the desire of people<br />
to join. The hierarchy of a political force<br />
is horizontal, and this structure must rely<br />
on the personality of leaders, not on<br />
their formal powers.<br />
“I know for sure that Samopomich is<br />
the only political force that makes all deof<br />
parliamentary rules. Why is there no reform?”<br />
“Parliamentary reform boils down to<br />
your and our votes. If people go on electing<br />
representatives of oligarchic groups, the<br />
essence of parliament will not change, no<br />
matter what procedural resolutions we<br />
pass. All depends on the intentions of the<br />
people who sit in the Verkhovna Rada<br />
room. Sometimes journalists ask me why<br />
some MPs play truant. But the vice-speaker<br />
of parliament is not a company manager<br />
– it is the people, not I, who employed the<br />
MPs. The MPs are answerable to society only.<br />
But they escape responsibility because<br />
they are sure of being reelected. Elections<br />
are the only way to control parliament.<br />
“Do voters know what their MP votes<br />
for? How many people ask the MP, when he<br />
visits the constituency: ‘How dared you<br />
vote for this?’ Collective irresponsibility<br />
is a terrible syndrome. If people were asking<br />
MPs why they voted one way or another,<br />
the MPs would take a more serious<br />
approach to voting. Therefore, a true parliamentary<br />
reform means changing the clan<br />
oligarchic system. Another problem is devaluation<br />
of parliament by other institutions.<br />
All presidents of Ukraine ‘suffered’<br />
from this. Particularly, whenever their rating<br />
plummets, they immediately aggravate<br />
relations with parliament – they create<br />
crises, blame MPs for failing to do something,<br />
etc. The current president is not an<br />
exception. If you watched the closure of sessions,<br />
you remember that the Petro<br />
Poroshenko Bloc once walked out when<br />
they refused to vote for new Central Election<br />
Commission members. Politicians<br />
must begin to understand that it is in<br />
everybody’s interests to respect each other,<br />
each institution. Respect increases<br />
public trust in governmental bodies as a<br />
whole.”<br />
Oksana SYROID:<br />
“The form of<br />
government<br />
does not matter.<br />
What matters is<br />
that the entire<br />
executive branch<br />
should be under<br />
parliamentary<br />
control”<br />
● “IN MY VIEW, WE SHOULD<br />
HAVE A PRIME-<br />
MINISTERIAL FORM OF<br />
GOVERNMENT, WHEN THE<br />
PREMIER REPRESENTS A<br />
PARTY OR A COALITION”<br />
Daria CHYZH, Borys Hrinchenko<br />
University of Kyiv: “Ukrainians often<br />
debate on the form of government – in<br />
the years of independence, it has been<br />
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day<br />
changing from parliamentary-presidential<br />
to presidential-parliamentary.<br />
You favor the parliamentary form of<br />
government. But to what extent is this<br />
possible in the absence of real political<br />
parties?”<br />
“What we have is not a parliamentary-presidential<br />
form of government<br />
because parliament does not wield the<br />
clout it must wield in a democracy, and<br />
the form is in fact presidential-primeministerial.<br />
We have the so-called dual<br />
executive system which has brought<br />
forth collective irresponsibility and cemented<br />
an oligarchic system. The main<br />
functions of the executive branch are to<br />
control the budget, collect and distribute<br />
taxes, decide on the use of force inside<br />
and outside the country. We have<br />
the Cabinet of Ministers, legally the<br />
highest body of executive power. But, on<br />
closer examination, most of the executive<br />
functions in fact belong to the president.<br />
He controls a considerable part of<br />
the budget, the security and defense sector,<br />
and all the so-called independent<br />
regulators. Besides, there is not a single<br />
instrument of the president’s accountability<br />
to parliament and, hence, to so-<br />
ciety. Even the US president reports to<br />
Congress, although the US has a purely<br />
presidential form of government.<br />
“In my opinion, the form of government<br />
does not matter. What really matters<br />
is that the entire executive branch<br />
should be under parliamentary control.<br />
The presidential form of government is<br />
effective in the US today. They formed<br />
this unique model to keep all the states<br />
united. Is this the Ukrainian way, too?<br />
We should strive to have what is really in<br />
line with our historical development and<br />
could be effective. If we suddenly wished<br />
to have the presidential form of government<br />
and a strong leader, this might<br />
pave the way to dictatorship. So, in my<br />
view, we should have a prime-ministerial<br />
form of government, when the premier<br />
represents a party or a coalition. And he<br />
must be personally responsible for the formation<br />
of the Cabinet.”<br />
● “IF THERE IS NO IDEA AND<br />
TEAM, IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE<br />
TO RALLY AROUND<br />
SOMEBODY”<br />
Evelina KOTLIAROVA, Taras<br />
Shevchenko National University of<br />
Kyiv: “What do you expect from the<br />
next elections? There is so much talk<br />
about a single candidate of democratic<br />
forces. Such names as Hrytsenko,<br />
Sadovyi, and Chumak are in the air…<br />
What do you think of a single candidate?<br />
Who can it be?”<br />
“The Ukrainians really want unity<br />
because whenever the presidential elections<br />
are coming up, the number of candidates<br />
increases many times over.<br />
This brings in a lot of caretaker candidates<br />
because it is important for oligarchic<br />
groups to retain power. Yes,<br />
the Ukrainians understand subconsciously<br />
that the oligarchic system<br />
must be destroyed. And there is quite<br />
a wide range of opposition candidates<br />
who could rally together. But this raises<br />
the question of who to rally around.<br />
I am skeptical about rallying around<br />
somebody. If there is no idea and team,<br />
it is irresponsible to rally around somebody.<br />
Suppose this person wins. So<br />
what? Who is going to work? Shall we<br />
call on oligarchs again to help us?<br />
They will immediately place their people<br />
in offices.<br />
“It seems to me we are having a situation,<br />
when some people, who position<br />
themselves as presidential candidates<br />
but have no team or ideas, really want<br />
either to ‘dissolve’ votes or, even if they<br />
win, to become a new face of the old oligarchic<br />
system. Many of these candidates<br />
are dependent. Of course, they<br />
won’t say this publicly, but they know<br />
who stands behind whom. On the other<br />
hand, there are groups of people and<br />
their leaders who are free of this dependency<br />
but full of energy and ideas.<br />
They find it very difficult to believe and<br />
unite with other leaders because there<br />
has been too much deception in our<br />
politics.”<br />
● “I DO NOT RULE OUT THAT<br />
RUSSIA CONCEIVED NORD<br />
STREAM 2 IN ORDER TO<br />
BREAK UP THE EUROPEAN<br />
UNION”<br />
Sofiia POSTOLATII, Sumy State<br />
University: “To what extent has the<br />
question of the annexed Crimea and the<br />
occupied parts of the Donbas been<br />
brought into line with the law at present?”<br />
“All the resolutions we have today<br />
convince me that the leadership is not<br />
going to fight for independence and victory.<br />
We tried to interpret certain<br />
processes in the bill ‘On Temporarily<br />
Occupied Territories’ drafted in mid-<br />
2015. The first question is what is to be<br />
done with the occupied territories.<br />
They are populated by our people but<br />
controlled by the enemy. So how can<br />
they, for example, protect themselves<br />
from the illegal arms traffic? The second<br />
question is how to regain control