There are 6 parliamentary factions, 2 parliamentary groups and non-faction MPs in the Parliament. We should remind that each MP is obliged to "attend and participate in meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its bodies which membership he holds" (Article 24(4) of the Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). Having analyzed the attendance at plenary meetings for 27.11.14-24.02.15 on the basis of written registration, we compared it with the a...

Lobbying and corruption: common and different peculiarities in the USA, the EU, and Ukraine. Top "shriekers" in the Parliament. «Прогульники» парламенту: хто потрапив до ТОП рейтингу? A tour to parliamentary premises in Kyiv, Berlin, London and Budapest.

Election reform belongs to little number of reforms that doesn't require excessive budget expenses. Besides that, politicians, experts and representatives of the public and international organizations have already reached a consensus on the terms of reforming. However, the Parliament failed to make any progress for the last 3 months, and such delay in the election law reforming can also spoil Ukraine's image due to the non-compliance with international obligations, particularly with the Europ...

Concept of the amended Law of Ukraine on the Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine

On 26 February 2015 from 10:00 AM to 02:00 PM, a public discussion "Parliamentary elections under proportional open-list system. Influencing the democracy in Ukraine" will be held by a group of non-governmental organizations including OPORA, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, and Internews-Ukraine, supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. MPs of Ukraine, leading election law experts, representatives...

A further delay of the comprehensive election reform in Ukraine can result in political, legal, and financial consequences. Firstly, citizens and experts can lose their confidence in the ruling majority as it fails to adhere to commitments given in the Coalition Agreement which was signed on 21 November 2014. According to the terms of agreement, a new law on parliamentary elections establishing proportional system with open lists must be adopted yet during the 1st quarter of 2015, and the l...

 On 19 February 2015 at 01:30 PM, the press-conference is to be held by the Civil Network OPORA The experts will discuss several threats that may appear, if election laws are not reformed consistently: delaying local self-government reform and decentralization; recurring misuse of administrative resources and voter bribery; using laws for the benefit of the certain political groups; and decreasing the level of public trust to ruling coalition. Delay in the election law reforming could also sp...

    On 28-29 January, a discussion on prospects of election law reforming in Ukraine was held in Strasbourg. Participants: Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Markert, Special Advisor to the Council of Europe Secretary General Christos Giakoumopoulos, and expert of the Venice Commission Serhii Kuznetsov. Participants from Ukraine: Olha Aivazovska (Civil Network OPORA), Yevhen Radchenko (Internews-Ukraine), Denys Kovryzhenko (International Foundation for Electoral Systems), and Oleks...