On September 3, the 3rd session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of VII convocation will be officially opened. It ends on January 17, 2014. During the preparation to signing the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the Parliament plays crucial role, and all the factions, no matter pro-governmental or opposition, will be responsible for the adoption of required legislative acts.
Civil Network OPORA continues analyzing activities of the Parliament in Ukraine, and presents summary of the VRU activities during the 2nd session to the public and journalists. It will help to assess prospects of political compromises and activities of MPs during the given period, to track tendencies OPORA has analyzed the joint vote of factions, how the certain political parties may influence voting results, whether the opposition is able to pass draft laws and initiatives without support of pro-government parties etc.
Joint vote
Non-faction MPs and the CPU, as well as UDAR and Svoboda are the least inclined to vote jointly.
During the 2nd session, 378 draft laws and resolutions were adopted in the Parliament, 79 [1] of which were assessed by OPORA as substantial or important [2]. Having studied the official voting results, we determined which factions have successfully the biggest number of political compromises during the voting for substantial legislative initiatives in the Parliament. Joint vote is considered successful, if more than a half of MPs affiliated to a certain faction participated in the voting for draft law or resolution. Thus, size of the faction itself doesn't influence the calculation. It's not surprising that the PR and the CPU, which have jointly supported 82% of initiatives, are the first among political partners in the Parliament, the Party of Regions and UDAR took the second place with 64% of draft laws and resolutions which they supported together, the PR and Svoboda – 61%; opposition factions UDAR and Svoboda – 55%, the Party of Regions and non-faction deputies – 54%, Batkivshchyna and UDAR party – 52%, The PR and Batkivshchyna – 51%, UDAR and CPU – 51%.
Non-faction MPs and the CPU, as well as UDAR and Svoboda are the least inclined to vote jointly.
Top-rating of draft laws and resolutions, adopted by the absolute majority
OPORA has examined which laws and resolutions, substantial or political, have received the strongest support of MPs belonging to different factions. The most interesting is that 97% of all present MPs voted for amendments to the Article 47 on Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – the best compromise on such a controversial issue for the Parliament of previous convocation, which caused one of the longest blockings of the parliamentary rostrum in 2013. Two draft laws which were adopted by receiving 93% of votes from present MPs are on the second place: Law of Ukraine on Ukraine's accession to the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; and Law of Ukraine on Making Amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine. Finally, the honored third place is taken by the Law of Ukraine on Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine on Improvement of the Personal Data Protection System and the Law of Ukraine on Ratification of the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on Air Traffic, which have received 92% of votes in support.
Statement of the Parliament on Realization of Ukraine’s Aspirations for European Integration and on Signing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union was supported by 90% of MPs.
As we can see, the most compromising were either initiatives which were agreed after lengthy negotiations and even blockings, and are supported by the public to some extent, or absolutely pragmatic draft laws and initiatives (full top-20 of joint vote is available in the attachment to the release).
Least compromised initiatives
OPORA has also analyzed initiatives which became the least compromised and were not supported by the Parliamentary majority. Thus, 9 of such substantial initiatives were supported only by the PR and CPU. In particular, Law of Ukraine on amendments to the Budget in connection with establishment of bodies of income and charges; on ensuring stable operation of strategic enterprises of the energy sector; on the abolition of restrictions on economic activities; amendments to the Budget; on the production sharing agreements; on the emergency medical assistance and returning debt of state coal enterprises on insurance fees and penalties to the Social Insurance Fund.
Two temporary investigation commissions were created without votes of the PR: on reconsideration of voting results during 2012 Parliamentary elections; and on investigation of violations of Ukrainian legislation during public procurement, ineffective use of state resources and abuses of power by officials of the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, other state institutions, establishments and organizations in healthcare and pharmaceutical sphere.
2 - The category "substantial and important" includes other than formal (appointment of special local elections, not including Kyiv local election which is in the category "political decisions"; personnel issues; draft laws adopted as a basis, defeated, or sent for further elaboration; introduction of memorable dates) legislative acts. Voting results on such formal legislative acts are not significant, and were not included into this research.