TV program Dear Deputies is a joint project of the OPORA, Hromadske TV, and the First National TV Channel, the First National TV channel and USAID's program the RADA. This weekly program provides the audience information about activities and inaction of MPs, their salaries, offices, internal matters, soviet spirit of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and international experience of parliamentarism. This program is aimed to explain complicated things in a comprehensible way and make people smile if there is a reason.

You will know from episode broadcasted on 21 September the most interesting facts about MPs of VII convocation, peculiarities of the new Law on Local Elections, a sudden visit of Dear Deputies. Volyn oblast to district #20 and interpretation of the term 'abolitionism' by MPs.

We have calculated that 73 MPs of current convocation were assistants to MPs of odious VII convocation. PPB has the largest number of ex-assistants to MPs – 27, People's Front has 23, Radical Party of Oleh Liashko – 10, and Batkivshchyna – 5. Opposition Bloc and SAMOPOMICH have one ex-assistant each. Ruslan Sydorovych from the SAMOPOMICH Union was assistant to Volodymyr Pylypenko, affiliated in the Economic Development group of Vitalii Khomutynnik. Andrii Shynkovych, MP from the PPB, was assistant to member of the Party of Regions Oleksandr Hereha. Current MP Olena Shkrum from the Batkivshchyna was a paid assistant to communist Ihor Viktorovych Alieksieiev. Besides that, Alieksieiev had her father Ivan Shkrum as an assistant on voluntary basis. Dmyrto Yarosh was an assistant to Valentyn Nalyvaichenko.

Oleh Liashko and Arsenii Yatseniuk included 6 their assistants to the top of candidate list. Mykola Martynenko is on the third place. Nine of his assistants were in the list of the People's Front. However, only 3 received mandates – Olena Boiko, Ihor Huz, and Olena Ledovskykh. Daryna Ledovskykh refused the mandate.

110 MPs of 7th convocation (every 4th) had namesake assistants. Mykhailo Myronenko has the largest number of namesake assistants – 5! Vitalii Khomutynnik registered his sister, brother, father and mother as assistants. Number of voluntary assistants Petro Poroshenko doesn't have any relatives as assistants. However, we've found out that Maryna Poroshenko is an assistant to MP Hryhorii Zabolotnyi from Vinnytsia oblast. Arsenii Yatseniuk's uncle Fadei Stepanovych is registered as assistant to two MPs from Batkivshchyna – Maksym Burbak and Mykola Fedorchuk. Serhii Valentynovych Zaichuk – a son of the current VRU Apparatus Head Valentyn Zaichuk was found by Dear Deputies in the list of Serhii Kliuiev's assistants.

- The rubric "How do they do?" about duties that assistants to MPs have abroad.

As long as assistants in Senate or US House of Representatives will have to closely interact with MPs, it's a privilege for a lobbyis to work as an assistant in Congress. How many assistants an MP can have and how much are they paid – this rubric covers these and other interesting facts.

- Peculiarities of the new Law on Local Elections – who elects whom and how?

On 25 October, Ukrainians will elect representatives of local governments under a new electoral system – proportional with preferences. Someone calls it progressive; others criticize it because the voters will not have an opportunity to directly form lists of candidates. Some claim that this new system is the same "majoritarian", slightly changed. TV program Dear Deputies decided to learn about key peculiarities of the future election process, so that you could assess pluses and minuses of the Law on Local Elections by yourself.

-Rubric "Vokabula" – MPs explaining the term 'abolitionism'.

We askesd MPs Oleksii Mushak, Andrii Shynkovych, and Svitlana Zalishchuk from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, and non-faction MP Serhii Mishchenko.

- A sudden visit to the district: journalists of the Dear Deputies. Volyn oblast visited district #20 with assistant to MP Serhii Martyniak (Volia Narodu group), and asked its inhabitants about problems in the community

The Civil Network OPORA - is non-governmental, non-political and financially independent all-Ukrainian network of activists. We united to enhance public participation in the political process by developing and implementing models of citizen participation in the activities of state and local governments.

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