The fact that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the President haven't implemented an efficient and legitimate mechanism to appoint new membership of the CEC for over 3 years makes one think that the current situation and futile actions are acceptable for each stakeholder. However, such political expediency to keep the CEC under a constant pressure and, at the same time, to discourage its members from working systematically and participating in electoral legislation reform or internal transformation, is extremely dangerous.
Neither parliamentary, nor presidential nor local elections are an obstacle for appointment of new Central Election Commission members. Besides that, after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau served notices of suspicion to the CEC Head, the VRU and the President should have started searching a compromise around the list of candidates for commission members.
Civic organizations would like to emphasize that the list of 11 candidates, submitted by the President Petro Poroshenko in June 2016 does not represent all political factions. According to the Venice Commission's Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, independence of election collegial bodies can be guaranteed through representation of different factions and groups in election commissions. Besides that, there are 2 vacant places. Thus, it's high time to reconsider the list, make the necessary changes and submit it for consideration of the Parliament as soon as possible.
Non-governmental organizations call all the factions to submit an updated list of suggested candidates to the President. While it's important to reach a consensus, it's also vital to suggest candidates who meet the following criteria: 1) clean reputation; 2) professionalism; 3) political neutrality and independence.
A balanced and efficient membership of the CEC will restore the trust in this body and help to conduct fair and democratic elections in the future. Each party and political group, either in power, or in opposition, should remember that political powers always shift, and independent election administration body will prevent misuse of administrative resource.