LOOKING BACK AT THE OUTGOING PARLIAMENT

The second Parliament of independent Ukraine has ended its term. An event which is significant and routine at the same time. Routine because Parliament with its sluggish procedures, debates more like fits of hysterics, hot-air sessions, and even fist-fights. There will be a fourth and, God willing, a fifth Parliament, and everything will be routine, for in a democratic country political power changing hands should be regarded as nothing out of the ordinary. But is this the case in Ukraine?

This is our second Parliament retiring, which is important, like a second cornerstone in the foundation.

Of course, this Parliament could have done a better job, but one ought to remember that parliamentary work had to start from scratch in this country, that the Ukrainian electorate is unpredictable, that far from all the People’s Deputies were the right people for the job, and that the legislature was constantly at odds with the executive. Considering all this, the possibility that it might have done better becomes purely academic.

In all honesty, we want from the Ukrainian Parliament what no other parliament ever has or will have. What kind of effectiveness can one expect from a legislative body made up of 450 individuals with tremendous ambitions, each with a truckload of his own “original” ideas, and more often than not absolutely humorless? And yet the whole thing worked and even accomplished things like the new Constitution (although perhaps everybody would be better off today without it) or the election law. This author is convinced that the Ukrainian legislature has worked better than the executive. As for public opinion, it would change quickly after a couple of live transmissions of Cabinet or Presidential Administration sessions. In other words, there is no cause for anxiety. Parliament has clear-cut and generally recognized procedures and standing orders. The show will go on.

Photo by Valery MYLOSERDOV, Volodymyr RASNER, The Day;
Serhy DOLZHENKO, DINAU: