McCain’s example

So where are our MPs? This is what many Ukrainians might have been wondering about after seeing the video published by ABC News and featuring the Republican Senator McCain (recently diagnosed with a brain tumor) arriving at the US Senate past Tuesday. The Capitol gave McCain a standing ovation. The public learned about McCain’s condition on July 20. A scar above his left eye is an evidence of surgery. On July 14, following the surgical removal of a blood clot in his eye, McCain was also diagnosed with a brain tumor, namely glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive cancer varieties. The doctors and Senator McCain’s family are reported to be considering a number of therapies, including chemo.

McCain flew over to Washington, D.C., from his home state of Arizona with a sole purpose to take part in the vote on healthcare reform promised by President Donald Trump. McCain’s vote was decisive, and he himself helped put the proposed bill to debate. The US Senate voted to start debates on the proposed legislation concerning the repeal of the current health insurance system, the so-called Obamacare. “So great that John McCain is coming back to vote. Brave – American hero! Thank you John,” reacted Trump, traditionally via his Twitter account.

Steve Breen’s cartoon for The San Diego Union Tribune newspaper

“He is an example to follow. A great man. High standards in politics. I am grateful that I was honored with an opportunity to meet him several times,” reacts Iryna Herashchenko, First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament. “In this day and age we need real examples and high standards so badly. Thanks goodness there is McCain, who proves every day that a good name and reputation are the most valuable things; that one must have a voice but not lend it to populist mottos; one must have principles and not ‘flexibility.’ One must always call a spade a spade, not give in to the political conjuncture, and stay true to their principles.”

In fact, Herashchenko expressed what many in our society feel. But her being first deputy speaker, McCain’s example automatically projects onto the Verkhovna Rada. So where are our members of parliament? Oh, they are on holiday already. Speaker Andrii Parubii closed the sixth session of the 8th convocation on July 14 and announced the beginning of the next session on September 5, 2017. Needless to say, MPs are also human beings and they are entitled to a deserved vacation. Yet after the start of Russia’s aggression our country has found itself in totally different conditions, not to mention the urgency of reforms. Thus the situation demands that society, and politicians in particular, show more responsibility. But can we see this responsibility? One example: during the 6th session of the Verkhovna Rada, 49 MPs missed more than 90 percent of votes. Looking at the work of our parliament one would never think that the country lives in conditions of war. Yet even in those democracies which know no war, MPs traditionally work with more responsibility and effectiveness. For example, we described the routine of the British parliament in “The English Lessons” article (see The Day of March 14, 2017).

“I am against calling everyone in parliament a people’s deputy,” says MP Serhii Vysotskyi of People’s Front. “A parliament is more than just a sum of various parties and nonpartisan members. Each of them is first of all a personality. McCain is interesting as a personality with his system of values, views, and beliefs, which he faithfully advocates. He sits in the Senate, votes and speaks not because he belongs to a party, but because it is his position as a personality. And it does not matter at this point whether he is a Republican or a Democrat. He is an individual who sees his nation’s future and who realizes the threats and opportunities. In other words, he is a statesman. A man of a certain race, if you will. There are such people in Ukraine, too. However, they are by far underrepresented in the parliament, and out of those who are in the parliament only a few could be described as statesmen.”

“No doubt that today’s parliament is not a paragon,” commented an independent MP Viktor Chumak. “I am really happy that we have an example of a responsible American voter who cannot be bribed. McCain, too, is nothing exceptional in this case. His action is absolutely normal, because he is a Senator who is accountable to his voters. Money and all other sorts of hidden voter bribery are not a reason for Americans to support one or another politician. Voter responsibility creates responsibility in politicians. A national parliament is a true mirror of the electorate. Ukraine has an electoral system which produces the current toxic composition of parliament. It is up to the voter to understand this, in the first place. Voters must put concrete demands to this toxic parliament which no one other but they have elected. Clearly, for this the voters themselves must have a system of beliefs and demands. We cannot grumble about a bad parliament and carry no blame for our own choice.”

Of course, politicians reflect the state of society. Yet they must at last change and realize their responsibility.