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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

TEMPTED BY QUANTITY

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

The situation with the election of the Speaker and his deputies in the Verkhovna Rada, among other things, revealed an additional aspect of domestic political life: psychological. Here the political reflexes of the main forces represented in Parliament become especially evident. The Communists have vividly demonstrated their modus operandi, pressure by the masses and inherent intolerance of compromise. The Day asked Mykola Sliusarevsky, Director of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences Institute for Social and Political Psychology, to assess the political-psychological elements of the parliamentary leadership election framework.

M.S.: “The ‘package’ option did not envisage a left-oriented Speaker. Thus, it is hard to judge whether the Left is objectively right: the temptation to use its numerical advantage when electing the leadership is too strong. However, this advantage is relative and given the present stage of the political system all parties cannot but seek a middle course, provided of course they are determined to exist in a civilized democratic society. The very package principle, proposed by four parties — the Greens, NDP, SDP(U), and Rukh — provides for a centrist Speaker who is not a party leader or presidential candidate, a left ist First Deputy, and a rightist Second Deputy. This is an attempt to practice political conduct peculiar to a democratic system. Those resisting it belong to the political culture of the past. In fact, their refraining from insisting on the package vote shows flexible thinking, compared to the Left. Whether or not such progressive compromise schemes will work depends on their content. Who could be considered a centrist Speaker? The sad specifics of the Ukrainian electorate at large consist in the fact that only a politician who already is or recently was in power can stand a real chance. Here the biggest obstacle is the possibility of using of the Speaker’s seat as a jumping off point for the presidential campaign. In my opinion, compromise could be possible on only one condition. The Speaker’s honest and resolute promise not to use his position for imagemaking when the campaign starts. And a politician genuinely concerned about the destiny of Parliament and the state must make this promise.

Q: Would you say that the parliamentary leadership election is a test of a politician’s and statesman’s maturity?

M.S.: Yes, definitely.

 

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