Ten percent of MPs missed 90 percent of the parliamentary voting sessions – NGO

Committee of Voters of Ukraine analyzed the web site of the Parliament to conclude how efficient the work of Ukrainian lawmakers throughout the sixth plenary session is.

Half of the MPs in the actual parliamentary convocation are not working as required. One hundred and thirty-nine MPs attended less than half of the voting sessions, 49 MPs (over 10 percent) have been absent in over 90 percent of the parliament’s voting sessions. Among them is Serhiy Lyovochkin, Nestor Shufrych, Natalia Korolevska, Dobkin brothers, Mykhailo Poplavsky, Semen Semenchenko, Dmytro Yarosh etc. Three MPs have not participated in a single voting during the plenary session. This was reported by Oleksiy Koshel, director general of the NGO Committee of Voters of Ukraine at a press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

The negative tendency is also observed in the work of the heads of factions. Thus, the leader of the “Opposition Bloc” Yuriy Boyko was absent during 98 percent of the voting sessions, Yuliya Tymoshenko, leader of the Batkivshyna faction missed 82 percent of voting, while Oleh Lyashko, leader of the Radical Party, was not present at the 46 percent of the sessions. “Leader of the faction can be present in the session hall without actually caring to push the button,” Koshel said.

Only 45 MPs have attended all the parliamentary sessions. There are two criteria to measure the attendance rate: e-registration and written one. Committee of Voters of Ukraine used the data obtained through the written registration for the report, as there were concerns that if MPs vote with the personal cards of others, they can also e-register with these cards.

Within the sixth plenary session, the Parliament adopted 275 legal acts – 100 laws and 175 resolutions. “It’s the old coalition ‘European Ukraine’ that keeps working in the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament),” said Denys Rybachok, an analyst of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine. Eighty-three percent of presidential initiatives, 24 percent of governmental ones and 10 percent of the lawmakers’ suggestions translate into actual laws. The Parliament of the actual convocation has set a record by the number of draft laws registered in the entire history of the Verkhovna Rada. As of July 9, 2017, a total of 5486 draft laws and 4188 draft resolutions were registered.

The report of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine is based exclusively on the materials of the Parliament’s web site and covers the period until July 11, 2017. “Last days of the Parliament’s work will not drastically change the tendencies and outcomes of the sixth plenary session,” emphasized Koshel.