Ruslan Stefanchuk announced the law on recalling the MPs of Ukraine

Information Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat
Published on 04 February 2021, at 12:09

First Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk told about new legislative initiatives to implement the principles of democracy in Ukraine.

“We are working on a number of bills on democracy. First of all, these are bills related to local referendums and electronic petitions. Next, we will develop draft laws on issues called ‘recalls’: we want to give the people the opportunity to recall the MPs of Ukraine,” noted Ruslan Stefanchuk.

According to the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in order to be able to recall the MPs, it is necessary to make certain changes to the Constitution of Ukraine. Currently, the reason for deprivation of a deputy's mandate is a sentence in a criminal case (for example, for button-pressing). The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to include absenteeism in this list.

In addition, according to the MP of Ukraine, the issue of democracy will be considered not only at the legislative and executive levels, but also at the judicial level. The process of drafting the relevant bills will take up to two years. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will also consider the draft law on constitutional procedure.

“This draft law has a separate section, which in particular prescribes the procedure for consideration by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine of the constitutionality of issues proposed for submission to an all-Ukrainian referendum on the people's initiative This is actually the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, but in law. According to Article 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine, "public authorities (such as the Constitutional Court of Ukraine) are obliged to act only on the basis, within the powers and in the manner prescribed by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine", and not by their internal decision,” stressed Ruslan Stefanchuk.

According to the First Deputy Chairperson of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, electronic voting in Ukraine will work only with the adoption of a separate law on electronic voting and will be implemented only when there is confidence in its technical reliability.