The Bill (Reg.No.1467) creates a ‘political responsibility of Parliamentary parties for the realisation of their Party and Pre-election Programmes´ and hence seeks to improve the Parties as an institution of the political system of Ukraine.
It proposes that ‘Political Parties, whose members are People´s Deputies of Ukraine, report, on an annual basis, on the progress towards the realisation of their Political Party and Pre-election Programmes´.
The People´s Deputy, Oleh Zarubinsky, considers that, ‘Parties that were involved in Electoral Blocs, shall produce a Joint Report, together with other Bloc Member Parties. The reporting method and procedures shall be approved by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine´.
He also suggests that these Reports are published in the Voice of Ukraine and Governmental Courier newspapers.
The Explanatory Note states that a Programme, according to current legislation, is among the basic documents of a political organization, included even in the legal definition of the term ‘Political Party´. However, several parties use their Programme for Registration purposes only, and not for the operation of the party. Therefore, the document stresses, legislation has not created the conditions for Political Parties to obtain a major qualifying indicator for ideological substantiation of their operation.
A similar situation, considers O. Zarubinsky, has been created with regard to the responsibility for promises made during the electoral campaign. The Pre-election Programme is an obligatory document during registration of election candidates. Nevertheless, in practice the provisions of pre-election documents may not be publicized.
The People´s Deputy insists that non-adherence by Parties and Blocs to their Political Programmes, and their somewhat confusing content, disorientate the voter during elections, thus forcing him/her to elect a specific party using other secondary indicators, which is detrimental both to the improvement of Democracy and the development of the Party and Political system in Ukraine.
The author believes that realisation of this Act will regulate the responsibility of political parties towards implementation of their own programmes and pre-election promises.