Reforming of electoral system should be carried out in direction of adherence to democratic principles of implementation of free will of citizens, ensuring effective mechanisms for election of highly qualified specialist to the posts of village, township and city mayors, formation of qualitative deputies’ composition to the local councils.
This was stated by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak addressing participants of the “Dialogue day of representatives of local self-government and central bodies of executive authorities” that was held within the IX Ukrainian municipal forum of Association of Ukrainian Cities in Yalta on Thursday.
The proportional electoral system to local councils, Volodymyr Rybak said, depersonalized representative bodies of local self-government, distanced citizens from the management of local affairs and making policy of local development, deprived voters of effective mechanisms of control over the members. Mechanism of forming representative bodies of territorial communities basing on closed party lists caused their excessive politicization, he noted.
“That is why improvement of electoral system in Ukraine should be aimed at full right of every citizen to vote and to be elected. Members of the communities should receive effective leverage of influence for formation of deputies’ composition of local councils,” the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed. “However, the mechanism for responsibility and accountability of local councils’ deputies by voters should be legislatively regulated, and every territorial community should have adequate representation in the councils of higher level.”
The Chairman of Parliament reminded that recently the Constitutional Court of Ukraine took the decision on early local elections, according to which elections of deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, village, township, city, regional, oblast councils and village, township, city mayors elected at the regular or early elections, will take place simultaneously throughout Ukraine in the last week of October on the fifth year of the councils or mayors terms, elected at the regular election of October 31, 2010. “I will note that with this decision the Court did not appoint a particular election, but explained the constitutional norm. It is parliamentary authority to appoint local elections,” he said.