Volodymyr Groysman: I am ready to pay any personal political price for the reform of local self-government to be implemented
20 February 2015, 18:10
“Country needs a government reform. I am ready to pay any personal political price for the reform of local self-government to be implemented,” claimed Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during the second meeting of the Expert group on legislative support to decentralization of authority and local self-government reforming on Friday.
Chairperson of the Parliament noted that the process of decentralization
at legislative level has in fact begun. Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada expressed an idea regarding expediency of a permanent Expert group on legislative support to decentralization of authority and local self-government reforming, since it consists of known specialists and experts in the field.
Members of the Expert group considered top priority measures on legislative support to decentralization of authority, local self-government reforming and territorial division of power, as well as the results of elaboration of legislative initiatives provided for consideration by the Expert group.
Volodymyr Groysman informed that 10 bills on different issues of local self-government functioning have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
It went about establishing a systemic cooperation with the bodies of
executive power in the regions with a view of implementing government reform at
place. Participants of the meeting discussed different models of administrative
and territorial structure as well as cooperation between the authority and
bodies of local self-government. Participants of the meeting stressed that “the initiated discussion proves that there are different ideas regarding the reform, however, this is the basic reform and it has no alternative.”
Summing up the discussion, Volodymyr Groysman said that it is necessary to elaborate “drafts of two action plans” during the next meeting of the Expert group.
The first plan, according to him, is a “package” of bills on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as the bills on local self-government. The second pertains to the list of laws that could be adopted prior to amending the Constitution, and that have to be adopted till the end of this parliamentary session.
“All the bills on local self-government will be referred for consideration by the Expert group, and its opinion will be provided to the deputies to be considered during voting,” said Volodymyr Groysman.
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