27 May 2010, 16:44
Mykola Tomenko: Open-List Elections mean the Progress of Ukraine, while Restoration of the Majoritarian Electoral System is a Step Backwards, when the Deputies were ‘appointed´ by the Local Authorities
Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, believes that discussions of the optimal system of elections to the local authority bodies should be based on the need for advancement, not regress. "Restoration of the majoritarian electoral system in the current situation means a step backwards", he stated.
M. Tomenko believes that the law-enforcement agencies and the local executive authority bodies will not stay aside during the elections to the local self-government bodies. "In the present-day situations, majoritarian or mixed majoritarian-proportional electoral systems will mean that in the majoritarian districts to the local self-government bodies, the deputies will not be elected, but ‘appointed´ by the local authorities", the Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated. "Ukraine has already passed this stage, so it is neither democratic nor right to go back to this practice", he added.
The Deputy Chairman supposes that it would be logical and right to substitute the present-day close-list electoral system with the open-list one. He also reminded that sociological surveys proved that the open-list elections gained wide public support.
"It is necessary to alter the system of elections to the local self-government bodies and The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, moving forward to the open party lists, not going back", M.Tomenko stated.