On June 1, 2016, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives held a roundtable on “Institutionalization of the Coalition and Opposition in the Parliament of Ukraine”.
The event was organized in cooperation with the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and Support to Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine within the framework of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
Participants of the roundtable discussed legislative initiatives concerning amendments to the Rules of the Verkhovna Rada (No. 1066, 1066-1, 3061, 3061-1, 4331, 4331-1) in order to set standards for the status of the coalition and opposition in Ukraine. The event was aimed at developing a consolidated position on the legislative regulation of the status and procedure of the coalition and opposition in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Pavlo Pynzenyk, First Deputy of the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and Support to Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, emphasized the fundamental importance of settling the status of the parliamentary majority and, accordingly, of the minority in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:
Ihor Kohut, CoP of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, assured of a readiness for comprehensive support in order to establish a political dialogue:
Yurii Miroshnychenko, co-author of bill No. 1066, briefly outlined the main ideas of the legislative initiative:
Mykhailo Papiyev, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Deputy Ethics, for his part, assured of a readiness for thorough work on the institutionalization of the coalition and opposition in the parliament:
Valeriy Pysarenko, co-author of bills No. 1066-1, No. 3061-1, spoke about political will as an indispensable prerequisite for prompt settling of the status of coalition and opposition in the Ukrainian parliament:
Borys Bespalyi, USAID RADA expert, spoke about restraints regarding the list of rights of the parliamentary opposition, for “Opposition factions have the same rights as coalition ones (the right to be represented in parliamentary permanent and interim bodies, mandatory inclusion of bills from the opposition on the agenda, etc.).” From this point of view, it is complicated to set some priorities for the opposition in purely legislative activity:
