Verkhovna Rada needs a reboot. Otherwise, there will not be a way to change the current system.
That is the opinion a Member of Parliament, Serhiy Leshchenko, expressed in his interview to the “Apostrophe”.
“The Parliament will never change the law, as all the people who are in the Parliament are motivated to keep the current system, which is the most beneficial for them. They fed those districts for five years – with buckwheat, direct bribes and subventions from the budget.
It was the government’s design: you become a part of the majority under the Prime Minister, you’re getting subventions, which you then use to do some work in the district and get reelected. Alternatively, you turn to the opposition, don’t get any money and thus remain in the opposition. That is also unfair, as using the budget money as a resource for political games is political corruption. The money has to be either evenly distributed among all the MPs or not distributed among the MPs at all. What we’ve just seen is not any different from Yanukovych times. Remember how much money was given to Pshonka and his district, or Litvin, and the generals with hundreds of millions UAH. Of course, the election code is key for politics. That is why many were running for the Parliament only to get money, and to do that they invested money in districts to compensate from the budget later on. It’s like a cheap startup,” Leschenko assures.
Moreover, according to him, the Parliament has exhausted itself from both moral and political point of view: “What Verkhovna Rada’s been doing for the past years – it was merely working with Poroshenko to get the tasks done. After the change of power, the Parliament didn’t have the time to adapt to new realities. Zelensky faced a dilemma: endure this for another half a year or dissolve the Parliament. The dissolution of the Parliament is merely the fulfillment of pre-election wishes of the citizens that demanded the reboot of Ukrainian politics. From Zelensky’s logic, it was the right move,” he adds.
Leschenko has also voiced his predictions regarding the new Parliament’s fate.
“I am not eliminating the possibility that this Parliament will be short-term, meaning it will not last for full five years in office. I think this Parliament can serve as transition, with a goal of changing the election code and getting reelected after some time. Nothing can continue the way it is now. You understand that?” the MP summarized.