But groups of Ukrainian lawmakers are lining up to block the work of parliament one after another. On July 7, a group of lawmakers, veterans of the war in the east, blocked the tribune, the area of the parliament from which the business of the Rada is run, in order prevent Radical Party and Batkivshyna Party lawmakers from blocking it.
Their plans foiled, Radical Party lawmakers staged a sit-down protest on the floor in front of the tribune.
The actions of Ukrainian lawmakers of all political stripes is frequently absurd, pathetic and downright irresponsible given the many serious problems the country currently faces.
Of course, bad behavior by legislators is not something unique to this country, or this time. Cato the Younger, in the 1st century B.C. would obstruct the work of the ancient Roman Senate with long-winded speeches that lasted until dusk – the time under which Senate rules business for the day was to end. This century, in 2013, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz spoke for 21 hours in an effort to block funding for the U.S. Affordable Care Act. At one point, he resorted to reading his fellow senators the Dr. Seuss children’s classic “Green Eggs and Ham,” just to waste more time.
However, it is here in Ukraine, and now, that lawmakers have taken vandalism of the legislative process to new lows. Only this year, former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was crotch-hoisted from the rostrum while delivering a speech to parliament by a pro-presidential lawmaker. Ukraine’s parliament is ridiculed around the world for the brawls that frequently break out on its floor.
And even Ukraine’s newest lawmaker, Nadiya Savchenko, just weeks after being released from captivity in Russia, on July 5 took part in a Batkivshyna Party and Radical Party blocking of the Rada tribune on July 5.
The sight of Savchenko sitting smugly in the speaker’s chair during that action was a depressing one for those who hoped to see a higher level of conduct, dignity and maturity from lawmakers who have entered the Rada since the EuroMaidan Revolution.
Ukraine’s parliament still reflects the old Ukraine of clannish interests, thuggishness, disregard for rules, populism, and a lack of respect for the dignity of the legislature, and by extension the state. Ukrainian civil society, as ever, is far ahead of its politicians. If the politicians won’t change, then it’s up to the Ukrainian public to change the politicians. The next Rada elections can’t come soon enough.
