Obviously, this is yet another sector ripe for reform.
Voters deserve to know in who is bankrolling their politicians because such knowledge will help them decide whose interests are being served from the cozy seats of the Verkhovna Rada. Thus, civic activists talk about the need for new election legislation. Changes must be made, they say, to limit spending and oblige parties and candidates to report their sources of money early, honestly and often.
Setting limits on advertising budgets and revealing the names of donors are reasonable prices to pay for a democratic society, and will increase transparency and hopefully lead to a more accountable, diverse and able parliament – and one that is not controlled by gray eminences.
With these changes, parties will have to start real campaigns that ask voters for support and donations, something entirely new for Ukraine. We might finally get campaigns where parties will have to earn people’s trust. Up until now, political parties have relied on money from oligarchs.
But how to make lawmakers who got elected thanks to unlimited and non-transparent campaign financing for to get rid of the practice? Observers from Opora say it is possible, with public pressure. If they succeed, the Oct. 28 parliamentary elections may go down in history as the last election with dirty finances – and we’ll know that the legislature is making a long-overdue start on the road to accountability.
