MPs were off for 53 days during the first hundred days of the activity of the newly elected Ukrainian parliament, according to a study conducted by the Opora Civil Network.
“Of these hundred days, 53 were days off. Therefore lawmakers holidayed for more than half of this period,” the head of the network, Olha Aivazovska, said during the presentation of the study on Friday.
She noted that 20 days were workdays and that plenary meetings were held during ten of them, while during the other ten days MPs were engaged in lawmaking. Ukrainian MPs also worked in committees for 19 days, and eight days were devoted to working with their voters, she added.
As for the intensity of the participation of MPs of parliamentary factions in the drafting of bills, the study showed that all lawmakers had participated in the drafting of bills at least once, and that the leader in the drafting of bills was Batkivschyna faction head Arseniy Yatseniuk (48 documents).
In addition, the study showed that active MPs in this area were Serhiy Mischenko, Tetiana Sliuz (Batkivschyna), Vitali Klitschko (UDAR) and Petro Symonenko (the Communist Party).
Aivazovska said that these are relative figures, as the practice shows that bills are often officially authored by MPs who did not actually participate in their creation.
She said that the situation in the Ukrainian parliament was getting complicated, since it is losing its position in the political arena.
“The parliament is not dominating in the state in the settlement of certain political issues,” she said.
Aivazovska noted that if Ukrainian MPs do not work effectively, the Ukrainian parliament would eventually lose its influence in the political life of the country.
