Rada Report Challenge: Accountability of the Members of Parliament

July 16, 2015

VoxUkraine and the civil movement CHESNO urged the lawmakers to report regularly on their activities in Verkhovna Rada and outside it.

15 July 2015 VoxUkraine and the movement CHESNO announced the launch of a campaign Rada Report Challenge, and urged the members of parliament (MPs) to submit a quarterly report in a suggested form on the results of their work for the period 1 April to 30 June 2015. Media Law Institute participated in the development of the reporting form for the MPs of Ukraine.

Thus, the public expects from the deputies an all-round evaluation of their achievements, in particular, a concise information on:

  • Law-making work: the expected results of legislations and amendments that were initiated by the MPs (the information about a number of initiated legislations shall be automatically added to the report published the website of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine);
  • Deputies’ control (thematic queries and appeals of a member of parliament, and the most significant results of their consideration (a number of initiated queries will be automatically added to the report published on the website of Verkhovna Rada);
  • Work in the committee and the faction: a number of visited committee and faction meetings, and raised by a deputy issues and results of discussions in the committee);
  • Work with the citizens: a number of viewed appeals, held meetings and received citizens, and of resolved questions, raised by the citizens);
  • Collaboration with civil society organisations: the information on a number of the organisations met with, what questions were initiated and what results were achieved;
  • International cooperation: in what events/ meetings participated, what questions were initiated and what results have been achieved;
  • Financial statements: statements of expenditures of budget money assigned to the deputies to perform their powers;
  • Information for cooperation with the deputies: names and contacts of the assistants in the sphere of lawmaking, who are responsible for media relations and the reception of citizens;
  • Finally, self-assessment: the key successes of a member of parliament for the reporting quarter.

 

20 members of parliament have already sent in their reports to be published within the framework of this campaign – in accordance with the form suggested by the civil activists.

IMG_1165 At the same time, as addressed by the director of Media  Law Institute and the co-founder of the movement  CHESNO Taras Shevchenko, “this is a unique  situation when the members  of parliament are given  money, but they are not asked to  report their spending  neither by Verkhovna Rada nor by  any law. Only the  public for the first time demands  accountability and  suggests a simple and functional  instrument.”

 Rada Report Challenge is the initiative of VoxUkraine and the movement CHESNO that invites the MPs of Ukraine to regularly report on their work in Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The initiative aims at showing the public that fundamental changes are really happening.

The venue for a press briefing was kindly provided by Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.