On February 4, near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the members of the civil platform “The Reanimation Package of Reforms” have treated the MPs of the coalition factions with a real cake decorated with ministers’ portfolios. Today, when the content of the updated Coalition Agreement and rearrangements in the government are being discussed on the sidelines, the RPR experts claim that they are ready to co-author the agreement by updating its format, setting strict deadlines, and determining state institutions to lead the process of agreement implementation.  

“We are presenting these nutritious portfolios to the MPs, so that they divided them, satisfied their appetite, and started to openly develop a new format of Parliament’s and Government’s work. The Coalition Agreement should be written in the format of open expert discussion and implemented by a new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers. Neither offices in the Government, nor provisions of the Coalition Agreement should be a result of blackmail taking place on the sidelines. Today we have the last chance to start working in line with the new rules,” says Inna Borzylo, executive director of Center UA, member of the RPR Council.

In 2014, the RPR experts took active part in the writing of the text of the Coalition Agreement. Today, while an annex to the Agreement for 2016 is being prepared, the members of the public platform are calling on the heads of factions to support revision of the Coalition Agreement and take into account the proposals of the public. Apart from specific legislative steps, the updated agreement should include clearly defined responsible subjects of legislative initiative, as well as specific deadlines for adoption of each package of draft laws.

“The Coalition Agreement should include a requirement to adopt in the second reading, along with the Constitutional amendments, a package of laws to specify the measures to be taken to implement the judicial reform: establishment of new courts (including a new Supreme Court), the procedure for recruiting judges, and the procedure of judges’ certification with public also taking part in assessing their professional integrity. It is also very important to introduce a competition to fill in the offices of the Prosecutor General and judges of the Constitutional Court. Clear deadlines for introducing these changes have to be set,” stresses Mykhailo Zhernakov, leading expert of the RPR ‘Judicial Reform’ group, member of the RPR Council.  

The Cabinet of Ministers should be rebooted not on the principle of quota division of spheres of influence – the candidates for the ministerial offices should be able to lead the reform project, laid down in the Coalition Agreement. Without clearly defined deadlines and responsible persons in government, the updated Agreement will not be worth paper that it will be written on, nor will it be the main political document to set the rhythm and direction of work of the parliament and the government. The RPR representatives stress that the process of drafting this important document should not turn into a political comedy or take place behind closed doors.

Mykola Vyhovskyi, expert of the RPR group ‘Public Administration Reform’ called for reforming the rules of functioning of the Cabinet of Ministers that have to be laid down in the updated Agreement: “It is essential to turn the Government into a body capable of implementing reforms based on policy analysis with appropriate public consultations, while the central executive bodies should be transformed into exclusively administrative bodies that do not shape public policy, while appointments to all positions should be made solely on the basis of civil service legislation. This will prevent political pressure and manipulation during the implementation of the public policy.”

Oksana Nechyporenko, member of the RPR Council, voiced the RPR statement concerning the inadmissibility of political elites’ pressurizing the reform process in Ukraine. “A shameful practice when the issues are ‘settled’ by ‘grey cardinals’ pushes truly effective teams out of the government, which restores the political quota principle, when only political loyalty is taken into account. The next steps of all political players and agencies authorized to combat corruption, which will be taken in the coming days, will determine the fate of Ukraine – they will either reveal the capacity and the will of the authorities to transform, or will signify the rollback of the reforms and start of the next election campaign.”

After the event civil activists handed over 5 pieces of cake decorated with ministers’ portfolios to the faction leaders who signed the Coalition Agreement to remind them to reboot the Government by appointing professional ministers.