Verkhovna Rada clears the ground for President’s Law on Parliamentary Elections

On Tuesday evening the Verkhovna Rada rejected four draft laws on the parliamentary elections and nine draft amendments to the present Law. Not one of the documents got the necessary 226 votes.

The draft laws rejected were No. 3366 from MP Vladislav Kaskyv proposing open party candidate lists and a 2% election barrier for parties entering parliament;

No. 3468 from Our Ukraine MP, Yury Klyuchkovsky envisaged a proportional system with open candidate lists; a 3% election barrier.   It proposed removing the option of voting “against all candidates” and participation in the elections of blocs.

No. 4499 from Mykola Katerynchuk from the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defence faction proposed a mixed proportional-majority system.

An MP from Lytvyn’s bloc (part of the ruling majority, with Lytvyn Speaker – translator] withdrew his draft law.

The Verkhovna Rada also rejected amendments regarding a repeat vote count; open candidate lists; on voting and determining the outcome of the elections and others.

Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said that the discussion regarding all these rejected draft laws had been a “prelude to a serious conversation” about what kind of electoral system Ukraine should have.  of the Verkhovna Rada,

Opposition deputies had on Monday at a session of the Conciliation Council stated that all the draft laws in the Verkhovna Rada would be rejected in order to clear the way for the President’s draft law. Their fears were confirmed on Tuesday by the Head of the Party of the Regions faction, Oleksandr Yefremov who informed journalists at a briefing that there were no voices for adopting the existing draft laws.