The coalition cannot distribute VR committees due to the appetites of Samopomich

Samopomich can not yet folded his worth in Rada

Photo: UNIAN

The party of the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadoviy is demanding that the agreement of deputies on the principle of distribution of parliamentary committees be revised. Members of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) are not ready to satisfy the appetites of its younger partner, believing that its demands are driven by the desire to improve its own position in the local elections and feed the appetites of unknown sponsors. The unwillingness of two parties to reach an agreement is preventing the coalition from distributing managerial positions in the new parliament.

A particular approach

Yesterday, the session of the Coalition Council was held during which representatives of the factions of the majority tried to finalize the distribution of parliamentary committees in order to vote on this issue the next day in the session hall. On the evening before the session MP Serhiy Pashynskiy (People’s Front) assured Capital that members of the coalition have already reached an agreement. “The most important thing is that we agreed on distribution of the committees according to the proportional principle. The committees have already been distributed,” said Pashynskiy.

According to this principle, each faction will be granted the right to manage specialized committees proportional to the number of deputies in the given faction. This means that the coalition will get 23 of the 27 committees – 11 to the PPB, 7 – to the People’s Front, 2 – to Samopomich and the Radical Party and 1 – to the Batkivshchyna faction.

A decision was made to allocate one committee to the two deputy groups Economic Development and Will of the People each. Two committees on issues of procedures and on human rights were allocated to the Opposition Bloc, though earlier the party contended for six committees and the vice speaker’s seat.

As such, the minority in the Verkhovna Rada will be allotted four committees, though in the last convocation of the parliament three parties of the united opposition headed 13 committees and the post of vice speaker. “All this is based on the proportional principle. Currently, there are 423 people’s deputies in the parliament, 302 of which are members of the coalition. It’s simple math,” says Pashynskiy. A source of Capital said the Coalition Council decided to not give the opposition a seat in the presidium.

Be that as it may, after the session of the Coalition Council it turned out that pro-government factions failed to reach an agreement. Indeed, people’s deputy Semen Semenchenko (Samopomich) said his party is contending for a larger number of committees than is allowed by quota. Moreover, Samopomich is also rallying for Oksana Syroyed for the post of first vice speaker.

“The position of principle of Samopomich is “we don’t need posts without the ability to realistically change the system and gain a victory in the battle. We are ready to decline any initiatives if there are candidates that can do more,” said Semenchenko.

A source of the publication in the Petro Poroshenko Bloc said that Sadoviy’s team changed its requirements during the talks held on Saturday. “We went for a compromise. We agreed to give them the post of the vice speaker and two or three committees, though not on defense and security issues for which Semenchenko is contending. He can speak his mind as much as he wants, but he does not even have a higher education”, the source said.

First Deputy of the PPB faction Ihor Kononenko told Capital that Samopomich did not put forth any serious arguments about changing the principles of distribution of committees during the talks. “They are not setting any conditions, but if to read between the lines it seems that faction’s members will not vote for the formation of committees,” he said.

Secret wishes

People’s deputy Ivan Krulko (Batkivshchyna) says the behavior of Samopomich can be construed as preparations for local elections. He believes that for this very reason the party decided to not run for a seat in the government and is trying to compensate this with managerial positions in the parliament. “One must understand that one round of elections is over, but the second round has begun. Leadership of a committee requires less responsibility than the work of the executive body,” Krulko told Capital.

A source of Capital in the PPB says the pro-presidential party has no intentions of making concessions to Samopomich. “We do not plan to stimulate the presidential campaign of Andriy Sadoviy. Of course, it is more beneficial to go on the air than work in the government. The interests of the sponsors can be traced behind the behavior of Samopomich,” an interlocutor told the publication, not mentioning exactly who he was referring to. Kononenko says members of the coalition plan to persuade Samopomich by Monday morning.