What should Transcarpathia expect from elections, including local one? (Opinions)

In Uzhgorod Press Club, there was the meeting on "The new parliament of Ukraine: expectations and prognosis. Preparations for local elections." The meeting was held under the election project of Uzhgorod Press Club with the support of Media Development Foundation of the USA Embassy in Ukraine.

Marianna Kolodiy, political scientist, sociologist, the director of the Center for Gender Education at UzhNU noted that the second phase of the electoral process begins and the question is: will the work of the parliament be organized or not. "This parliament will start to work eventually, but it is difficult to predict what decisions it will make – Marianna Kolodiy says. – In no other country of the world, coalition agreements are prepared as long as here. Obviously, the majority will be formed, but we have not heard political leaders: in particular, it is unclear what kind of reforms they are going to implement. Politicians did not take into account the lessons of the election campaign, people expect clarity and has not received it." According to Marianna Kolodiy, this time, the electoral system in Ukraine was a hybrid, but preparation for the proportional electoral system continues.

Serhiy Fedaka, Doctor of History, Professor, despite the "Ukrainian approach" to elections, is looking at the situation as a historian and is more optimistic. "Given the current situation, it was not the worst election. At least formally it was much better than previous ones: there is no CPU, no Party of Regions, which accounted for almost 200 votes in the last Parliament, with the exception of the Opposition bloc (but the Parliament cannot be without opposition). Other 5 political forces represent the Euromaidan. More or less, it is the Parliament that corresponds to the current state of society, – Serhiy Fedaka says. – Our society is not perfect. On Tuesday, at the morning session, the coalition will be formed and Yatsenyuk will be announced the Prime Minister. I hope that by the evening, or the next Tuesday or Wednesday, all the ministers will be announced."

According to the professor, the main thing that the President will be demanding from the new Parliament is appropriate decisions on the East, other decisions aimed at restoring territorial integrity. Another set of issues that will need to be considered by the Parliament is financial one, in particular, the stabilization of the hryvnia, social benefits and more.

As for local election, in his opinion, it should be held on time – in September 2015, and there is no need for early election. "It would be normal, because early elections are becoming commonplace and it is wrong", – Serhiy Fedaka says – Elections must be held according to the law, in normal, not emergency mode.

Local elections must be prepared, Marianna Kolodiy says. And some of local leaders are currently fighting in volunteer battalions. "It would be logical for some changes in legislation towards decentralization to take place – Marianna Kolodiy said. – Many local leaders are willing to stay in non-decentralized communities. And people are also not ready. It would be unwise to make such changes in a hurry."