The number of deputies in the Verkhovna Rada is declining, and three of them resigned in December. Majoritarians Maxim Efimov and Dmitry Shpenov, as well as Vitaly Danilov, abandoned their mandates on the Batkivshchyna lists. Now there are 401 people's representatives left in parliament. Already 51 deputies have lost their powers during the entire convocation. In 2019, this mainly concerned deputies from the Servant of the People political party, who were appointed to the government or other government bodies.
The second wave followed after a full-scale invasion, and there were mainly representatives of the banned OPZZH on their own statement. And it looks like we are on the verge of a third wave. According to Apostrophe, there are other deputies who want to draw up a mandate, but for various reasons they are delaying it. Why did deputies begin to resign their mandates again?
"Everyone has their own destiny"
First, a little about retirees. All three are old-timers of parliament. And although each biography is unique, in many ways it is a reflection of the collective portrait of those who leave the Verkhovna Rada voluntarily.
Vitaly Danilov is closely connected with the Kharkov region. He was a people's deputy of the last four convocations on the Batkivshchyna lists. He had interests in the oil industry.
“He held the Batkivshchyna franchise in the region for a long time, but far from being in the leading roles. Since the beginning of the war, he actively promoted a registered charitable foundation. As I understand it, he was hit hard by the cessation of production at the Sakhalin field, perhaps this was one of the reasons for the removal of the mandate,” notes Apostrophe’s interlocutor in the Kharkov politicum.
A little information: in April of this year, the court arrested the corporate rights of three enterprises: Sakhalinskoye LLC, owned by Vitaly Danilov, as well as Sirius-1 LLC and East European Petroleum LLC. They are suspected of misappropriation of gas from the Sakhalin oil and gas field. The assets of the enterprises were transferred to the management of the Asset Tracing and Management Agency (ARMA).
Dmitry Shpenov is perhaps the most odious of all three individuals. He also started in Kharkov, but originally from Krivoy Rog, was a people’s deputy from the Party of Regions, then in three convocations he was elected as a self-nominated candidate in the 37th constituency in the Dnepropetrovsk region. He distinguished himself as the author of the “referendum law” during the Yanukovych era.
According to political scientist and sociologist from Kharkov Denis Podyachev, there is no particular need to look for a “Kharkov trace” in the figures of two of the three.
“Shpenov generally built his political career as a representative of the Dnepropetrovsk region; in Kharkov, he only had education and the beginning of his work experience,” says the expert.
Maxim Efimov is another former regional player. From Yanukovych's party in 2007-2014 he was a deputy of the Kramatorsk City Council. But after the Revolution of Dignity, he entered parliament as a self-nominated candidate in the 48th district in the same Kramatorsk. Then he joined the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, and in this convocation he was a member of the Restoration of Ukraine deputy group.
According to local journalist, coordinator of the Diy-Kramatorsk Center for Public Control Andrey Romanenko, Maxim Efimov is the actual owner of the district.
“The mayor, now the head of the military administration, is his man. His friend, it seems, from his school days. As for the goal, it seems to me that this is some kind of cumulative story: firstly, there is nothing special to do in the Rada. If he is deeper immersed in processes that we do not see, but he does, I understand that there will be no money there for the next few years, and the second part is quite possible that this is just an attempt to leave for more comfortable living conditions. He hasn’t been around in the public sphere for a very long time,” says Andrei Romanenko.
Reasons for leaving the Council
As befits a representative body of power, the Verkhovna Rada is very heterogeneous. Everyone had different motives for going to parliament. And perhaps this is what allowed the deputies to work quite well for at least the first year of the Great War. But now there is something in common.
“The powers remain less and less, but the responsibility remains just as high,” notes Igor Popov, an expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, and former chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Voters Committee and people’s deputy of the 8th convocation, in a commentary to Apostrophe.
By a strange (or not) coincidence, the Verkhovna Rada voted for the resignation of all three people’s deputies two days before the opening of public access to the declarations. But, according to parliamentary analyst of the HONEST Movement Alexander Salizhenko, the factor of resumption of declaration and publicity of the register does not play such a cardinal role. Although, in general, for some people’s deputies the mandate has lost its value.
“This is no longer a guarantee that law enforcement officers will not touch you; there will be no problems with other authorities. We see a number of proceedings against people’s deputies from both the Servant of the People and the OPZZH, ranging from proceedings on fraud, corruption crimes, to suspicions of high treason. It is easier for some people’s deputies to refuse their mandate and do something else than to go to parliament, to go under the close attention of society, journalists, and the military, among others. For such deputies, the mandate was more of a burden than an achievement,” notes Alexander Salizhenko.
According to Denis Podvyachev, not only ordinary representatives of certain segments of the population, but also those who, it would seem, should have demonstrated an example of resilience, can feel “tired of war.”
“In conditions when some of the people’s representatives were nominated to parliament either for the purpose of obtaining immunity, or for the purpose of, so to speak, “earning money” from voting after the latest high-profile cases (the story with Dubinsky, the story of Poroshenko crossing the border, etc.), they could decide that the mandate is for current conditions no longer solves the “tasks” for which they attended the Verkhovna Rada ,” adds Denis Podvyachev.
The psychological factor is no less important.
“This is largely a consequence of the attack on the status of a deputy. That is, there is actually a campaign of harassment going on. The return of electronic declarations, lifelong PEP - this creates a psychological atmosphere that supposedly these people have lost the presumption of innocence. This is certainly insulting. Of course, not the main thing, but one of the factors is the more complex procedure for traveling abroad,” says the expert.
Fewer deputies, same amount of work
When deputies resign, others must replace them. But this doesn't always happen. If a person on the list resigns, the next person on the list receives the mandate. But this does not apply to the list of the former OPZZH. In addition, to replace the “majoritarians,” new elections must be held, which is impossible during martial law. So it turns out that the number of people’s deputies is gradually decreasing.
“This is indeed a record low number of deputies, but based on the results of work or a formal point of view. then there is no threat. According to the Constitution there should be 450 people's deputies. At the same time, another article of the Constitution says that parliament is empowered if two-thirds of people’s deputies are elected and work—that’s 300 or more votes. And we see that at almost every meeting there is a part of the votes adopted by the constitutional majority. Last year, there were almost 40% of decisions,” emphasizes Alexander Salizhenko.
But in the future, this creates the problem of collecting quorum. For the Verkhovna Rada to make a decision. there must be at least two-thirds of its constitutional composition in the hall - 300 deputies.
“Even if 401 is alive, then according to statistics it means that 20-30 people will be sick or will not be able to come due to some force majeure circumstances, another 10-20 will be on business trips, so it will be increasingly difficult to collect a quorum,” emphasizes Igor Popov .
Another interesting point. Maxim Efimov was the co-chairman of the deputy group “Restoration of Ukraine” and his very statement about the termination of powers threatens the existence of the deputy group as a whole, because it had 17 deputies - the minimum possible number. According to the regulations, there are 15 days for someone to join the group. Otherwise, all members of Restoration of Ukraine will become non-factional.
These are seemingly small things, but they still create a certain advantage and preferences.
“This is the right to participate in a conciliation meeting or to register for speeches from the podium or from the seat. Collective appeals from a group or faction are more significant than when one people’s deputy appeals,” says Alexander Salizhenko.
Once upon a time, Vyacheslav Chornovil divided parties and deputies into ideological ones and “to the trough.” When this trough is obtained at too high a price or is not available at all, parliament self-cleanses. Another thing is that those who are virtuous and at the same time professional are not always ready to go to the Rada.
“It is very important for us to preserve parliamentarism, because with each convocation the power leaves parliament and decisions are made outside parliament. This is wrong and a threat to Ukrainian democracy. Despite the fact that we may have complaints against specific deputies or certain factions, or parliament as a body, we need to preserve it, moreover, strengthen it ,” concludes Igor Popov.
