Parubiy: Parliament May Fail to Promptly Appoint New Members of Central Election Commission

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy said to journalists there was a risk that the Parliament won’t promptly consider the appointment of new members of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

"No political consensus between parties has been achieved on this matter thus far. Unless we gain such a consensus, initiating formal consideration is extremely precarious," Parubiy underlined. According to the Chairman, the reason is that every CEC member is appointed or dismissed individually.

"So, it may happen that we dismiss current members of the CEC and fail to appoint new ones," he explained. He added that the heads of parliamentary factions requested to postpone this matter.

"Starting from this week, we will meet the heads of factions to discuss our further plans. If we reach agreement and have enough votes for new members of the CEC, I will initiate formal voting immediately," Parubiy pledged.

In early June, the President initiated replacement of 12 CEC members, as their powers had expired. The Parliament was expected to consider the appointment of 11 new members in mid-June, but this was postponed due to the request of the heads of parliamentary factions.

Civil society experts – namely, civic network Opora – stated that replacement of the CEC members was already past deadline and political games were taking place.

Source: Roman Romaniuk, Ukrayinska Pravda