The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine broke the agreements reached during the consultations between the President, leadership of the Parliament and heads of factions and groups on May 21. It was stated by Advisor to the President of Ukraine - Representative of the President in the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk.
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clearly stated in his program that he stood for the open lists and new Electoral Code. Following the yesterday’s agreements, a constructive decision was proposed - decreasing the electoral threshold to 3% and elimination of the majority election system,” Ruslan Stefanchuk said following the session of the Parliament.
“The Rada didn’t support that despite agreements with the President,” the Advisor to the President added.
At the same time, he emphasized that the suggested option was not the best, but the adoption of the Electoral Code was currently unrealistic. "Confidential lists are not what we dream about. But this is definitely better than the system with the "buckwheat-majority". So we agreed to this option. But you saw how the agreements are being implemented," Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasized.
The Representative of the President also added that the new Verkhovna Rada would raise the issue of open-list elections.
Answering the question whether extraordinary elections to the Parliament may take place under the old system, Ruslan Stefanchuk said that it depended not on the President, but on the Verkhovna Rada. "If the Verkhovna Rada does not change the electoral law, we have no other option, because the President is has the right of legislative initiative, not the adoption of laws," he explained.
The Advisor to the President of Ukraine also emphasized that there was no political crisis between the Verkhovna Rada and the President, but there was a low level of trust in the Parliament.