The new initiative is a local referendum
On March 1, a press conference was held at the Expert Club “Pure Policy” dedicated to the start of the project “Reform of the Institute of Local Referendum: Participation of Citizens in Governance”, which implements the Polissya Fund of International and Regional Studies within the framework of a joint initiative of Pact Inc., the International Renaissance Foundation and the Eastern Foundation.
According to the words Gennady Maxaka, the head of the Polissya Fund, today, for the public and local self -government bodies, the question of the possibilities of direct participation of citizens in government, including through a local referendum, is becoming more urgent. In September 2010, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted a draft Law on Local Referendum (RN 7082), which was approved by the Parliament in the first reading on 19.04.2011. This project contains a number of significant shortcomings. As a consequence, even if it is approved as a law, it is unlikely to expand the ability of citizens to address local issues.
A realistic way of solving this problem is the consolidated influence of the public, experts and interested representatives of local self -government on Parliament in order to include in the said draft law provisions that would make it possible to hold a local referendum – primarily on the initiative of the public and for the purpose of considering a wide range of issues, and the public.
As noted Yevgeny Romanenko, the project manager, to achieve the goal, several public organizations from different regions of Ukraine consolidate their efforts. In general, the design measures will take place in eight regions of Ukraine. The analytical and coordination support of the project will be carried out by the laboratory of legislative initiatives, which will also be a communication with parliament.
As part of the project, the Polissya Fund provides in mm. Chernihiv and Sumy a number of expert measures, in particular, focus groups, expert polls, “round tables”, including with the participation of specialists from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Also, considerable attention will be paid to the popularization of a local referendum – in Chernihiv and Sumy regions it is planned to form regional public platforms in support of an effective local referendum. The central event of the project should be to hold a mini-referendum in Chernihiv in July 2012.
Source:
Yevgeny Romanenko,
The Polissya Fund,
0462-661-127
Reference:
The implementation of the “UNITER)“ Support Local Initiatives ”component, which is implemented by Pact Inc., has become possible due to the sincere support of the US people provided through the USAID Agency (USAID) and financial support of the International Renaissance Foundation.