A group of people's deputies, including Ivan Krulko (Batkivshchyna), as well as representatives of the Servant of the People Alina Zagoruyko and Olena Shulyak, registered draft law No. 13618 in the Verkhovna Rada. The document provides for restrictions on the powers of territorial election commissions (TECs) in cases of recall of deputies of local councils on a popular initiative.
The draft law proposes to prohibit TECs from making decisions on replacing recalled deputies until the court has finally considered all disputes regarding the legality of the recall. This means that the next candidate on the list will not be able to receive a mandate while the legal process is ongoing.
The document also proposes:
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clearly define the moment of termination and the moment of renewal of the powers of a recalled deputy;
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introduce a special simplified and shortened procedure for considering such cases by administrative courts in order to avoid delaying the process;
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oblige the Central Election Commission to recognize the elected and register the deputy in the event of inaction of the TEC;
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establish deadlines within which TECs are required to make decisions on replacing mandates.
The initiators are convinced that these changes will eliminate legal uncertainty for both recalled deputies and candidates who can replace them in local councils, and will make the procedure more transparent and less politicized.
