The Riigikogu’s Center Party faction sent a written question to Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise, which calls attention to the activities of the parliamentary board, which ignores the good practices of parliamentary practice and limits the opportunities for deputies to exercise their mandate.
“The faction of the Center Party is not represented in the Social Committee today. For more than a month, the board of the Riigikogu has refused to grant our request to transfer one of our faction’s deputies to this committee, citing as an argument that all seats in this committee are occupied,” explained a member of the Center Party faction. Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart.
According to the deputy, the passive action of the Riigikogu board regarding the Center Party faction is surprising, because the rest of the members of parliament are allowed to move freely between different committees. “This creates an unequal situation and seriously limits our opportunities to participate in the procedural process of drafts in the social field. At the same time, this situation gives the coalition a disproportionate advantage in the committees,” explained Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart.
The politician of the Center Party added that the Supreme Court has also referred to the Constitution and has pointed out the obligation to ensure equal treatment of members of the Riigikogu when exercising their mandate. “This means that, in principle, people’s representatives must be able to participate in the activities of the Riigikogu on equal terms. The free exercise of the mandate is one of the most important political rights from the point of view of democracy, therefore any restriction in this regard must be subject to strict constitutionality control,” explained Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart. “At the moment, the board of the Riigikogu has not been able to convincingly justify or put forward any argument that would outweigh the rights arising from the constitution.”
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart pointed out that the situation in the Finance Committee, where both the chairman and the vice-chairman represent a de facto coalition. “This is particularly worrying, considering that Riigikogu Chairman Lauri Hussar has repeatedly said that the problematic situation needs a solution, but unfortunately he has not been able to find it in more than a month,” he stated.
“The question here is not even about the emergence of the so-called jock scheme or someone’s right, but about the importance of the rules of good practice historically formed in the Riigikogu and the need to follow them. Therefore, we ask the chancellor of justice to review the situation and assess whether and to what extent the rights of the faction of the Center Party and deputies in the Riigikogu are limited,” added Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart.