Petition Effectiveness or How the Community of Kropyvnytskyi reached its goal

Petition Effectiveness or How the Community of Kropyvnytskyi reached its goal

“A water park will appear in Kropyvnytskyi!” This could turn out to be a story of an online petition with a happy ending. And that is how Anatolii Stoian, Coordinator of “Active Community” in the Kirovohrad region, and Olesia Mironova, Communications Coordinator, start telling about it.

Anatolii Stoian, Coordinator of “Active Community” in Kropyvnytskyi

On July 2, 2015, the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals” was amended, new provisions on online appeal and online petition were added.

Where do the citizens appeal to? They can reach out to the local self-government body via the official website of the respective body.

What should an online petition include? It should contain essence of the issue raised, petition author’s (originator’s) full name (last name, first name, patronymic name), and email address. The date when the petition was started as well as the number of the signatures received and the list of the signatories must be indicated on the local self-government body’s website.

Olesia Mironova, Communications Coordinator of “Active Community” in Kropyvnytskyi

What are the restrictions and prohibitions concerning online petitions? An online petition cannot contain calls for destroying constitutional order and disruption of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, propaganda of war, abuse, violence, inciting ethnic, racial, and religious conflicts, calls for acts of terrorism, encroaching on human rights and freedoms.

Remember, that the author (originator) of an online petition is fully responsible for its contents.

What must the local self-government body do to make online petitions fully functioning? For the time of signature collection, the local self-government body must ensure:

– free access and use of the information system by the help of which the signatures are collected;

– online registration for the citizens to sign a petition;

– prevention of the autofill, automatic signing of the petition among other things without the citizen participation;

– collection of the information on when the petition was started and signed by the citizen.

What happens to an online petition in case it does not get enough signatures within the time limit? In this case the online petition is considered as a citizens’ appeal in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals”.

What are the requirements for the online petitions that should be met? For an online petition, directed towards a local self-government body, the review procedure is determined by the local council. If the petition includes the request to have it considered during the civil hearing, the author (originator) has the right to present the petition at the session of the local community’s self-government body. In this case, the period of consideration for the petition is extended for the amount of time needed for such hearings. The information on whether the online petition was supported or not is to be provided by the Head of the local Council on the official website of the respective body. A response to the online petition includes the results of examination of the relevant issues with necessary explanations. When appropriate, the proposals provided in the petition can be realized by the respective body making decisions in favor of the issues that fall within the scope of its responsibility. The amount of signatures needed and the time limit are established according to the ULC’s (united local community) statute. As stated in the Statute of the ULC of Kropyvnytskyi https://cutt.ly/wj5FRUX, an online petition is a type of the citizens’ collective appeal. A petition, directed towards Kropyvnytskyi City Council, its Executive Committee, is considered in case it receives at least 450 signatures within a 45-day period since its publication. The City Council ensures that it is possible to submit online appeals and petitions towards the relevant bodies and officials via the official website.

How does one submit an online petition directed towards the City Council? This can be done on the official website of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council. First, a citizen has to go to the section “To Citizens”, then click “E-services” and “Local Petitions” (http://kr-rada.gov.ua/mistsevi-petitsiyi/). After this, go to the “Unified System of the Local Petitions” and click the field “+ Create a Petition”; log in with the email and a password and enter the text of your petition. After this the petition will be automatically checked and in most cases the signature collection will be started on the same day.

How popular is this tool with the citizens? We monitored its usage on the official website of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council – turned out it is increasing. 26 online petitions were submitted in 2017; 49, 69 and 84 in 2018, 2019 та 2020 respectively! However, their efficiency remains low, only 15% of petitions published receive the necessary amount of signatures! As for the petitions, that reach this goal – they are recommendatory and local authorities are not obliged to fulfill them, but the originator receives a reply at least. The online petition published on October 6, 2020, “On Driving Ban for Grain Trucks” received 474 signatures https://petition.e-dem.ua/kirovohrad/Petition/View/327.

Did you know the session of the Council can be held for petition consideration? It is stated in paragraph 8, article 46 of the Law “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” that a session of the Council is to be held to consider an online petition which received the necessary amount of signatures within the time limit.

How did the local authorities react to that online petition? It is now being checked at the Head office of the Residential Services Sector. The previously mentioned petition will be considered in February-March 2021.

Now we will share a success story of e-democracy application in our city. On May 2, 2019, an online petition concerning a water park construction was registered on the official website of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council. It has received the necessary amount of signatures (450) in the short period of time https://petition.e-dem.ua/kirovohrad/Petition/View/201 . It took about 1 year and 8 months for the realization process to get started https://www.kr-rada.gov.ua/…/Answ-Panchenko-20210114.PDF . And on January 21, 2021, Andrii Raikovych, the Mayor of Kropyvnytskyi had a meeting with the Coordinator of the project C.R.E.A.M. Ukraine in the central district, Tetiana Dovhanich. The first meeting of this kind was held last year. Then the opportunities for cooperation were presented to the foreign representatives of C.R.E.A.M. Bulgaria. A few investment opportunities were presented and as the result the investors considered the water park construction a priority. The Mayor assured that the city is ready – the Council is now looking for an appropriate land plot for water park construction https://cutt.ly/Pj5LroT . This way, e-democracy has a chance to be implemented in Kropyvnytskyi owing to the community being active.

Note. The mission of the “Active Community” is to achieve prosperity through the democratic development of Ukrainian communities. The goal for 2025 is to activate and involve at least 1% of citizens in decision-making and promotion of reforms in Ukraine on a systemic basis for the well-being of Ukrainian communities. The initiative was created through the activities of the Institute “Respublica”. We are working to increase the civil activity of citizens.