The trend for “new faces” is decreasing! And this, on the one hand, is good news!
The results of the survey of the Sociological Group Rating showed that the majority of respondents (60-70%) believe that it is more important for parties at the local level to have a strong local leader than well-known national, experienced politicians than “new faces”, a good team than a strong leader. One way or another, political players are changing, and the authorities are being “renewed”. In particular, Agency for Legislative Initiatives counted that 80.4% of “new faces” entered the Verkhovna Rada after the last parliamentary elections in 2019. These are people who have never received a mandate as a member of parliament before.
Experience shows that the coming to power of “new faces” is not the same as radical positive changes in the country, the eradication of corruption, and economic growth. Of course, new people need to appear in the political process. But we insist that politics must be a professional activity. To become an effective manager, you need to gain years of experience, earn credibility in society, work first for your community, and then reach the national level.
In Ukraine, it is necessary to build a system for the education of political leaders and the formation of strong political parties so that this smooth growth of politicians takes place in a professional environment. That is how we finally could have the opportunity to choose professionals in their field – politics, and not just “new faces” who were previously engaged in a completely different area.
We are working to make society aware of this. On the other hand, experienced leaders in Ukraine are also often not professionals. And that needs to be changed too.
Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and Director of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, spoke on Ukrainian Radio about why politics should be a professional activity and why we shouldn’t believe only in “new faces”.
