Knowing who your representatives are has never been easier in Ukraine, thanks to the Chesno (Honest) civic movement. The organization has launched a website where anyone can monitor Ukrainian parliamentary members and their level of integrity.
The so-called Chesnometer is a constantly updated tool measuring the integrity and personal level of responsibility of the Ukrainian MPs based on six criteria: violations of rights and freedoms; change in political positions; involvement in cases of corruption; transparency in their income declaration and the extent to which this matches their lifestyle; participation in parliamentary work; if they vote personally or they allow others to vote for them.
The current results of the Chesnometer are very unflattering for the MPs. Only 2 out of the 449 have a complete clean sheet. The homepage shows figures for each of the six criteria. Most violations have to do with involvement in corruption, voting personally or transparency of the declared income and its compliance with lifestyle.
The Chesnometer also allows different types of search. One can be conducted by selecting the criteria of interest and the website will present a list of those who comply or do not comply with them.
Another kind is more MP-related. Each representative is listed under the party he or she belongs to. By simply clicking on the MP’s face, the user can check which criteria he or she has violated. A further click on the MP’s photo leads to a detailed and sourced report on the MP’s performance per criteria.
With this system, Ukranians can decide for themselves, uninfluenced by the rhetoric of the electoral campaign which started 30 July, which candidate deserves to be re-elected in the upcoming October parliamentary elections.
Below, Ukraine’s three WORST MPs according to the Chesnometer
and Ukraine’s two BEST MPs
Images courtesy Chesno.org, translated from Ukrainian with Google Translate