The role of the opposition in a democratic parliament: finding a balance between the legitimate power and the tyranny of the majority

The article provides a comprehensive political and legal analysis of the role of the opposition in a democratic parliament, including the rights and guarantees of the parliamentary minority as a preventing factor of the tyranny of the majority in the transformation of political regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

It is noted that in a constitutional democracy, the opposition, which represents the interests of the minority in the parliament on an equal footing with the government, which represents the will of the majority, is a part of a legitimately elected government. Each of them performs its inherent functions, in particular: those representing the majority implement the strategy of social development, and those representing the minority - exercise control over the observance of rights and freedoms. Depending on how the legitimacy and effectiveness of each party changes, their powers change. Therefore, those representing the majority can become the opposition, and those representing the minority - the state government.

The legitimacy of a democratic parliament depends on how widely it represents the interests of the people - both majority and minority. Accordingly, the opposition is a reflection of social pluralism. Such heterogeneity must be taken into account in the political practice of the state, including the way the parliament functions, as well as the forms of its influence on the work of the government. To this end, it is important to create a system that would allow the parliamentary opposition to perform its state functions - control, ensuring transparency of public life and creating a program alternative.

In this context, the opposition should be seen as an independent subject of parliamentary law, which, together with the governing coalition, actively influences the parliamentary process. This involves shifting the parliamentary opposition from the level of actual existence to the level of a formal institution regulated by law. The regulation of the rights of the parliamentary opposition in the conditions of democratic transit is a positive phenomenon and can be carried out both at the level of constitutional principles and norms of the regulations.

Parliamentary immunity and indemnity as parliamentary privileges are an important component of the status of an opposition deputy as a member of parliament, they ensure the proper performance of his functions as a representative of the people. In the transformation period, their preservation is justified. The lifting of parliamentary immunity in Ukraine is not an effective way to prevent political corruption and shows signs of populist (destructive) actions by the authorities against the parliamentary opposition.

One of the main methods of taking into account the interests of the opposition during parliamentary debates should be setештп a specific time during each session week to consider bills initiated by minority representatives. In this case, the order of consideration should be inverse to the number of relevant factions and groups. The representative of the minority should chair this meeting. The list of speakers should be automatically sorted by the opposition-coalition order.

In order to prevent populist (destructive) actions by opposition factions during the legislative process, it is necessary to introduce a reasonable number of restrictions on proposals and amendments to bills that on the one hand would not violate minority rights and on the other hand would prevent abuse of MPs' rights. .

An important tool for ensuring the rights of the opposition is the distribution of seats in parliamentary structures. This provides for separate quotas for the opposition. It seems expedient to introduce the position of Opposition Leader, who is also one of the Deputy Speakers of Parliament. Unconditional regulations on the impossibility for one faction to obtain more than one position in the leadership of one committee must be strictly observed. The rule that the chairman and the first deputy chairman of a committee cannot both be elected by the coalition must also be upheld.

In order to ensure the control function of the parliament, the opposition should have the right to hear the report of the government and, if necessary, to express a motion of no confidence in both the government as a whole and the individual minister. The government is obliged to submit its annual activity report, which should also consider the priorities for its activities in the near future. It is important that the initiative for the resignation of the government can be put on the agenda by a qualified minority of deputies. For Ukraine, the procedure of parliamentary control over the activities of the executive branch can be improved provided that the institution of interpellation is introduced.