Renaming Brovary: a democracy test for the Verkhovna Rada
Kyiv • UNN
Residents of Brovary are using all legal and democratic means to express their opposition to the renaming of their city, as they do not support the initiative of some MPs to change its name.
An electronic petition on the website of the Brovary City Council, a decision of the city council session followed by an appeal to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk - the residents of Brovary are using all legal and democratic means to convey their position that they do not support the initiative of some MPs to rename their city Brovary. And now the key question is whether the MPs will listen to the opinion of the community and take it into account, UNN writes.
The fight to preserve the name of their city began in December last year, when a petition was registered on the city council's website, which quickly gained the required number of votes.
After that, the executive committee of the city council appealed to the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada to change the name of Brovary. However, the initiators of the renaming did not take this into account, and the relevant resolution was registered.
It is not yet known when it will be considered, but people continue to look for legal ways to convey their position and be heard.
Not only the vast majority of ordinary residents of the cityare against the renaming, but also such well-known brewers as multiple European and world swimming champion Oleh Lisohor, future participant of the Olympic Games in Paris, wrestler Alina Grushyna (Akobiya), former world professional boxing champion Yuriy Nuzhnenko.
Both the mayor, Ihor Sapozhko, and the deputies of the Brovary City Council are in full solidarity with their constituents, and therefore, at an extraordinary session, they almost unanimously decided to once again appeal to the Verkhovna Rada about the inexpediency of renaming.
"Given that the initiative to rename the city has been repeatedly considered by the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, and that we have repeatedly appealed with certain justifications, the deputies today decided to adopt the relevant decision of the local government and appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to keep the historical name of Brovary.
In my opinion, taking into account independent polls, with today's vote, when 24 deputies supported the appeal to the Verkhovna Rada, we have clearly expressed the opinion of the residents that the city should be called Brovary," Ihor Sapozhko commented to UNN on the results of the session.
The mayor added that this is not just an emotional decision, but is based on the conclusions of respected scientific institutions that it is necessary to preserve the current name of the city.
"We approached this issue quite professionally. We have the conclusion of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine that the city of Brovary is historically called that. There are conclusions of the Institute of Cossacks of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences, which state that the city should be called Brovary," the mayor noted.
The MPs' appeal has already been sent to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk.
"Taking into account the decision of the local government, we ask you not to submit to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a draft resolution on renaming the city of Brovary, Brovary district, Kyiv region, to the city of Brovary," the document says.
The Association of Ukrainian Cities says that the procedure for any renaming should be democratic, with consideration of the community's position. They note that decisions to change the names of settlements must necessarily be made with the opinion of the community in mind. The relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada should contact the relevant local government to obtain the community's position. And then take this position into account when preparing a decision on possible renaming.
The same opinion is shared by experts interviewed by UNN . In particular, political scientist Ihor Reiterovych emphasizes that in the case of renaming Brovary, it is not a question of decommunization, so the community should be consulted.
"If the renaming takes place within the framework of the Law on Decommunization and the name of the city needs to be changed because it contradicts this law, then that's one thing. But as far as I understand, this is not the case with Brovary. Therefore, of course, first of all, the opinion of the local community must be taken into account, which has every right to rename place names: streets and, in fact, the name of its city. And the deputies (of the Verkhovna Rada - ed.) should take this into account," Reitrovych said.
Political scientist Ruslan Bortnyk, in turn, adds that some politicians are trying to promote themselves on renaming, and communities should strongly prevent this.
"Today, we need to ensure the unity of Ukrainian society in the struggle to preserve the Ukrainian state, not create lines of conflict. Renaming is a very primitive and sometimes even criminal PR of certain politicians. It seems to me that society should react to this accordingly," believes Bortnik.
Now, everything is in the hands of the authors of the resolution and the Verkhovna Rada - whether they listen to people's opinions will determine whether they pass the democracy exam.
