Parliamentary procedures and elections follow a fairly strict framework so that everyone has time to understand things, even under pressure and within a short timeframe. That’s why breaking the rules to the point where the agenda changes the night before the Rada vote is the first sign that something shady is going on, as well as holding a committee meeting without a chairperson and pushing through a strategic issue in just ten minutes.The bill that aims to destroy the independence of anti-corruption bodies ended up uniting political opponents around a common irritant, so many MPs voted consciously and eagerly, but trying to reverse those changes now will be much harder. There’s also a risk that future efforts might be deliberately stalled. My colleagues calculated that in this convocation, only 1.6% of laws were signed on the same day they were voted on. On average, it takes the president 26 days to sign a bill. Some bills sit untouched for months. So, when something gets voted and signed on the same day, it’s clearly a top priority, and that’s obvious.In the seventh (7th!) year of this parliament, I want to remind everyone of some basic truths:clear motives and competent work during wartime are essential for public trust;in the digital age, you can’t hide anything – information spreads fast, including the shady parts of the process;the rules of procedure are just as important as martial law – they’re a friend for MPs.If you look at OPORA’s research on social cohesion, trust in state institutions is declining, and it can’t run on wartime adrenaline forever. I really hope we all take this as a lesson. It’s in everyone’s best interest.The average institutional trust index is 5.3 out of 10, meaning trust is moderate, conditional, and vertical cohesion is weak.Courts, government, and parliament score the lowest: only 2–5% fully trust them, and more than 60% actively distrust them.Some institutions fare better: the president has a 58% positive rating in Ukraine (25.5% fully trust him), and 56% abroad. Women and those with military experience show higher levels of trust in the president.Local authorities have a 33.4% positive rating in Ukraine and 25% abroad.SourceAbout the author. Olha Aivazovska, Ukrainian public figure, Chairman of the Board of the Public Network OPORAThe editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.