Ukraine parliament approves procedure change, drawing criticism

Ukraine’s parliament approved on Sept. 10 changes to
procedure to restrict the individual initiatives of MPs to register a draft
resolution to cancel rulings made by parliament. The measure drew 234 votes in
favor from the MPs of The People’s Servant party. The European Solidarity
party, led by former President Poroshenko, opposed both the content of the
legislation and violations of procedure in which it was passed. “Five years
ago, ‘green men’ took over Crimea,” said from the tribune Iryna Herashchenko,
an MP and previous first deputy speaker. “Now ‘green men’ are taking over the
Ukrainian parliament and are truly and fully crossing it out.” Her comments
drew immediate rebuke from Parliamentary Speaker Dmytro Razumkov, who called
them unacceptable.

Earlier that session, parliament approved a bill
canceling earlier legislation requiring that judicial procedural rulings,
limiting the rights of citizens, must be approved by the procedure’s director
and the court’s investigator. It also cancels the legislation’s limitations on
such investigations to three or six months, the pravda.com.ua news site
reported, adding that these requirements were alleged to help former Party of
Regions officials to avoid criminal prosecution. The approved bill also gives
the State Bureau of Investigations and National Anti-Corruption Bureau the
right to wiretap state officials independently. The bill also calls for
removing norms in current laws that require parliamentary approval for conduct
a search of an MP, personal items, transport or residence, as well as accessing
their written correspondences, telephone calls and other communication.