Ukraine parliament approves impeachment procedure
7 June 2019
Ukraine’s parliament voted on June 6 to approve
legislation establishing an impeachment procedure of the president. The bill,
which drew 270 votes compared to 226 needed, creates temporary investigative
committees and a temporary special commission that includes MPs, a special
prosecutor and special investigators. The special commission’s task is to
conduct an investigation of any instances of state treason or high crimes that
qualify for initiating impeachment. MPs reviewed more than 700 amendments
between June 4 and 6, the pravda.com.ua news site said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants an
impeachment bill to be approved in a legislative package that includes measures
to remove political immunity from members of Parliament, Dmytro Razumkov, the
head of The People’s Servant party, said in a May 31 column on the
pravda.com.ua news site. He pointed out that a bill on removing political
immunity from MPs has also long been registered in parliament.
Zenon Zawada: The
approved bill was first registered in 2014 and sponsored by MPs of four of the
six parliamentary factions. No MP from the Poroshenko Bloc or Opposition Bloc
sponsored it, given that Petro Poroshenko was president at the time. Yet in the
June 6 vote, it drew the support of 93 out of 130 Poroshenko Bloc MPs, and 26
out of 38 Opposition Bloc MPs.
In our view, it would be foolish for Zelensky to sign
this legislation without a concession from MPs in return. So his team is entirely
reasonable to demand that MPs agree to remove their political immunity in
exchange for the president signing impeachment legislation.
We don’t expect that Zelensky will indulge in
political idealism and potentially make himself a martyr for Ukrainian
democracy by signing this bill. That’s regardless of the high likelihood that
he stands to have a firm and loyal parliamentary majority after the July 21
early parliamentary elections. Zelensky is well aware that political dynamics
can change dramatically and quickly in Ukraine, as with the situation in
parliament.
