Ukrainian Opposition MP Criticizes Ruling Party Inaction on “Legislative Spamming” MPs

17 April 2020 19:01

Servant of the People MP Oleksandr Dubinsky (pictured) submitted 1,199 amendments to the so-called "anti-Kolomoisky" bill. Golos MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn condemned such actions that may delay the adoption of this bill crucial for unlocking IMF support.Courtesy

Ukraine’s parliament needed the procedural changes adopted on April 16, argued opposition Golos MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn during an interview tohtv_prod_adminadske, due to the blockage of the so—called “anti—Kolomoisky” bill from consideration.

Ukraine’s parliament needed the procedural changes adopted on April 16, argued opposition Golos MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn during an interview to hromadske, due to the blockage of the so-called “anti-Kolomoisky” bill from consideration. The bill, a banking regulation law that is a requirement of the International Monetary Fund’s continuing cooperation with Ukraine, received over 16,000 amendments following its first reading in the parliament, and a second reading has yet to be scheduled.

“Who’s at fault for this legislative spam? Who submitted the greatest amount of amendments to the anti-Kolomoisky law? Servant of the People, or those that Servant of the People had brought on board – Anton Polyakov, who was ejected from the faction, but he first entered the parliament as a representative of that party. There’s been no disciplinary action against [Oleksandr] Dubinsky, or against [Olha] Vasylevska-Smahlyuk. They continue to be members of the Servant of the People faction,” said Yurchyshyn.

The MP added that Pavlo Frolov, a Servant of the People MP that had drafted the procedural changes, has called his own colleagues “amendment terrorists.”

“But the ‘terrorists’ don’t answer for their actions, they’re not ejected from the faction, they aren’t publicly obstructed, but they are practically taking the right away from any MP who wants to influence this law,” commented the Golos MP.

As a party, Golos has not supported changing Ukraine’s parliamentary procedures, viewing it as a violation of MPs’ rights to propose legislation. But they won’t vote to retract the changes, either.

“We don’t play with people who don’t represent the nation’s interests, but the actual interests of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Their weekly delays are a week closer for default for the country,” added Yurchyshyn, saying that the ball is in the ruling party’s court.

“Do you understand this absurd situation? Representatives from the majority are blocking the majority’s uncompleted law in order for the majority to be unable to consider this law that’s important for the government. This is a problem of poorly vetted candidates chosen for the party, which in principle only won because of the image of a single person,” the MP believes.

The Golos representative called the actions of Dubinsky, Vasylevska-Smahlyuk, Polyakov, and other MPs blocking the anti-Kolomoisky law to be “unprecedented cynicism.”

“There have always been influence groups in majority parties. There have always been people who fought against taking any concrete actions, but to so frankly express their complete reliance on a single oligarch and to not incur even any reaction from their own party – which, technically, went to fight the oligarchs – this is very cynical,” he stated.