It was hard to believe one’s eyes on Sept. 5 as Ukraine’s parliament, notorious for brawls and squabbling, almost unanimously approved five bills required for signing the Association Agreement with the European Union this November.
Although both the ruling party and the opposition vowed to support the requisite legislation for European integration, seeing it happen was a spectacle. Unexpectedly, even the Communists contributed votes.
Parliament still has more than a dozen laws pending, and most of the newly approved ones require a second reading. The most important bill, the one that would reform the prosecutor’s office, is still being examined by the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters whose endorsement is essential for the bill’s advancement in parliament.
But parliament had little to say over the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister. Her freedom is also viewed as compulsory for signing the agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Nov. 27.
“We don’t take European integration as some kind of religion for which there’s a need to pass the laws,” said Communist Party lawmaker Spiridon Kilinkarov. “We just vote for the point of these laws.”
The EU is expected to assess Ukraine’s progress and make the final decision on whether to sign the two landmark agreements on Oct. 21.
Approved on Sept. 5
1. Changes to the Criminal Code on prisoner conditions
The law was approved in the second reading with 379 votes. “We should vote the entire day this way,” parliament speaker Volodymyr Rybak joked. His wish nearly came true. The bill allows prisoners to wear civilian clothes, use cell phones and see family members more frequently. The law will come into effect when the president signs it. But Iryna Lutsenko, the wife of former political prisoner and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, said the law was merely ornamental and said she would file her own version.
2. On implementation of court decisions
The law improves the enforcement of court rulings. In particular, it compels the state to pay compensation to citizens soon after European Court for Human Rights rulings. Ukraine is among the five top countries that files the most complaints to the court on human rights abuses.
The opposition initially budged against voting for this bill, saying it would allow the government to ignore debts it currently owes to citizens who won court cases. But the controversial part was swiftly removed, and the law received 340 votes in the first reading.
3. Amendments to customs tariffs
The law was boycotted by the opposition just two days prior because it contains some parts beneficial for pro-government businesses. Those parts were partially amended, and the law got 365 votes. “We have removed the issues, to which there were objections,” Viktor Pynzenyk of the opposition told the Kyiv Post. The law was required to bring Ukraine’s customs legislation in-line with World Trade Organization standards.
4. Constitutional amendments to promote independence of judges
Arseniy Yatseniuk, head of Batkivshchyna, the biggest opposition faction in parliament, initially said that this law increases the dependence of judges on the president, and that the opposition prepared its own bill, which “seriously differs from the presidential one” and includes proposals to liquidate the Constitutional Court and introduces a procedure to impeach judges. But despite the criticism, all factions voted for the presidential draft to be sent to the Constitutional Court – the first step in the lengthy procedure of amending the Constitution.
Yatsenuik later said the opposition was sticking to its agreement with the parliament speaker and the president’s administration on Sept. 4 to support all legal initiatives to do with European integration. The law was supported by 377 votes.
5. Repeat election date set for five troubled single-mandate parliamentary districts
The pro-government majority and the opposition also managed to find a compromise on when to hold elections in five parliamentary constituencies where results of the Oct. 28, 2012 election were undetermined due to major fraud or other factors. Dec. 15 was set as the re-election date by 371 votes. The Party of Regions originally insisted on a later date.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].
