The Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Feb. 21 that it has opened proceedings into lawmaker Vladislav Poliak’s alleged voting in place of an absent colleague.
This is the first case under a new law that introduces criminal liability for voting for absentees which came into effect on Jan. 16.
Voting for absentees has been a longstanding issue in Ukraine’s parliament. The practice of voting using other lawmakers’ identity cards reached an unprecedented high during the rule of former President Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions. After Yanukovych was ousted during the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2014, the practice was retained in the next two parliamentary convocations.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Poliak, elected through a single-member district, voted for absentees multiple times during a Feb. 21 plenary session.
The Kyiv Post could not reach Poliak for a comment.
According to the civil movement Chesno which analyzes Ukraine’s parliament, Poliak voted in place of another single-district lawmaker, Vasyl Petiovka. Chesno says Poliak voted for himself and Petiovka twice during voting on amendments to an agricultural land use law.
The State Investigation Bureau will investigate Poliak’s case, and if found guilty, the lawmaker faces an Hr 51,000-85,000 ($2,000-3,400) fine and dismissal from parliament.
Poliak was elected to the Vynohradiv City Council, Zakarpattya Oblast, as a member of the Party of Regions in 2010. Five years later, he was elected to the Zakarpattya Oblast Council as a member of the Revival party, an offshoot of the Party of Regions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced the bill on voting for absentees on June 21. After parliament passed the bill in its second reading on Dec. 19, Zelensky signed it into law on Jan. 13.
