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Ukraine saw renewed political unrest on Oct. 17, with thousands of protesters clashing with the police, blocking streets and setting up more than 50 tents near the building of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament in Kyiv.
The protesters are demanding the creation of an anti-corruption court, the lifting of lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution and a fairer electoral law — part of a long-running campaign by the Ukrainian people to take on the oligarchy, corruption and impunity.
The ongoing protest is one of the biggest demonstrations since the 100-day EuroMaidan Revolution that deprived President Viktor Yanukovych, a corrupt kleptocrat supported by many of Ukraine’s oligarchs, of power.
This also marks the first large-scale protest tent camp since 2014.
On Oct. 19, parliament belatedly and only partially satisfied one of the demands, sending two bills on lifting lawmakers’ immunity for consideration to the Constitutional Court. However, the Rada rejected a bill on electoral reform and President Petro Poroshenko has failed to submit a bill on the creation of anti-corruption courts so far.
The demonstrators pledged to continue their protests until their demands are met.
Growing frustration
The rallies underline the public’s growing frustration with the incumbent authorities and the perceived sabotage of Ukraine’s reform drive. Poroshenko and his allies have promised a fairer electoral law and canceling lawmakers’ immunity since 2014, and envisaged the creation of anti-corruption courts in a judicial reform bill passed last year. But time after time they have failed to deliver on their promises.
The protests saw the consolidation of a broad opposition movement against Poroshenko, uniting Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy’s Samopomich Party, with 26 lawmakers in the 422-seat parliament; ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces; ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna Party, with 19 members in parliament; nationalists from Svoboda, the National Corps and UNA-UNSO, the liberal Democratic Alliance, ex-Security Service of Ukraine Chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko’s Justice party and civil society groups like the AutoMaidan and the Reanimation Package of Reforms.
Saakashvili, who was stripped by Poroshenko of his citizenship in July, and who broke through the border into Ukraine in September, played a leading role in organizing the protests. Activists from Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces brought tents to the Rada on Oct. 17, and Saakashvili also demanded that Poroshenko resign if he fails to meet the protesters’ demands.
“One (president) has already fled to Rostov,” Yuriy Levchenko, a lawmaker from Svoboda Party, said at the Rada, referring to the fugitive Yanukovych, who is on trial for large-scale corruption and ordering police to kill 100 protesters before he fled. “I’m wondering where this one will flee to.”
The volunteer Donbas Battalion, which fought Russian-separatist forces in the east of Ukraine, acted as the demonstrators’ security division, installing barricades and cordons to prevent the police from dispersing the camp. The battalion is closely allied to Samopomich party lawmakers Yegor Sobolev and Semen Semenchenko, the unit’s former commander.
Veterans of the volunteer Aidar Battalion also joined the protests.
People rally near the Verkhovna Rada building on Oct. 17 to demand that the Ukrainian parliament support reforms in Ukraine. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Immunity
The Rada on Sept. 19 considered two bills on canceling lawmakers’ immunity.
The opposition bill envisages lifting immunity immediately, while the presidential bill seeks to lift immunity starting from 2020.
The president’s bill has been criticized as a deception by the opposition. Opposition lawmakers said that Poroshenko and his allies may use it as a PR stunt before the 2019 election, and the next parliament may delay the lifting of lawmakers’ immunity even further.
The Poroshenko Bloc argues that it has no intention of postponing the measure after 2020.
The opposition also argued that the presidential bill had been submitted with procedural violations, which was denied by the Poroshenko Bloc.
The Rada sent both bills for approval to the Constitutional Court. Subsequently they will be sent back to the Rada, which will need to approve them with a constitutional majority.
“If you don’t lift immunity, the Ukrainian people may lift it in another way — they’ll throw you out,” Levchenko told his colleagues in the Rada.
The protesters also demanded passing a law that allows presidential impeachment.
Electoral reform
The election bill backed by protesters seeks to remove single-member districts and leave only party-list proportional representation. Single-member districts are seen as a major vehicle of political corruption in Ukraine, with wealthy candidates buying votes in their constituencies.
It also seeks to introduce “open party lists”, which means that citizens will vote not only for parties themselves but also for specific candidates nominated by parties. Candidates who get more votes will move closer to the top of party lists and be more likely to be elected. Under the current system, party leaders can arbitrarily choose the order in which candidates appear on party lists.
However, the Rada failed to garner enough votes on Oct. 19 to pass the legislation.
Saakashvili and other protest leaders also called for replacing the current discredited Central Election Commission, which they argue is completely controlled by Poroshenko.
The legal authority for 12 out of the Central Election Commission’s 15 members, including its Chairman Mykhailo Okhendovsky, expired in 2014 but parliament passed a law to extend their powers until new members are appointed. However, since then Poroshenko and the Verkhovna Rada have failed to replace these members, which some lawyers believe to be illegal.
Okhendovsky, an ex-ally of former President Viktor Yanukovych, has been charged with receiving bribes worth $100,000 in 2010 and $61,000 in 2012 from Yanukovych’s Party of Regions. His name features in the party’s alleged off-the-book ledgers published last year.
Protesters clash with police during a rally of Ukrainian opposition in front of the parliament in Kyiv on Oct. 17. (AFP)
Anti-corruption courts
The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, on Oct. 9 supported legislation to create independent anti-corruption courts and urged Poroshenko to submit a relevant bill. However, Poroshenko has resisted the idea for more than a year and has failed to submit a bill on anti-corruption courts so far.
Iryna Lutsenko, the president’s representative in parliament, said that Poroshenko expected a bill on anti-corruption courts to be passed by the end of this year, but added that it first needs to be approved by the Venice Commission.
The opposition saw this as yet another delaying tactic. Svitlana Zalishchuk, a Poroshenko Bloc lawmaker critical of the president, said that further review was not necessary because the idea had already been approved by the commission.
