Rada Law Enforcement Committee rejects number of anti-corruption bills – Zhelezniak
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement had recommended removing a package of anti-corruption bills from the agenda on the grounds that they were no longer relevant.
The parliamentarian wrote this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
Committee’s explanation: "No longer relevant"
He noted that the decision was made following an appeal from MPs Buzhanskyi and Savchenko.
"The Law Enforcement Committee has just torpedoed our anti-corruption bills. The official wording is that they ‘are no longer relevant.’ Very symbolic after the new NABU tapes. In short, the Law Enforcement Committee was supposed to recommend adding several of our bills strengthening the anti-corruption infrastructure to the agenda. This was required to fulfil international commitments. But a letter arrived from MPs Buzhanskyi and Savchenko. Instead, the committee removed the bills from the agenda (effectively recommending that they be rejected). The Rada will now be unable to consider or vote on them in the chamber," Zhelezniak said.
Which bills did the committee block?
According to the MP, the legislative initiatives included:
- suspending statutes of limitation for corrupt officials attempting to evade liability by serving in the military;
- reforming the State Bureau of Investigation following the model used for the Bureau of Economic Security and customs authorities;
- repealing the "Lozovyi amendments";
- introducing a transparent selection process for the Prosecutor General;
- strengthening the capabilities of NABU and SAPO, including their ability to bring individuals implicated in cases who are hiding abroad to justice.
"These are the laws that my colleagues and I introduced to strengthen the fight against corruption in the country. These are the laws that bring us closer to the EU. And these are the laws to which about EUR 2 billion in assistance through the end of the year is tied," the MP stressed.
According to Zhelezniak, two conclusions can be drawn from this. First, the authorities intend to roll back anti-corruption initiatives and have not abandoned their plans to undermine the work of NABU and SAPO. Second, he stressed that he and his colleagues would continue defending anti-corruption reforms, adding that they had prevailed in all previous cases of similar sabotage.
