Razumkov’s trolling and rape of Parliament: How Rada voted for law on oligarchs

Author

Iryna Mescheriakova

At a meeting on September 23, the Verkhovna Rada voted for the bill on de-oligarchization. The opposition believes that the parliament’s rules of procedure were grossly violated. And some people in the Rada compare this day with the day when they voted for the "dictatorial laws of January 16".

The next day, it turned out that the Speaker of the Rada, Dmytro Razumkov, even being on sick leave, was able to laugh at the "servants".

What happened in the Rada

Bill No. 5599 "On the prevention of threats to national security associated with the excessive influence of persons with significant economic or political weight in public life (oligarchs)" submitted to the Rada by the President of Ukraine was adopted in the second reading and as a whole.

Before voting, deputies from the European Solidarity blocked the rostrum for some time, and the activists gathered outside the walls of the parliament and tried to block Hrushevsky Street. The authorities were able to deal with everyone at once: the police removed the protesters from the roadway, and the deputies voted for Zelenskyy's bill without considering the amendments.

Before voting, the representatives of the party Servant of the People had promised to pass the bill "in spite of everything" and they did it. According to MP Danylo Hetmantsev, the majority had votes for this bill. And so it happened. 279 MPs out of 379 registered in the session hall voted in favor.

"I've already seen it somewhere. January 16, 2014. April 26, 2010. Smug, arrogant, despite the opposition's protest, they then rushed the dictatorial laws and the ratification of the so-called Kharkiv agreements at that time, "said ES deputy Iryna Gerashchenko after the vote.

In her opinion, support for the law on oligarchs testifies that the "servants" multiplied Parliament by zero, blocking the opposition's right to amendments.

Another opposition representative, Yaroslav Zheleznyak of the faction Holos (Voice), called this voting a "rape of the Parliament."

"The Parliament was broken over the knee. It is already disgusting to say: "Our convocation does not violate the Rules of Procedure," he wrote.

Razumkov’s trolling, or Amendment No. 398

Already this morning Dmytro Razumkov thanked the deputies for supporting his amendment to the bill. According to it, not the National Security and Defense Council will enter persons into the register of oligarchs, but the NACP (The National Agency on Corruption Prevention).

However, it was this that became a legal collision, since the deputies also adopted other amendments No. 396 and 406, and they already contradict Razumkov's amendment.

As the deputies themselves admitted, they "simply did not notice it." Of course, turbo mode often affects the quality of the bills and common sense.

Thus, now the MPs will have to re-vote such an important law for the President. The "servants" already admit that they were "trolled by the Speaker."

"I think the Speaker always had a great sense of humor. I think this is such an exquisite trolling," Hetmantsev told reporters after Razumkov's commendations.

What to do with the law on oligarchs

So far the NACP is not at all aware of what the deputies voted for, because they were not consulted with, and the deputies are thinking what to do.

"The law on oligarchs No. 5599 will be re-voted. Was it necessary to hurry and make lawless decisions yesterday, so that today they start feverishly correcting it! Now we need another vote in the Rada (under Article 131) to remedy the legal conflict. Otherwise the law will not be signed," Zheleznyak said.

The "servants" say that they are going to consider this issue next plenary week.

What is said about the scandalous day in the Rada

Journalists, political scientists and experts vied with each other to criticize such a mono-majority vote and predict a terrible future for Parliament due to violation of the rules of procedure.

ES people’s deputy Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze in a comment to noted that the Servants of the People "missed the adoption of the "Kharkiv agreements" and laws on January 16, 2014, so they did not draw conclusions."

"On instructions from Bankova, parliamentarism is being broken over the knee. This is a clear illustration of the fact that European and Euro-Atlantic integration is just a slogan for the authorities to appease that part of the Servant of the People voters who are in favor of joining the EU and NATO. Society has already been prepared for the fact that the West is bad. Now they will learn from the experience of United Russia and the Chinese Communist Party," she clarified.

The "servants" admit that there was a mistake: "Indeed, this is a mistake made by the committee, this is our common mistake, but we will correct it... either through Article 131 of the regulations or by amending this law... We are now conducting consultations. If we do not use the Article 131 procedure, the one that is available (the text of the bill) will arrive on the desk (for the President's signature), and after that we will make amendments... The law will come into force in six months, so there are no problems with this," Hetmantsev noted.

According to political scientist Ihor Chalenko, the problem with adopting the Law No. 5599 is that the agreement between the various factions concerning the procedure for consideration was violated.

"There would be no problem, just to delay considering the issue for an additional two hours so that other factions could read out their amendments," the expert said in a comment to .

He believes that because of such a voting, the Parliament will face problems, both with the opposition and with other institutions that monitor the constitutionality of the Rada's decisions.

Moreover, after Zelenskyy had signed the law, The Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denysova may apply to the Constitutional Court with a request to declare the law on oligarchs unconstitutional.