A February 18, 2022, fistfight Just six days before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s most popular political talk show broke through simmering domestic tensions. Nestor Shukhurich, Ukrainian parliamentarian of the pro-Russian opposition lifetime platform (OPZZh) party refused to call Putin a “murderer and criminal,” but his fellow panelists were disgusted. Journalist Yuri Butusov slugged Shuhlić before the two squared off and tackled each other to the ground on live television as former President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk watched. A battered and bruised Shufrych finished the show amazingly.
Perhaps more surprisingly, more than a year after the deaths, destruction and atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, Shukhurich and his pro-Russian cadres are still sitting in the Ukrainian parliament. will remain as a Ukrainian deputy. Verkhovna Rada This is Ukraine’s least understood and one of the strangest stories of the past year while the country fights to survive from Russian invaders.
Paradoxically, the continued presence of Russia-friendly lawmakers in parliament is an unexpected example of the strength of Ukrainian democracy.
The government of President Volodymyr Zelensky is understandably desperate to remove potential Russian collaborators from his government, but so far it has unilaterally stripped pro-Russian parliamentarians of their mandates. I have avoided the temptation to It would have been popular, though unconstitutional, to remove politicians widely viewed as traitors from office by executive order. Instead, Kiev officials are applying a lighter touch to legally dismantle Russia’s longstanding fifth column in Ukrainian politics.
Perhaps Western observers should not be surprised that Shuhrich and his ideological compatriots are still present in Ukrainian politics. Kiev’s pro-Russian camp might be liberally described as a gathering of political survivors willing to regroup and rebrand as much as necessary to maintain political clout. Ukrainian politics changed a lot in his 2013-2014 years. Euromaidan protest Having ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russian forces have launched a war with Ukraine in Crimea and Donbass. Nonetheless, the Moscow-friendly party remains a loathsome but perennial staple of the country’s political landscape.
Prior to EuroMaidan, Yanukovych’s regional party had the most seats in parliament at the time and was genuinely popular. When Yanukovych finally fled the country, the party transformed into an opposition bloc under the leadership of Paul Manafort — who later became Donald Trump’s presidential campaign manager — held about 10% of the seats in Congress.
In 2019, Putin’s daughter’s godfather, Viktor Medvechuk, co-founded OPZZh, a tougher iteration of the opposition bloc, with pro-Russian politician Yury Boyko and oligarchs Vadim Rabinovich and Dmitro Fyrtash. OPZZh became the dominant pro-Russian party in Ukraine, building a strong parliamentary faction in the 2019 parliamentary elections, winning 43 out of 423 seats.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, many ordinary members of OPZZh, such as Shukhurich, fled Ukraine to Europe, middle eastIn April 2022, the Ukrainian defense authorities pause OPZZh was suspected of treason and the party appeared dead in the water. Pro-Russian political leaders certainly — Rabinovich He was one of the first members of parliament to be stripped of his citizenship and subsequently stripped of parliamentary powers. Authorities arrested Medvechuk as he tried to flee to Russia in April, exchanged him in a prisoner exchange in September, and then stripped him and others As of January 2023.
Schurich himself restrained Suspected treason in March, he and his lesser-known colleague remained as members of parliament. The average pro-Russian lawmaker who quarreled hadn’t spent decades. In retrospect, during the first months of all-out war, Kiev authorities initially seemed to lack solid evidence to indict most of these pro-Russian deputies.
Meanwhile, Boyko, Schuhrich, and Co. have quietly rebranded themselves under the guise of two new political parties nominally pro-West. I participated Platform for Life and Peace (PZZhM) and 17 I participated Some returned to Ukraine in autumn 2022-winter 2023. PZZhM To tell It consists of “pro-Ukrainian people’s agents who are willing to work to protect Ukraine, help its people and rebuild our country.” Leader of VU claimed A renewed focus on helping rebuild Ukraine.
To what extent these “new” parties’ politics have really changed is difficult, but much of their funding has dried up. Medvedchuk and his business partner Taras Kozak got a loan OPZZh, and by extension the party, openly advocated a pro-Moscow position. With two top Moscow puppets sanctioned for treason, deputies taking money from Medvechuk and Kossack are likely to be arrested and lose their powers. Losing the enormous resources the party once enjoyed, he is eager to secure as much political friendship as he can.
Still, many Ukrainian parliamentarians are rightly troubled by former OPZZh colleagues maintaining their positions in parliament under the guise of new political streaks. started Petition the Speaker of Parliament to unilaterally expel MPs elected under the now-banned OPZZh mandate, such as Shufrych. The move was loudly supported by Ukraine’s western reform-minded Holos party and former President Poroshenko’s European Solidarity Party. Interestingly, the petition caused a minor schism in the dominant SN faction. More than 25 MPs signed the petition, but party leadership chose not to do so.
The petition eventually made it to Zelensky’s desk. Rejected Expel pro-Russian parliamentarians from parliament.Zelensky is Ukrainian ConstitutionThis states that lawmakers can only lose their mandate if they voluntarily give up their parliamentary positions. deprived of citizenship if convicted; refuses to represent his party in parliament; become incapacitated; or die. The remaining parliamentarians did not meet any of these conditions, so Zelensky sent his petition back to parliament.
Efforts to remove pro-Russian lawmakers from parliament have temporarily turned the tide in Ukraine’s national politics. Reform-promoting parties, which have frequently denounced Zelensky’s authoritarianism for allegedly centralizing power, have called on the president to circumvent the constitution in order to expel a colleague widely seen as a traitor. I noticed. And Zelensky, who actually at times moved to centralize power in a tight-knit circle of advisers, now took a step back and favored the text of the Constitution.
Some commentators in Kiev Infer Retaining the PZZhM and VU deputies in parliament will help Zelensky’s allies in parliament. PZZhM and VU sit alongside SN in parliament, frequently abstaining from the vote outright and diluting the percentage of votes against the SN bill. But that theory looks implausible — the Zelensky administration recently stepped up its corruption criminal investigations into pro-Russian parliamentarians. resignation Two VU co-leaders have been ousted, bringing the party to the brink of collapse. At the direction of Zelensky, the Speaker of the National Assembly Ruslan Stefanchuk also safe resignation From two former OPZZh parliamentarians who had not been in parliament for months.
Rather than allow pro-Russian politics to deteriorate in parliament, Ukrainian authorities appear to be legally ousting Russia-friendly politicians. As their numbers dwindle, the remaining Moscow-friendly deputies will feel more pressure to moderate their politics so that they are no longer irrelevant.
Ukraine is fighting for its very existence in the face of Russian aggression. However, it is possible that Ukraine is now paying dozens of parliamentarians, who could later be charged with treason for sabotaging their country.
This may seem silly, but allowing pro-Russian politicians to keep their mandate for the time being is a very positive signal for Ukrainian democracy. , proves that the rule of law, due process and freedom of speech are important in Ukraine, regardless of a person’s political beliefs or acts of treason. The alternative of cutting constitutional corners for political gain would do long-term damage to the political system Ukraine has worked so hard to build.
When Russia’s war in Ukraine ends, Ukrainian politics will still be hypercompetitive and political corruption will still exist. means that it will be difficult for pro-Russian parties to win elections at all levels.
Andrew Danieli is Assistant Director of the Atlantic Council. Eurasia CenterFollow him on Twitter. @Andrew Danieli.
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