The President of Ukraine submitted draft law №10394 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Personal Voting by People's Deputies of Ukraine" to the Verkhovna Rada. It provides for criminal liability for MPs for the so-called button pushing. The draft law has an urgent status.
According to Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Head of State earlier said that he would not sign any bill approved in violation of the procedure.
"In order to help bring order to the Parliament, the President submitted a draft law on criminal liability for non-personal voting," Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasized.
He recalled that, according to the legislation of Ukraine, every MP is obliged to vote in person. Failure to fulfill this obligation or obstruction in the fulfillment of the obligation (so-called button pushing) is completely unacceptable in terms of parliamentarism.
"That is why the President put forward the initiative to criminalize non-personal voting. He initiates the introduction of amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which will provide the relevant article. Also, the Head of State offered a sanction from three to five thousand non-taxable minimum incomes," the Representative of the President in the Parliament informed.
Ruslan Stefanchuk urged the Verkhovna Rada to endorse the draft law.
"This is a friendly assistance of the President to the Verkhovna Rada, so that the deputies could bring order in their ranks," he said.
The Representative of the President in the Verkhovna Rada also said that the work over the draft laws on the responsibility of people's deputies for the absence at the sessions was about to complete. In addition, the introduction of liability for the people’s deputies voting for the draft laws, on which there is a conflict of interest they have not declared, is being considered. Ruslan Stefanchuk is hopeful that these draft laws will be considered by the Verkhovna Rada of the next convocation.