Ukrainian activists planning mass demonstrations to demand broad political reform
On September 20 at 14:15 at Independence Square in Kyiv, the preparation for an All-Ukrainian public action will begin in support of broad political reforms, including changes in electoral rules, lifting limitations on parliamentary immunity, and the creation of an anti-corruption court, as announced by the People's Deputy from the Petro Poroshenko political bloc, Mustafa Nayem, on his Facebook page.
The demonstrations will take place in the capital and all regional centers of Ukraine on October 17th.
"Depriving the MPs of the immunity (bill No. 6773), on one hand, will allow them to be prosecuted on general grounds, on the other hand, they will keep their indemnity - it will not be possible to prosecute them for their political position and statements," Nayem wrote.
He also noted that the change in electoral rules provides for the abolition of the mixed electoral system created in 2011 in the interests of the Yanukovych regime and the introduction of a proportional electoral system with open regional lists.
"To do this, it is necessary to adopt draft law No 1068-2 without delay. It is an important part of the coalition agreement, Ukraine's international commitment and President Poroshenko's electoral promise, which is the key to a qualitative upgrade of Ukraine's political elite," he said.
In addition, Nayem said that the need to create an anti-corruption court is evidenced by dozens of corruption cases submitted to the Solomyansky court against top-level politicians, which the acting judges can’t examine impartially.
"Today, bill No 6011, which regulates the creation of the corresponding judicial institutions, is in Parliament. But President Poroshenko's team is pushing for the launch of anti-corruption chambers instead, which, by the format of their work, will not differ in any way from the existing courts," he stressed.