Vote buying in parliament: Batkivshchyna party names those who should be investigated
16 January 13:58
After the announcement of suspicion against Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the Batkivshchyna faction, in offering bribes to MPs in the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksiy Kucherenko, an MP from Batkivshchyna, drew attention to the threat of undermining confidence in the parliamentary system. Do these events indicate systemic political turbulence and risks for public administration? Read more in the article
Indeed, the January votes in the Verkhovna Rada and the latest events surrounding Yulia Tymoshenko show that the Ukrainian parliament is in a state of deep political turbulence. Oleksiy Kucherenko, a member of parliament from the Batkivshchyna faction, in an exclusive comment
“You have to understand the political process, and that’s what I do. I really keep track of who voted for what, how, and why they changed their position, because that’s what a deputy’s job is,” Kucherenko said.
He emphasized that even a formal majority in parliament does not guarantee stability in decision-making.
“They do not exist as a single coalition de facto. Formally, they seem to have 229 votes. But they have a maximum of 160-170 votes. As a result, they survive by buying votes from the former Opposition Platform — For Life party. So let the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) find out how those votes are being bought. Let NABU take care of it,” Kucherenko explained.
At the same time, the MP welcomes Lyudmila Buimister’s departure from the Batkivshchyna faction.
“One person [ed. – Lyudmila Buimister] left and went far away, and I applauded that. She should not have been accepted into the faction; it was a mistake, and this was discussed earlier,” Kucherenko noted.
It should be noted that after the announcement of suspicion against the leader of the Batkivshchyna faction, Yulia Tymoshenko, in offering bribes to MPs in the Verkhovna Rada, an internal political detective story unfolded. Deputies from various factions tried to find out who exactly passed the information to the anti-corruption authorities and became a key source for NABU and SAP. According to media reports, neither Servant of the People nor other parliamentary forces had a clear understanding of the situation.
A version circulated among deputies that Tymoshenko had been “betrayed” by People’s Deputy Lyudmila Buimister, who left the Batkivshchyna faction on the very day the suspicion was announced.
We would like to add that today, during a session of the High Anti-Corruption Court , MP and leader of Batkivshchyna Yulia Tymoshenko stated that she had been “betrayed” by NABU MP Ihor Kopytin from the Servant of the People party.
“We want to destroy this majority,” – NABU tapes
On January 14 , NABU released audio recordings of conversations which, according to the investigation, are evidence of negotiations regarding such a scheme. The recordings feature a voice that, according to detectives, resembles that of Yulia Tymoshenko.
Anti-corruption authorities say that these materials formed the basis for the notification of suspicion. At the same time, the final assessment of the evidence must be provided by the court.
The conversations on the NABU tapes suggest that the person with a voice similar to Tymoshenko’s is discussing the start of cooperation with a group of three MPs and directly explaining the motives.
The conversations are dated January 12, the day before the party’s office was searched.
In the recordings, both speak Russian. Tymoshenko, in particular, says that on the issue of personnel changes, her deputies only vote for removal from office, but do not vote for appointments. Also, Batkivshchyna deputies vote to include draft laws on the agenda, but do not vote on the documents themselves, in order to “kill” them.
NABU’s “torpedo” among the Servants of the People
During the hearing, Vitaliy Grechishkin, a prosecutor with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, read out the testimony of a witness who had met with Yulia Tymoshenko the day before and written a statement to NABU.
Tymoshenko believes that the tapes released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau contain her conversation with Servant of the People MP Ihor Kopytin. In the transcripts, he is referred to as “Mazur.”
“He is not just a deputy. This deputy is under criminal investigation by NABU and is under pressure from NABU to carry out certain tasks for NABU. You know that there are certain agreements where they say, ‘dig up something,’ and we will drop your criminal cases in return,” Tymoshenko said.
What Tymoshenko says about the NABU accusations
The leader of Batkivshchyna refuted the NABU accusations, calling them unfounded and unproven. According to her, more than 30 detectives in full gear and armed came to the party’s office at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13. The MP claims that she was alone in the office at the time, which did not even have security. According to her, law enforcement officers arrived at the party’s office in five buses.
She stated that the NABU employees did not have search warrants with them.
The MP also said that her parliamentary documents and personal savings, which she claims are reflected in her declaration, were seized.
What is known about the Tymoshenko case
On January 13, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office reported the exposure of the leader of one of the Verkhovna Rada factions for offering illegal benefits to MPs from other political forces for voting “for” or “against” specific bills.
The SAPO statement emphasizes that this is a preliminary legal assessment and that only a court can make a final conclusion. The preliminary classification is Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (offering, promising, or providing illegal benefits to a public official), which carries a penalty of 4 to 8 years in prison.
