 |
JOHN MARONE, KYIV
THE GET-OUT-OF-JAIL-FREE CARD
The hottest topic in Ukrainian politics these days is whether lawmakers should lose their perks. With early elections scheduled for September 30, parliamentary hopefuls need the issue to motivate an otherwise fed up electorate. The tricky part, though, is that all the major blocs are promising the country the same thing - to strip themselves and their colleagues of long-held immunity from prosecution.
On the surface, it appears that Ukraine's political players have finally grown up, receding from the radical fringes. Rather than beating the old ideological drums of east-west division, such as equal status for the Russian language or NATO membership, politicians are addressing issues that unite their countrymen. The one sentiment that all Ukrainians arguably share is the desire to give the country's so-called oligarchs their comeuppance. Residents of Donetsk and Lviv alike know full well who is responsible for their miserly salaries and pensions. And what could be better revenge than making MPs equal before the laws they pass? The issue of parliamentary immunity has thus become one that bridges the electoral divide.
But the apparent consensus between opposite camps of lawmakers on a single issue is not comparable to the grab for the center witnessed in Western politics. Canceling parliamentary perks is not the equivalent of, for example, both the Republicans and Democrats offering tax breaks, or of Britain's Labour Party becoming more business-friendly under Tony Blair. Ukraine's main two political camps have not moved closer to each other on the policy spectrum, because policy is not what really divides them. Both the pro-Western Orange and Moscow-friendly Blue are more interested in defending their narrow business interests than in shaping the future of the nation. However, with voter distrust at an all-time low since the country's Orange Revolution, all competing blocs have had to latch on to the issue of immunity to ensure they get re-elected. It's not a high price to pay, though, as none of them has any intention of fulfilling the promise.
US and British politicians are also not above pandering to the public for votes, and campaign promises are often forgotten. However, Western parliamentarians are subject to prosecution for criminal offenses.
The only Ukrainian lawmaker to be stripped of his immunity was Pavlo Lazarenko, a former prime minister who fell out with the powerful president at the time, Leonid Kuchma. Fearing Ukrainian justice, Lazarenko fled to the US, where he was subsequently sentenced to a prison term for money laundering. Lazarenko's punishment came about not because of the crimes he committed, but because he ran afoul of a vindictive Kuchma. Still in the US, Lazarenko has released statements that he plans to return to Ukraine or run again for office in absentee.
Since Viktor Yushchenko came to power in 2005, the presidency has had to relinquish its near monopoly on power to the parliament. Theoretically, that means that Ukraine's lawmakers are not as vulnerable to the executive threats and bullying so common under Kuchma. So why do they still need immunity from prosecution? Well, for starters, Yanukovych's parliamentary majority and Yushchenko's supporters are as hostile to each other as ever. For now, the pro-government majority controls the Prosecutor-General's Office and police, while the intelligence services and army are loyal to the president. Depending on the outcome of the upcoming elections, one side or the other could get all the marbles, enabling it to drum up bogus charges against opposition MPs.
But even if the president or majority coalition were prevented from persecuting minority lawmakers, there would still be a demand for immunity. The Verkhovna Rada is run by businessmen seeking to legislatively promote their business interests as well as receive a get-out-of-jail-free card. A gangster with enough money could be able to ensure himself a place on a party list and thus immunity from prosecution at home and maybe even abroad. One of the rallying calls of Ukraine's Orange Revolution, which swept Yushchenko into power, was: Put the bandits behind bars. The problem is how to separate the bandits from the lawmakers.
This time around, Yushchenko's faction, Our Ukraine - People's Self Defense, has retailored the slogan to: One law for everyone. Instead of emphasizing the immunity issue, the president has targeted a wider range of parliamentary privileges, such as free apartments for life, the use of posh spas and double pay during parliamentary breaks. "The state has to provide lawmakers with working conditions not pleasure," the president announced last month.
The issue is so universally supported among Ukrainian voters, that the government majority could only up the ante, pushing Yushchenko to go even farther. Yanukovych's Regions party announced recently that it would take part in an extraordinary parliamentary session to cancel deputy perks on September 4. The Socialist, the Regions coalition partners, had been trying for a month to call an extraordinary session in the hopes of bolstering their dismal ratings. But the Orange parties have said they would not recognize any bills passed during such a session, as the president dismissed the parliament earlier this year. Thus, the Regions, which boasts more than its fair share of deputies glad to have immunity from prosecution, has turned the tables on the president, using his own tactic against him. If the president doesn't recognize the session, his opponents will claim he doesn't support the cancellation of lawmaker immunity.
In response, Yushchenko has called for the issue to be revisited after voting on September 30. Once Ukrainians have already cast their votes, though, it's unlikely that their representatives in parliament will be as eager to listen to them. Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko tried to cancel the free spas, apartments for life and other financial incentives last year, but her fellow lawmakers defeated the initiative.
The situation with perks is not analogous to paying policemen more money so that they don't take bribes. Most Ukrainian lawmakers buy their places on party lists. A top businessman can't afford to not become a lawmaker, while a lawmaker can't afford his mandate without having a business. The situation is also not analogous to lobbying, because oligarchs represent the industry, the lawmaker and often the media in one person. Immunity from prosecution, although having served to protect minority lawmakers, is primarily a privilege that sets the privileged above everyone else. That's why the latter are keen to have it cancelled and the former are unlikely to do so.
John Marone, Kyiv Post Staff Journalist, Ukraine
September 3, 2007
|
|
|
