Korniienko: international partners are against mass lustration; collaborators can be barred from running only after a court verdict

Discussions about eligibility of pro-Russian politicians for potential elections are ongoing.

Prohibiting collaborators from participating in elections is possible only after a corresponding court verdict. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) must investigate the crime, forward the case to court, and the court – issue a decision at all levels and render a verdict. This is what the first deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Korniyenko, said in an interview with LB.live.

According to him, the SBU previously completed similar investigations promptly. Korniyenko hopes that at least the high-profile part of the cases, where it is evident that a person is a collaborator, will be completed in a timely manner.

Overall, the issue of political lustration is not simple, the politician believes.

“Obviously, politically and in the media it is a very correct topic, it should be discussed. And why and how we came to such a situation, how we became victims of such an attack by Russia, how all this was prepared by the corresponding pro-Russian politicians. The groundwork was laid starting from the Yanukovych era, when there were simply Russian citizens in our authorities and the Ministry of Defense, among others. And ending with the issue of specific different actions that the state can undertake. It is being discussed, clearly, lustration by the principle of banning parties. This is very poorly received by partners. In particular, the Venice Commission has repeatedly written that there cannot be mass lustration. There can be individual lustration,” he said.

Individual lustration is not a question of law but a question of verdicts. At the same time, Korniyenko finds it hard to say how the political debate on this topic will end.

He added that if the current legislation remains in place, most representatives of pro-Russian political forces will be able to run again.

“If elections are held tomorrow, I do not currently see prohibitions on representatives of banned parties from running under other parties or as self-nominees,” the first deputy speaker said.

Korniyenko noted that he discussed with lawyers the marking on ballots of pro-Russian forces' representatives. He suggests that this could be a compromise, but he is not sure that it will be enough for people.