Rada scuppers motion to sack Interior Minister Avakov – 31 votes in favor
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has failed to support a measure calling for the resignation of Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov.
Only 31 parliamentarians voted (with a necessary minimum of 226 votes) for corresponding draft resolution (No. 5041) at a meeting on Tuesday. A total of 102 lawmakers voted against the proposal, and 56 abstained.
In particular, Avakov's resignation was backed by eight Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction deputies, including the author of the bill, Serhiy Kaplin, 26 voted against it and 38 abstained. Sixty-two out of 81 People's Front lawmakers voted against the proposal. The interior minister's resignation was also supported by nine Samopomich deputies (one abstained) and a member of the Batkivschyna faction (three voted against it, and four abstained).
MPs from the Opposition Bloc, Vidrodzhennia and People's Will mostly did not vote, giving only three votes against Avakov's resignation. Of the 20 deputies of the Radical Party faction, no one voted to dismiss Avakov, whereas four voted against or abstained from this proposal. Thirteen independent lawmakers voted for the interior minister's resignation, four voted against it, and six abstained.
According to Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy, Avakov has sufficient authority.
"I think that by voting, we must vote for support to the interior minister so that he can continue to fulfill his duty to the Ukrainian state," he said.
As reported, bill No. 5041 on Avakov's dismissal as interior minister was registered in the Verkhovna Rada by Kaplin back in August 2016 after police officers killed a man in the village of Kryve Ozero (Mykolaiv region).
The explanatory note to the draft resolution points to the massive use of weapons by police officers during detentions, which is disregard for basic human rights. In addition, the author of the document notes that the number of crimes after the introduction of reform in this area has increased, and only one in ten crimes are solved.
The question of Avakov's dismissal was raised after the "backpack case," which involves interior minister's son, Oleksandr Avakov.
