Ukraine: Dear Polish Delegation, We’re in Shock, Too  · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Channel 5 broadcasted a report about the visit of the Polish parliamentary delegation to the national legislature Verkhovna Rada (a YouTube video is available here). According to the report, the Polish visitors were shocked by the Ukrainian MPs’ practice of voting on behalf of fellow party members: in Poland, such a practice was illegal, one of the guests commented, and would lead to the loss of mandate by the MP in question.
Although the Ukrainian Constitution calls for the MPs to exercise their duties personally, voting for their peers has been a seemingly ineradicable practice, especially popular with the MPs of the latest convocation. It has prompted widespread condemnation on occasions like the passage of the controversial Tax Code [ENG] and the recent changes to the Constitution [ENG]. The idea that the elected representatives know how their fellow party members would vote and thus can vote on their behalf has also been called into question. The latest incident involves the opposition MP Volodymyr Aryev claiming [UKR] that someone had voted for amending the Constitution with a duplicate of his electronic voting card against his will, while he was on a transatlantic flight to Washington, DC.
Media reports about the Polish delegation witnessing and ridiculing voting in Verkhovna Rada were shared widely by Ukrainian netizens and discussed [ENG] on the Anglophone blogs about Ukraine.
A screenshot of a TV report showing Ukrainian MPs voting, circulated by Ukrainian netizens
It seems the incident has prompted many Ukrainians to re-examine the state of affairs in the Parliament. Some 166 comments have been left under the TV report called “Polish delegation is in shock” uploaded by one of the Ukrainain Facebook users, with most commentators expressing shame and outrage.
User Igor Nikolaiev wrote [UKR]:
Ось це-ганьба. Я гадаю, це буде великий внесок, до і до того не близької перспективи увійти до Євросоюзу.
User [Iryna Matviyenko] wrote [UKR]:
от стидоба…
User Sergiy […] wrote [UKR]:
країні потрібні ті, хто буде хоча б коли їх камери знімають, не знущатися над КУ і законом. Незалежно від кольору ганчірок ака партійний знамен.
User Olga Riznyak wrote [UKR]:
скільки вони нас ще ганьбитимуть??? може світ нарешті зрозуміє, що в Україні ніякої демократії немає!!!
User Roksolana Kohut wrote [UKR]:
Якщо на виборах депутатів простий громадянин голосує за іншого простого громадянина, здається, виявлення такого факту тягне за простим громадянином кримінальну відповідальність з позбавленням волі. А хіба є інші закони для “обраних”?
Some suggested ways to improve the situation. User Igor Slisarenko wrote [UKR]:
цю ганьбу можна припинити лише в один спосіб: в багатьох парламентах (Мексика, Корея, пам'ятаю) голосування “за того парня” є кримінальним злочином. Тільки хто з цих хлопців проголосує за таке у нас? […]
User Rostyslav Saban wrote [UKR]:
Які ми, кожен окремо – така вся наша країна. Згадайте коли ви особисто востаннє зраджували своїм принципам, незважали на закон, та в кінці кінців переходили дорогу в недозволеному місці, так само і керівники в державі, тільки масштаб інший… Тож ставаймо кращими, твердішими, принциповими.. і буде нам щастя!
In addition to being featured in this discussion, the TV report called “Polish delegation is in shock” has been shared widely on Twitter and by other Facebook users. A heading used by several of those who reposted it read:
We’re in shock, too.