Parliament removes disgraced MP Yuriy Boyko from committee role

Source: Yaroslav Zheleznyak

On December 19, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted to remove MP Yuriy Boyko from his position on the parliamentary committee for human rights, de-occupation, and reintegration of temporarily occupied territories after the lawmaker who is often called out over his past links to pro-Russian party and Victor Yanukovych.

While an initial vote on December 18 fell short of passing in the parliament,  the second attempt garnered votes of 258 MPs, which was sufficient to have him removed despite some tepid reaction from the ruling party lawmakers one of whom even defended Boyko during the session, urging colleagues not to vote for his removal.

Boyko found himself in the center of a scandal earlier this week after a video on social media showed him railing against what he called “restrictions on people speaking Russian and attempt to tear down historical monuments”.

“Our radicals have followed the same path—tearing down monuments, renaming cities, banning people from speaking their native language, and preventing them from attending their chosen churches. This violence continues today,” said Boyko .

After his comments drew a public outrcy, he backtracked on his claims saying he was referring to Petro Poroshenko’s policies.

In response, the European Solidarity faction led by Poroshenko demanded Boyko and other MPs from the banned Opposition Platform—For Life (OPFL) party be stripped of their mandates.