This was stated by OPPOSITION PLATFORM — FOR LIFE MP Serhiy Lovochkin on the sidelines of the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

He stressed that the bill on revoking of parliamentary immunity that was passed on the same day was faulty both in its contents and the procedure of voting, and that’s the reason why opposition MPs did not support it.

“The bill had been drafted by former President Petro Poroshenko several years ago, and we’ve had our critical comments on it since then,” the opposition politician said.

“We definitely support the idea that MPs, the president, and judges should be all stripped of their immunity. All should be equal in the eyes of the law. At the same time, we must understand that the practice of setting up politically motivated lawsuits against opposition, which prevailed during the previous government’s tenure, might stay; it might be conducted through political influence upon MPs exercised through law enforcement agencies,” Lovochkin said.

“In addition, the bill has been passed with procedure violations. This forces us to take two steps. The first is to repeal the bill in the Constitutional Court. The second is to submit a new draft law to the Verkhovna Rada on revoking of the parliamentary immunity for criminal offenses. Anything that concerns political activity, including criminal charges against MPs based on political motives, must be excluded,” the politician said.

Lovochkin noted that the Verkhovna Rada should focus on matters of peace and economic development.

“The people will not get more money or food depending on whether the parliament members and the president are politically immune or not. The MPs should focus on making the people’s lives better instead of promoting themselves through immunity matters,” Lovochkin said.

The politician reminded that OPPOSITION PLATFORM — FOR LIFE MPs have submitted dozens of bills aimed and solving the most urgent problems of Ukrainians.