Vote on NABU and SAPO powers law to trigger changes in Servant of the People decision-making rules - MP Zhmerenetsky

The situation with the vote on July 22 for the law on limiting the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) will lead to the improvement of the work of the Servant of the People faction, faction member Oleksiy Zhmerenetsky has said.

"This situation will lead to changes in the internal work and decision-making rules within the faction. There is now a working group that is working on improving internal procedures so that such mistakes will never happen again," he told reporters on Thursday.

Answering the question of whether the faction leader is being replaced, he noted: "No, the faction leader (David Arakhamia) apologized to his colleagues for the failure of internal faction procedures. He was thanked for his sincerity, for finding the strength to apologize."

Zhmerenetsky recalled that he did not vote for the bill on limiting the powers of the NABU and the SAPO at the Verkhovna Rada meeting on July 22 after he had familiarized himself with its text. At the same time, he admitted that his colleagues from the faction voted for a law that day that they did not have time to familiarize themselves with.

According to information on the official portal of the parliament about the voting of people's deputies for the bill on limiting the powers of the NABU and the SAPO (№2414 - on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the features of the pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses related to the disappearance of missing persons under special circumstances under martial law), Zhmerenetsky was absent from the meeting.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday restored the independence of the NABU and the SAPO. Some 331 people's deputies voted for the relevant presidential bill No. 13533 on strengthening the effectiveness of the NABU and the SAPO as a basis and in total.