Support for the idea of stripping voting rights from those who have left the country may be even higher than last year, but implementing it would have consequences for relations with the Council of Europe and foreign partners.
First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko said this in an interview with LB.ua.
According to him, last year polling recorded support for such an idea among those who remained in Ukraine.
“Those were last year’s figures. I suspect that if a survey were conducted now, support for this idea would be even higher,” Korniienko said.
At the same time, Ukrainians distinguish between two types of voting rights, and, he stresses, this is fundamental.
“Thank God, Ukrainians are fairly good at distinguishing between active and passive voting rights. And if we restrict passive rights — that is, the right to stand for election and be elected — we will have enormous problems with foreign partners, with the Council of Europe, and so on. And if we were also to restrict active rights — that is, the right to vote — we would be added to the ranks of undemocratic countries. And then the question is: how are we different from Russia?” the First Deputy Speaker noted.
As for passive rights, he says he has not yet formed a position and refers to a poll in Poland, according to which 51% of Ukrainians living there would return to Ukraine under certain circumstances.
“In my view, we need to wait until the war ends and understand whether people will return,” Korniienko said.