Politologist on pending bill 8371: Govt relies on ex-OPZZh members’ votes

Oleksiy Koshel. Photo: Raskolam.net

The Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences Oleksiy Koshel, suggested that the Verkhovna Rada may not bring draft law 8371, which actually bans the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to the session hall due to the position of the party “Opposition Platform - For Life and Peace” on this issue, reports Espresso.

He believes that the authorities do not want to confront the former OPZZh, as the ban on the UOC could lead to the loss of allies in important votes on other key issues. Because of this, draft law 8371 may be removed from the agenda.

At the same time, Koshel believes that this law could be problematic for Ukraine, as America and Europe do not understand that this legislative initiative is not about prohibition or restriction.

"Here it is actually much more complicated. On the one hand, let's be honest, it is understandable that the authorities have certain concerns from our American partners, who have already started to spin this topic, saying that the ban on church organizations is the worst scenario in a democratic country. Our problem is that we have not been able to explain to Europeans and Americans that this bill is not about prohibition and not even about restriction. It is not about the UOC MP at all, it is about how in a democratic country to allow the mechanism of democratic choice by the community of the denomination to which it wants to belong. The temple does not belong to the priest, not to the UOC MP, and the structure itself, and the church organization, the cell, that is, the main decision is made by the church community. We had a big problem when the legislation does not provide an answer to the question – what is an organization or a religious organization," he said.

As reported by the UOJ, about 70 deputies stated that if the draft law is not brought to the Parliament’s session hall next week, they will not vote for any other legislative initiatives.

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