Ukraine's lawmakers vote to restore anti-corruption agencies' independence
Lawmakers voted 331 in favour of the bill in the 450-seat legislature in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday. It must now be signed by the speaker of parliament and president before it can take effect.
Protesters gathered in a nearby park watched the vote in the first live television broadcast from parliament since Russia's invasion in 2022. Kyiv had then banned the livestreams for security reasons in a move criticised by the opposition as non-transparent.
Ukrainian lawmakers vote for a new bill to restore the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies, at the parliament session hall in Kyiv on Thursday. Photo: AP
The vote overturns a controversial law which was rushed through parliament last week, placing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, or SAPO, under the control of the General Prosecutor's Office, a body mistrusted by many Ukrainians which is led by a loyalist to the president.
Zelensky proposed the new bill to quell a backlash which saw thousands take to the streets in the first mass protests since Moscow launched its full-scale war on Ukraine.
The earlier move to throttle the two anti-corruption bureaus also faced censure from Ukraine's foreign backers, on whose financial support the war-ravaged country depends. NABU and SAPO were created on the insistence of international donors a decade ago.
The European Union's top official for enlargement, Marta Kos, praised the reversal of last week's 'damaging' law in a post on social media platform X after the vote. 'Today's law restores key safeguards, but challenges remain,' she said.
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