25/04/2013 Session
Strasbourg, 25.04.2013 – The Assembly today decided to deprive Serhiy Vlasenko of his mandate and to ratify the credentials of Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine, EPP/CD). This decision follows the challenge to Mr Shevchenko’s still unratified credentials made last Monday by Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), on procedural grounds, in accordance with Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly, on the ground that he was replacing in the Ukrainian delegation Mr Vlasenko, who had been deprived of his national parliamentary mandate under a judicial decision which may have been politically motivated.
In the resolution adopted on the basis of the report by Nataša Vučković (Serbia, SOC), PACE noted that Mr Shevchenko belongs to the same political faction, “Batkivtshchyna”, as Mr Vlasenko. Furthermore, he was appointed to replace Mr Vlasenko by the President of the “Batkivtshchyna” faction, in conformity with the procedures of the Verkhovna Rada, and his appointment is not incompatible with the fair representation of political groups and parties in the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada.
Moreover, PACE considers that it should not appraise, in the place of the Verkhovna Rada or of the European Court of Human Rights – which has been formally seized – the validity of the judicial decision at the origin of the revocation of Mr Vlasenko’s mandate.
The adopted text points out that the Assembly is the sole authority which can pronounce on the revocation, during a session, of the mandate of one of its members.