Two controversial candidates got registered for the July 21 parliamentary election, causing public outrage.
The Central Election Commission on July 2 registered an exiled ex-official Andriy Klyuyev and scandalous blogger Anatoliy Shariy as candidates despite the fact that they hadn’t been living in Ukraine for years.
Living in Ukraine for five years before the elections is a requirement for candidates.
The Central Election Commission has initially rejected their attempts to register as candidates based on the fact that they live abroad. Klyuyev has been in exile since 2014, Shariy since 2012.
However, the Supreme Court of Ukraine overruled the commission’s decision to turn them down and obliged the commission to review their applications again.
The court also declared that the proof that the Central Election Commission had of Klyuyev’s and Shariy’s residence abroad wasn’t enough. The commission had a letter from the Prosecutor General’s Office declaring that Klyuyev has not been living in Ukraine for the past five years, and a protocol from an OSCE meeting where’s Shariy wife says their family has not been living in Ukraine for seven years.
Ukraine’s ex-President Viktor Yanukovych meets with Andriy Klyuyev, then-head of Yanukovych’s presidential administration, to discuss an agreement with the opposition leaders in Kyiv on Feb. 21, 2014. Yanukovych fled Ukraine the next day, and Klyueyv followed. (UNIAN)
After the court overruled this evidence, the Central Election Commission couldn’t use them in their review of the application and had no choice but to register Klyuyev and Shariy, a statement by the commission said.
Several hundred people protested on Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square in central Kyiv against the registration, and a possible return, of Klyuyev and Shariy. Both men are wanted in Ukraine. It’s not clear whether the lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution would apply to them if they are elected.
Klyuyev had some top positions under the ex-President Viktor Yanukovych during 2010-2014. He ran Yanukovych’s administration during the EuroMaidan Revolution that ousted the pro-Russia president in 2014, as well as served as the deputy prime minister, and the head of the Defense and Security Council of Ukraine.
He left the country together with Yanukovych in February 2014. Since then, Klyuyev has been residing in Russia. He is wanted for abuse of office.
Shariy left Ukraine in early 2012, also escaping prosecution. A year earlier, he opened fire in one of the capital’s McDonald’s fast food restaurants during a fight with another guest at the venue. He said he was facing pressure from authorities for his journalism.
He has been living in Europe since 2012 and hosting a popular video blog. On his Youtube channel, he has been criticizing Ukrainian authorities. Although his videos have been very popular, Shariy’s scandalous style and controversial statements earned him a bad reputation among the Ukrainians who sympathize with the EuroMaidan Revolution and those with nationalist views.
Political blogger Anatoliy Shariy, who fled Ukraine in 2012 escaping prosecution, is running for parliament in absentia on July 21.
Now, Klyuyev wants to run for parliament from the Liberal Party of Ukraine in the 46th single-member constituency situated near Donetsk, a city some 675 kilometers east of Kyiv that is controlled by Russia-backed militants.
Shariy will run on the ballot of his own political party, called Shariy’s Party.
