MPs vote down anti-discrimination amendment from “visa-free package”
The amendment to the Labour Code will again be put to the vote after the break. Twenty votes are needed to pass it.
The Ukrainian lawmakers put on the agenda the amendment to the Labour Code of Ukraine, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. However, there have been not enough votes to pass the amendment.
As Project Coordinator of the Freedom House human rights organization Zoryan Kis posted on Facebook, 206 MPs voted “for”, 20 MPs voted “against”, 28 lawmakers abstained.
“There will be another vote after the break. Think whom you can ask to vote ‘for.’ We really need 20 votes more,” Zoryan Kis posted.
At today’s sitting, the Parliament passed the rest of the bills, necessary to get the visa-free regime with the EU.
In particular, the amendments to the legislation relate to:
- special confiscation of property of corrupt officials;
- clarification of the jurisdiction of pre-trial investigation bodies;
- immediate consideration of cases over forced eviction or detention of foreigners and stateless persons
- seizure of property that may be the tool or proof of the crime or has been obtained as a result of criminal activities;
- establishment of the agency to recover the assets, which have been illegally acquired.
Today, about 200 activists were picketing the Parliament urging the lawmakers to pass ten bills within the framework of the Action Plan on Visa Liberalization.
