Saakashvili's party starts collecting signatures to impeach Ukrainian President Poroshenko
MP of the Verkhovna Rada Yuriy Derevyanko announced at a meeting of the coordination board that he has begun collecting MP signatures to launch impeachment procedures against President Petro Poroshenko.
"Starting today, Rukh Novykh Syl [Movement of New Forces Party] will begin to collect signatures from members of [the Verkhovna Rada] to launch parliamentary procedures for the resignation of the President by impeachment," said Derevyanko, who is one of the leaders of the party.
According to Derevyanko, the collection of signatures to launch impeachment procedures will take place in accordance with Articles 93 and 111 of the Constitution and Articles 171 and 172 of the Rada Regulations.
The procedure for impeaching the President in Ukraine is rather complicated.
According to Article 111 of the Constitution, the President may be removed from office by the Verkhovna Rada in case of committing treason or other crimes.
The discussion on whether to dismiss the President from the post through impeachment must be initiated by a majority of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada (at least 226 deputies).
To conduct an investigation, the Parliament must establish a special interim investigative commission, to include a special prosecutor and special investigators.
The conclusions and recommendations of the temporary investigative commission are then considered at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada.
If there are grounds for impeachment, at least two-thirds of the constitutional composition of the Rada (300 deputies) must adopt a decision on the accusations against the President.
The decision to dismiss the President from the post of impeachment must be made by at least three-quarters of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada (338 deputies). This must be done after the Constitutional Court has reviewed the case and received its opinion on observance of constitutional procedures of investigation and consideration of the case of impeachment, and received a Supreme Court decision on the extent to which the acts the President of Ukraine is accused of contain signs of high treason or other crimes.