The President’s appointment of a military ombudsman will lead to the ineffectiveness of the system that should defend the rights of our defenders. This was stated by the People’s Deputy from the European Solidarity faction, Iryna Friz, during the discussion of the draft law on establishing a military ombudsman.
“I am a consistent supporter of the fact that the institution of a military ombudsman should be introduced in our state. At the National Security Committee, during the consideration of the said draft law in the first reading, I supported it, and it was thanks to Eurosolidarity that it was possible to submit it for discussion. We hoped that by the second reading, we would be able to correct the Constitution violations in the first edition,” she said.
The People’s Deputy noted that the appointment and dismissal of the Military Ombudsman solely by the President of Ukraine will not ensure practical work.
“We proposed to include in the transitional provisions for the second reading a norm according to which the Verkhovna Rada, after the end of martial law, would have the opportunity to make the necessary amendments to the Constitution, which would introduce a fair form of appointment and dismissal of the Military Ombudsman. Unfortunately, our position and proposal were not supported, and we have wording that directly contradicts the current norms of the Constitution,” she noted.
In addition, Friz emphasized that the appointment of the Ombudsman will not be of high quality without introducing a competitive selection system.
“We insisted that a competition be held during the appointment to the position. What is the need for a competition? It would actually be primarily aimed at transparency, choosing a professional candidate, and minimizing political influence on this candidate’s work after appointment. Unfortunately, the position with competitive selection, as well as with qualification requirements, was not considered,” she noted.
The People’s Deputy emphasized that it is essential to create the institution and ensure its independence from any political influence.
“The appointment to the position must be made in agreement with the Verkhovna Rada, so that any puppet influences do not affect the activities. Look at this hall. It is half empty, because the majority was told not to come and not to support the opposition’s amendments. I’m not talking about voting. We can observe the same with the institute or the ombudsman himself, who cannot resist the influence of a specific person who appointed him. Therefore, it is important that the Verkhovna Rada approves the appointment of the ombudsman,” Friz summarized.