Oleksii Koshel, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, believes that if the law banning the UOC-MP had been passed without delay, the vast majority of believers would have already joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
He expressed this opinion on the air of Espreso.
“I would like to remind you about the church bill submitted to the parliament in January 2023. It was a government bill to implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council and, accordingly, the presidential decree. Such bills must be adopted expeditiously - in a matter of weeks or months - following the NSDC decision and the presidential decree. This did not happen. Now, let me remind you that this is a two-page draft law. Two pages, one fundamental amendment, that's it. There is nothing to finalize, rewrite, etc. Although the parliament reached a consensus on this bill, it took a year and 7 months. And now the head of state comes out and says: “We will make a firm decision”. I was bewildered when I heard this,” the political scientist said.
Oleksii Koshel believes that the authorities have lost precious time, for the law could have been passed, and the transition to the OCU could have been made on the wave of public enthusiasm.
“And now they are trying to appease us, to lead the process so that we applaud the president, who finally initiated the consideration of this issue in parliament. Unfortunately, we have lost precious time. We have lost a year and a half during which the vast majority of parishes of the UOC-MP could have become a part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine - painlessly, without any problems. Yes, this process could have already begun and be nearing completion. Because of the emotional upsurge, people were holding meetings and voting, and people wanted transitions, but there were no legal grounds for all this. The government lost a precious year and a half of time. Our key task is to ensure that at least 80% of the UOC-MP representatives transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which can be a very painless process, by the way. Still, I am afraid it will either be artificially slowed down, dragging the process on for years or even decades, or they will blunder again,” he added.