Member of the Block of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYT)-Batkivschyna faction, Serhiy Sobolev has said that opposition forces have managed to unite in order to "resist the dictatorship" following the arrest of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Representatives of 10 parliamentary parties put their signatures under a statement that was signed outside of the Pechersky District Court on the hood of the car in which Tymoshenko and [former Interior Minister] Yuriy Lutsenko were driven to the hearing," he said, adding that "this actually means the creation of the Dictatorship Resistance Committee."
The document was signed by "nearly all of the opposition politicians who were previously accused of failing to unite, yet they did manage to unite," Sobolev said.
Earlier, the press service of the Batkivschyna party reported that a statement on an anti-dictatorship committee was opened for signing, including by non-parliamentary parties.
The statement was signed by leaders of the European Party of Ukraine, Defendants of the Fatherland party, People’s Self-Defense, Batkivschyna, Reforms and Law party, Our Ukraine, Popular Ruh of Ukraine, and the Front for Changes party, Sobolev said.
The Dictatorship Resistance Committee has already held its first session, the deputy said.
"It will meet regularly. This will enable us to better coordinate our efforts," he said.
On August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day, the BYT-Batkivschyna faction intends to organize nationwide protests in support of Tymoshenko, a BYT deputy, Natalia Korolevska, told reporters.
