Liovochkin: Yanukovych signs law amending parliament's rules of procedure

Bangalore, India - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law introducing amendments to the Verkhovna Rada's rules of procedure, Head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration Serhiy Liovochkin has told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The law will be published tomorrow," he said.

Liovochkin is in India as part of an official delegation headed by the Ukrainian president.

The law determines the mechanism of the individual voting of MPs.

As reported, on December 10, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn said that he had signed the law on the individual voting of MPs.

On December 6, the Verkhovna Rada amended its regulations and ordered MPs to register for the participation in parliamentary sessions and vote during them individually.

According to the document, before the start of every session of the parliament, MPs will register personally with their people's deputy cards and personal signatures. The deputies will also register via the Rada electronic system at the session hall, and thus other people will be unable to register instead of deputies.

The law also orders MPs to vote personally via the Rada electronic system in the session hall, thus no one will be able to vote instead of them.

According to the document, MPs must not hinder the consideration of issues on the agenda, block the rostrum, intrude in the work of the parliamentary chairman, or prevent other deputies from voting.

During the vote, MPs have to vote for or against the issue, or abstain from the vote. Parliamentarians must not ignore votes.

The Verkhovna Rada of the seventh convocation will start working on Dec. 12.