The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has scheduled early local elections in a number of cities, towns and villages for June 20, 2010.
The parliament approved a corresponding resolution on Thursday.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that the MPs did not approve all of the recommended drafts while voting for the early elections of village, town and city heads.
MP Mykola Katerynchuk (Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense faction) said the voting results proved that the Regions Party intends to extend its influence over local government bodies, as the faction did not support elections in any of those regions where they already have a majority.
"I would like to share a secret about the way the voting on the early elections is taking place. The intention to gain control over certain territories via local government bodies, without holding elections there, is obvious. The Regions Party does not need elections in those territories where it already has a majority; instead they unanimously support the elections in the regions where they do not have [a majority]. This is a shameful [attempted] seizure of local government bodies," Katerynchuk said.
