Turchynov: Opposition to cancel pension reform and raise minimum wage after victory in elections

The head of the central election headquarters of the Batkivschyna united opposition, Oleksandr Turchynov, has said that the current opposition plans to cancel a number of laws after its victory in parliamentary elections and the formation of a coalition in the Verkhovna Rada.

"Our priority in a new parliament will be to facilitate as quickly as possible the condition of ordinary people who have been reduced to complete poverty by the current regime... For example, we will cancel the current anti-national pension reform, while restoring the pre-existing retirement age and pensionable service for women. We will immediately conduct a recalculation of pensions, which will grow on average by Hr 334. We will establish a single pension accrual principle - 65% of the average monthly wage. There will be no special pensions," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Turchynov also added: "We will urgently increase the minimum wage to Hr 2,400 - the level of the updated living wage. We will propose a bill that that will halve spending on the maintenance of government agencies and cancel benefits to officials."

He also said that the opposition had drafted a bill that "will create an entirely new tax system in the country."

"It [the law] will reduce the number of taxes to seven and create a proper investment climate. Tax police, as the personification of the era of [Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola] Azarov, will be disbanded," Turchynov said.

He also said that the united opposition had set the task of demonstrating a new quality of policy to the public.

"The issue concerns accountability and responsibility. As part of this approach we submitted our program for public discussion, with open lists of candidates. Thirteen roundtable meetings were held in Kyiv, during which we, along with experts, discussed the different sections of the program. About a hundred meetings of this kind were held in the regions and districts, and thousands of proposals to improve the program were received. Therefore, now we can say completely responsibly that the program with which the Batkivschyna united opposition will participate in the elections is a real national action program aimed at removing the current regime from power and building a proper civilized state," Turchynov said.