Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has voiced her anger against the dismantling of a campsite set up by protestors of a new tax law in central Kyiv.
"This occurred cynically and roughly. This is an affront to our citizens and democracy," said Tymoshenko, who is now the leader of the opposition Batkivschyna (Fatherland) Party, on Friday.
Fireworks on Independence Square immediately after parliament approved an amended version of the tax code bill following public pressure on Thursday was not organized by protesting businesspeople, she said. The protestors wanted the bill to be scrapped altogether.
"It was the fireworks organized by the authorities themselves in their honor," Tymoshenko said.
Entrepreneurs and people’s deputies will set up a joint team to work out a program protecting entrepreneurs, she also said.
The new tax code approved by parliament will be abolished sooner or later, Tymoshenko believes. "The tax code was voted upon but it did not become much better. Tax breaks for the rich, and for people to tighten belts so that it is impossible to breath," the opposition leader said.
The new tax code must be worked out jointly with entrepreneurs, she said.
Meanwhile, ruling Party of Regions leader Oleksandr Yefremov said that the forced dismantling of the campsite on Independence Square was done according to the law.
"Probably, from the legal point of view, everything here was right," Yefremov told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.
The court ruling must be complied with because "all civilized countries treat court rulings with respect," he said.
