You're reading: Radio Free Europe: Ukrainian opposition leader calls for party to refuse parliamentary seats

A Ukrainian lawmaker and leader of the opposition Batkivshchina party of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has repeated a call for the party to refuse to send deputies to the new parliament that was elected on October 28.

Lawmaker Anatoliy Hrytsenko, who was No. 3 on the Batkivshchina list, said he has asked party political-council leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk to call a congress for November 5 or 6 to consider rejecting the 103 mandates the party won.

According to official figures, the ruling Party of Regions won 30.01 percent of the vote, Batkivshchina wone 25.52 percent, the Udar movement of boxer Vitali Klitschko took 13.95 percent, and the Communist Party won 13.18 percent.

Opposition leaders have said the elections were rigged, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and U.S. government have called them a step backward for Ukraine’s democratic development.