The passage of the new draft Land Code on Thursday touched off tempers in two days of fights among Communists, nationalists over procedural violations
of the session hall in protest against alleged regulations violations during Thursday's voting on the draft Land Code when a member's electronic card was used during his absence.
The Verkhovna Rada on Thursday passed the first of two required readings of a land code law that allows free purchase and sale of land and its use as collateral, wire reports stated.
The Associated Press reported that fist fights broke out Thursday during the session as leftists insisted that land remain state property.
Despite protests by communist deputies who disrupted the session, a majority of 229 deputies backed the draft, just three more than needed. Forty-two votes were against the bill.
Communists stormed the podium and a scuffle broke out among Communists, members of the nationalist Rukh movement, and some centrists.
Anatoly Danylenko, head of the state land resources committee, told the parliament the code was a key element of Ukraine land reform launched last year.
At another point Thursday, the Communist members refused to leave the podium until Communist party leader Petro Symonneko was allowed to address the plenum.
"You are guilty of selling away Ukraine, you are destroying the basis of its economic and political independence. You are the culprits of the genocide of your own people," Symonenko shouted to the pro-reform majority.
He alleged that the vote was fixed using voting cards from 25 absent deputies.
At the orders of Rada speaker Ivan Plyushch, the session was abruptly cut short and lawmakers in charge of parliamentary procedures were asked to study the issue.
Other legislators noted procedural violations as well and the Verkhovna Rada's Rules of Procedure Committee initiated a second vote on the draft Land Code in the evening session.
On Friday after the walk-out, Symonenko said that "day-after-day violation of voting rules have become a norm" at Verkhovna Rada. He noted that voting on the draft Land Code was a breach of Article 84 of the Constitution because each deputy should vote in person.
Ukraine's current land laws are felt to be simply re-writes of ones passed during reforms under Gorbachev. In particular, they severely restrict a new owner's ability to sell or transfer the land for six years. Under these current terms, land ownership in Ukraine does not resemble land ownership in an open market economy.
The Rada received the draft Land Code on May 25 from the Cabinet of Ministers.
Collective farms have already been transformed into joint-stock companies or cooperatives, but investors and foreign lenders expect more radical steps proving the seriousness of Ukraine's reforms.
The Land Code clears up issues related to inheritance laws that had remained basically unchanged since Soviet times. It also addresses procedures for transferring land from state ownership to municipal ownership and vice versa and provisions for mortgages.
The new code would allow foreigners to buy non-arable land in towns or allotments on which companies are located. However, citizens will have the exclusive right to buy and inherit arable land.
This draft was made following the December 3, 1999 Presidential Decree "On Acceleration of Reformation of the Agricultural Sector of the economy."
The percentage of cultivated land in Ukraine is the highest in Europe. Ukraine had 33 million hectares of arable land as of January 1
