You're reading: Baloha: Rada vote to cancel daylight saving time may appeal against in court

Emergencies Minister of Ukraine Viktor Baloha has said the decision of the Verkhovna Rada to cancel daylight saving time could be appealed against in the court.

"The Rada went against common sense, [and] MPs, in fact, canceled natural laws and ignored science. It’s absolutely not the case that it’s possible to vote without coming to one’s senses. With a wave of their hands MPs forbade citizens to live according to an essential time schedule, but [according to] artificial rules, the press service of the Emergencies Ministry quoted minister as saying.

The minister said it was obvious parliament had taken a mistaken decision, causing a significant public outcry, and soon the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians "will appreciate all of the disadvantages of parliamentary innovations concerning timekeeping."

Baloha said the initiators of the given decision "resolutely fail to admit they made a mistake and give unconvincing off-hand comments in order to justify [themselves]." The Ukrainian parliament will do all it can to avoid looking at the matter again, hoping that in the course of time interest in it will fade.

"But there is no use in expecting that cancellation of daylight saving time will go calmly, as it affects most of the country. Millions of people have already been upset, and there is no point in suddenly making them opponents of the government. In the case, if the Verkhovna Rada pretends that the problem doesn’t exist, there are legal ways to encourage the activity of MPs," Baloha said.

As reported, on September 20, the Verkhovna Rada decided to cancel daylight saving time. "The Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill to fix the time of the second time zone by adding one hour on the territory of Ukraine from March 27, 2011," the bill on the issue reads.

On October 5, Emergencies Minister of Ukraine Viktor Baloha asked Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn to initiate the reconsideration of a parliamentary decision to cancel daylight saving time in Ukraine.

First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Iryna Akimova said daylight saving time was the better of the two times for Ukrainians. "The question is this – what time should be introduced: summer or winter? Winter time, from the point of view of physicians, is considered to be the better," Akimova said.

However, Health Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Anischenko has said he thinks the cancellation of daylight saving time would be of benefit to the health of Ukrainians.