Members of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction have said they will block the Ukrainian parliament's rostrum until the end of the parliament's session on Tuesday.
"Today, our group will register a resolution signed by all of our MPs (on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada)," first deputy leader of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction Andriy Kozhemiakin said on Tuesday.
Kozhemiakin said the faction is protesting against the majority’s refusal to consider the issue of decriminalizing the article of the Criminal Code under which former Prime Minister and BYT leader Yulia Tymoshenko was convicted.
"Protesting against the actions that are taking place in parliament, our group will remain next to this rostrum as long as you hold this meeting," he said.
Kozhemiakin said that the Tuesday’s meeting of leaders of the parliamentary factions had shown that the parliament would not consider the opposition’s proposal to decriminalize the article of the Criminal Code.
He said that the Verkhovna Rada had turned from a legitimate legislative body into a department of the presidential administration of Ukraine, which takes the decisions prompted by the presidential office.
"Ukraine does not need such a Verkhovna Rada," Kozhemiakin said.
Some 20 members of the BYT-Batkivschyna party surrounded the parliament’s rostrum, but Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn is continuing to conduct the meeting.
