Deputies from the factions of the parliamentary majority walked out of the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday.
"Today, for the first time in five years, there was a very not nice action. At the request of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction, all of us gathered in the office of [Parliament Speaker Volodymyr] Lytvyn at 1545. Everybody had his own plans. I, for example, met with journalists and managed to arrive just at 1650. As a result, [BYT-Batkivschyna faction leader Andriy] Kozhemiakin was no longer there, while the BYT faction started blocking the parliament’s rostrum. Therefore, it does not look good with respect to your colleagues, when you ask for one thing and do completely another thing. Earlier, we abided by such a principle," the leader of the Regions Party faction in parliament, Oleksandr Yefremov, said on Thursday, while commenting on the actions of BYT-Batkivschyna deputies.
"Secondly, if they want to block [the parliament’s rostrum], we do not have anything urgent [that could be adopted at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada]. By and large, the parliament has fulfilled its program for the current session. And now, by and large, it is finalizing other bills that we have. Therefore, if you wish, the parliament can be blocked," he said.
"We are not planning any incidents," Yefremov said.
He said that Regions Party deputies left the session hall on Thursday and would return to parliament on Friday.
"I told our deputies that they could work in committees. We are not going to be on alert here. And tomorrow we will work under other circumstances," Yefremov said, adding: "We still have a whole night ahead."
