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Yanukovych scolds lawmakers for fighting in parliament

Published Dec. 17, 2010 at 2:25 pm

Lawmakers and ambulance doctors carry opposition lawmaker Yury Gnatkevich out of the parliament building to the ambulance car in Kiev, Ukraine, late Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. Gnatkevich was hurt in fighting between the ruling pro-presidential party and bloc of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko's lawmakers demanded to stop what they called political repression against their leader. In Thursday fighting, a few Tymoshenko's lawmakers have been hospitalized with severe injures. On Wednesday, Ukraine's Prosecutor General launched a criminal case against Tymoshenko accusing her of abuse of power

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has called on lawmakers to "raise the level their political culture."

"In the end, it’s time the politicians negotiate and raise the level of their political culture on both sides," he told journalists in Kyiv on Friday.

The president criticized the use of physical force in parliament. "This problem, unfortunately, exists in our country, and I have a negative attitude to it," he added.