Ukrainian MP Ihor Markov has left the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Rybak has said.
He said during a morning plenary meeting on Tuesday, Sept.17 that Markov had personally filed a statement on his withdrawal from the faction.
As reported, the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine issued a ruling on a lawsuit lodged by former MP Yuriy Karmazin, which actually stripped Markov of his mandate. Karmazin, as a confirmation of his demands, attached a letter of the main investigation department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on the forging of more than 6,000 signatures in favor of Markov in the parliamentary elections on October 28, 2012.
Party of Regions faction leader Oleksandr Yefremov said that the Party of Regions was ready to defend Markov if necessary.
While commenting on Markov’s intention to quit the faction, Yefremov said that it was the deputy’s right: “He is not a member of our party, so he can leave our faction in the same way as he joined it.”
