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Nation    

Opposition threatens to block Rada again
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, April 18 – Opposition groups, angered by apparent ruling party voting procedure violations, said they may again block Parliament, but first will see if Prime Minister Mykola Azarov survives a no-confidence vote on Friday.

The blocking of Parliament, if it happens, would be the fourth in five months, essentially making it impossible for the government to approve any legislation.

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna group, said lawmakers will allow the scheduled no-confidence motion to proceed.

“The no confidence motion will be put on vote under any circumstances,” Yatseniuk said. “The dismissal of the government is a more important issue.”

The opposition groups threatened to block Parliament in reaction to Regions Party lawmakers caught on camera voting for some of their colleagues. Such voting is banned by the constitution, but has been widely used in past years.

Now, the opposition groups pledged to enforce the rule and had blocked Parliament three times since December 2012 to force Regions Party lawmakers to stick to the constitution.

Yatseniuk said that opposition lawmakers will hold a meeting with Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak and demand that lawmakers re-vote those bills that had been approved on Thursday with violations.

The refusal to re-vote the bills would open door for another wave of political crisis that may lead to blocking of Parliament.

“I think that we will have our way tomorrow,” Yatseniuk said. “If he [Rybak] does not listen to one lawmaker, he will have to listen to 170 lawmakers that will swarm around the podium. This will be our new tactic.”

The no confidence motion will depend on the position of the Communist Party, which has been frequently siding with the Regions Party before.

Opposition leaders said that there were signed the Communist Party may support the motion, opening way for President Viktor Yanukovych to replace Azarov with First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov, a much closer ally.

But at least one Regions Party lawmaker on Wednesday denied speculation that there will be a change in the government soon.

Hryhoriy Smitiukh, a senior member of the Regions Party, on Wednesday dismissed speculations and said there were no plans to replace Azarov with Arbuzov.

“I am convinced that Mykola Yanovych [Azarov] will keep working,” Smitiukh said in an interview with Radio Liberty. “Nothing is eternal, but he will work through the year 2015, until after the presidential election. This is guaranteed.” (tl/ez)




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