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Political tension rises in Ukraine

21 February 2007 14:33 (UTC +04:00)

The parliamentarians from opposition Yulia Timoshenkoâ€™s Alliance, who demand inclusion of the draft law, which limits rise of tariffs for public utilities into the agenda, today destroyed electricity system of the parliament. The work of Rada electron voting system was stopped. First deputy chief of Parliament Adam Martinyak warned the opposition parliamentarians and said that they will be held accountable. He demanded the officers of prosecutorâ€™s office to come to the site and take note of irregularities. He noted that they will vote by raising their hands till Rada system restores its functioning.
One of the leaders of the alliance Aleksandr Turchinov said that they will not allow for normal functioning of parliament until the relevant tariff law is adopted as well as relevant changes are made to the state budget for increasing minimum salary and pensions .
According to Turchinov, more effective steps are being discussed with the president and â€œOur Ukraineâ€? alliance. The alliance has recently signed an agreement with Yulia Timoshenkoâ€™s alliance. The chief of parliament faction of the alliance Vyacheslav Kirilenko said that they will try to keep with parliamentary proceeding.
The Regions Party led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich accuses President Viktor Yushchenko of attempting to overthrow the government. /APA/