A PLENARY MEETING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE OF THE 6TH CONVOCATION WAS HELD ON FRIDAY 18 JANUARY
Opening the Morning Sitting, The Chair The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk, read out the Deputies´ Inquiries.
Arseniy Yatseniuk advised those present of the Meeting held by The Conciliatory Council, and their decision to transfer Statements by the People´s Deputies, from the traditional Friday closing of the Plenary Meeting to the start of the Morning Sitting.
Following this he gave the floor to People´s Deputies for their Declarations, Announcements, and Proposals.
Vasyl Kyseliov, one of these People´s Deputies, suggested that his Colleagues honour the memory of Yevheniy Kushnariov, The People´s Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 5th Convocation who tragically lost his life a year ago.
One Minute's Silence was held by the People's Deputies in memory of their Colleague.
In their statements the speakers touched on the Declarations by the Official Institutions of The Russian Federation, in relation to the so-called ‘Anti-Russian manifestations in Ukraine´; the judgement of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on dubbing foreign films into the Ukrainian language; early election of the Kharkiv and Kyiv Mayors; the signing, by The President of Ukraine, The Prime Minister of Ukraine and The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, of a Letter to the NATO Secretary General on Ukraine's intention to join The NATO Membership Action Plan.
Alla Alexandrovska, People´s Deputy of the CPU Faction, addressed The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a demand to revoke his signature from this Letter. Otherwise, she said, the CPU Faction will raise the issue and call for an expression of distrust of The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada
A. Alexandrovska said that her Faction will obstruct the rostrum since A. Yatseniuk, in their opinion, has no right to preside at Plenary Meetings.
Responding to this and other statements, Arseniy Yatseniuk stressed that The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada has always acted, and will continue to act in the future, in strict adherence to Clause 88 of The Constitution of Ukraine, clearly stating that The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine represents The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in relations with State Bodies and International Organisations.
He went on to say that The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada can only sign, on behalf of The Verkhovna Rada, those documents which have been approved by The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine under a procedure as laid down in the Law.
A. Yatseniuk reminded the auditorium that back in 2003 The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Basic Principles of National Defence´, defining NATO Membership in Clauses 6 and 8.
The Chair expressed his surprise at the position taken by some of the People´s Deputies who then passed this Law, with no votes against it.
A. Yatseniuk pointed out that in the event of two Laws and the relevant Resolution being cancelled, The Chair of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will immediately revoke his signature.
The Chair appealed to The People´s Deputies to concentrate on the vital facts of the Letter only. He said that a Referendum on NATO Membership is not envisaged in any of the Laws. Nevertheless, he had been among those who insisted on the inclusion of a referral to The National Referendum in the Letter. He explained that the Letter, without a doubt, reflects the political will of two Parties, that of The Communist Party and The Party of Regions, to hold a Referendum, which was included in the National Unity Universal.
In view of the above, The Chair said that he did not understand the subject of the current discussion. ‘On the contrary, I did everything possible to accommodate the political visions of The Coalition, Opposition and the Minority, thereby reflecting the interests of the whole of Ukrainian society.´
A. Yatseniuk stressed that the matter of NATO Membership is not a matter for today´s Agenda. Also any discussions as to the time, be it today, tomorrow, or some other time in the future, when Ukraine joins NATO, are pointless.
A. Yatseniuk declared that there are no Legal grounds in existence for him to revoke his signature. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has fulfilled his Constitutional duty. Should other Legal enactments be adopted, he will then fulfill these also.
The Chair addressed those People´s Deputies who raised the issue of the Letter by the Leaders of The State, on Ukraine´s intention to join The NATO Membership Action Plan, with the following words: ‘ re you against providing an opportunity for the Ukrainian people to decide on NATO Membership through a Referendum? Then let us tell the People that we do not need any NATO Referendums today´.
A. Yatseniuk also requested them ‘to stop this discussion, because these are attempts to destabilize the proceeding of The Verkhovna Rada, by resorting to far-fetched arguments´.
The Chair then passed on the request for a recess from The Party of Regions and CPU.
A recess was then announced at the request of the said Factions. Following this interval, A. Yatseniuk gave the floor to a People´s Deputy, Olexander Yefremov, who announced that The Party of Regions and The CPU Factions have made known their protest against the State Leaders´ intention to submit their Application for Ukraine´s accession to NATO.
The Party of Regions and CPU Factions also announced that they will obstruct the working of The Verkhovna Rada, demanding that The President of Ukraine, The Prime Minister and The Chair of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine revoke their signatures under the Letter to The NATO Secretary General.
In reply to this, Arseniy Yatseniuk suggested that these Factions table amendments to the Law´ On Basic Principles of The National Defence of Ukraine´, excluding Clauses 6 and 8, and also amend the relevant Resolution of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
‘As soon as these amendments are tabled , we shall vote on them immediately and revoke the signature. Without such a decision, The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has no right to violate The Constitution. He has to act with strict adherence to the Ukrainian Constitution, and Laws, and reflect the will of The People´s Deputies´, he said.
The Chair suggested that they proceed with other matters, referring this issue to The Conciliatory Council for their deliberation.
After short Statements on the Procedure, People´s Deputies from the Party of Regions and CPU Factions blocked the Rostrum and the Presidium.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine called for Leaders of the Factions to convene a Conciliatory Council Meeting.
After the meeting of the Conciliatory Council, The Chair informed those present that Delegates from the Factions would be next to take the floor.
Ivan Kyrylenko (Chairman of the BYuT Faction) and Viacheslav Kyrylenko ( Chairman of ‘Our Ukraine/People´s Self-Defence´ Bloc Faction) reminded the auditorium that four of the political forces now present in this auditorium had voted in 2002/03 to adopt the Laws on the prospects of Ukraine´s accession to NATO, only the CPU had not then upheld the said Laws. They assured their colleagues that ‘When the time comes to take the final decision on Ukraine´s NATO Membership, a National Referendum will be, by all means, held´.
They called for their colleagues to unblock Parliamentary proceedings, and move on to considering important Bills necessary for the needs of society.
Olexander Yefremov of the Party of Regions, and Petro Symonenko of the CPU Faction, remarked that the problem lay not in that the State Leaders had put their signatures to the Letter. The Problem was that by agreeing to accession to any military bloc ‘we are transferring part of your Sovereignty to another Party´. It is this, according to the speakers, that should be a matter of concern to everyone.
O.Yefremov, of The Party of Regions Factions, announced that his Faction will uphold the motion from The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt a relevant Resolution on holding a National Referendum, and only after this Referendum the Faction will define its position concerning accession to NATO.
P. Symonenko, of The CPU Faction, addressed The President of Ukraine demanding that the latter issue an Edict on The National Referendum, since he ‘for over a year has kept ignoring the opinion of four million citizens, confirmed by The Central Election Committee, on the necessity of holding a Referendum concerning accession to NATO'.
Summarising the Debate, The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said that any constructive approach to the proceedings of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is missing.
He once more emphasized the absence of any Legal grounds for stating that ‘this letter or another letter is incorrectly signed. ‘At first you have adopted a stack of Laws, signed them with a Constitutional majority, and have defined a Euro-integration course. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has confirmed the existence of such Laws and insisted on a political consensus: on stating the necessity of a Referendum in the letter, and yet now you begin to offer distinct speculations. However, if we have this political situation, we shall try to reach a consensus during the next week´, said A. Yatseniuk.
The Plenary Meeting was then closed.
The next Plenary Meeting will be held on Friday 25 January.