Mykola Tomenko: The Parliament must work on a Daily Basis, not being held as a Hostage to the Great Number of Absentees from the Party of Regions
At the today´s Conciliative Council, Mykola Tomenko, Vice-Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, suggested that the Party of Regions suspended an absurd discussion concerning readiness or unreadiness of the People´s Deputies from their Faction for the topical voting concerning social standards.
M.Tomenko reminded of the fact that the procedure of personal voting had been adopted at the Conciliative Council on Monday. At insistence of the leaders of the Party of Regions Faction the voting was postponed till 4 p.m. "However, the refusal to vote personally was explained by the fact that many People´s Deputies fell ill or stayed on mission trips", - he stated.
"If a great number of people are potentially sick, they can file in an application and the persons next in the list will become the People´s Deputies. If a great number of leaders of the enterprises and institutions spend time at their companies, they can also submit an appeal and resign", - he suggested to the Party of Regions Faction and stressed that the Parliament should work on a daily basis, not being held hostage to the great number of absentees.
"Yesterday, it was suggested that the distant voting or the voting by the written appeals be allowed. Let us set up a foreign returning board and visit the deputies who are on holiday abroad for them to vote", - joked M.Tomenko.
The Vice-Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also stated that People´s Deputies can go on a mission trip only for participation in the international official events, the resolution of the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine being available. He also remarked that such events were held rarely and it concerned not more than 10 People´s Deputies who stayed abroad on behalf of the Parliament. The other trips were by no means connected with the mission trips and should have been regarded as unjustified absence from work.
According to the Vice-Chairman, 65 People´s Deputies from the Party of Regions Faction, including its leader Viktor Yanukovych, as well as the majority of the People´s Deputies who run for presidency failed to appear at the session hall yesterday.