Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, believes that the parliamentary opposition should efficiently act as the opposition during the plenary meetings, exerting parliamentary control in the committees. Thus an alternative viewpoint on the proposals of the authority and the parliamentary coalition will be suggested.
M.Tomenko stated that he had always objected to the blocking of the Verkhovna Rada. "You should use your head, not the fists in the Parliament," the Deputy Chairman stressed. He believes that "only intellectual fights for the bills for the public benefit" may take place in The Verkhovna Rada, not the fights between the deputies, as it was observed many times.
M.Tomenko announced that although the BYuT Faction resolved to block the today´s meeting of The Verkhovna Rada, he voted against this decision. "The Parliament can function, provided the authorities stop using the phrase ‘the so-called opposition´, and the opposition suggests well-grounded alternatives to all the resolutions and initiatives of the authorities," M.Tomenko emphasized.
"Only Ukrainian public can identify the winner of this struggle during the elections. Other variants of co-existence of the authorities and the opposition are wrong and counter-productive," the Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated.