22 December 2010, 13:21
Mykola Tomenko: Pension Reform shall not be implemented without Consent of the Ukrainian People.
At the Wednesday´s briefing in the Parliament, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declared that the biggest conclusion to be made from the situation with the Tax Code adoption is that "the pension reform shall not be implemented without consent of the Ukrainian people."
M. Tomenko drew attention of the Government and the President to the possible repetition of the notorious situation with the Tax Code adoption during the implementation of the pension reform. "The scheme of implementation resembles the situation with the Tax Code", he claimed.
The Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine informed about the results of the national public opinion survey concerning the Tax Code adoption held by "Ukrainian Democratic Circle" agency on the order of the Institute of Politics. Thus, half of the citizens (49,6%) believes that the final version of the Tax Code adopted by the Parliament appeared due to the mass protest actions of businessmen. However, 16,1% of the respondents suppose that it was due to the common actions of the entrepreneurs and oppositions, while 20% believe it was due to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.
According to M. Tomenko, it is essential that the majority of the society is against undemocratic, illegal methods of the night liquidation the protest action against the Tax Code adoption.
The Deputy Chairman is convinced that the situation with the adoption of the Tax Code shall become a lesson for the authorities that implement the pension reform. If the authorities follow similar methods in their work, "there would be ‘a pension Maidan.´"
According to M. Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the parliamentary majority upheld the idea to hold the parliamentary hearings on pension matters. He stated that the parliamentary majority had always proved that "it can not guarantee democratic work in the Parliament and acts like a military detachment of the President´s Administration." The Deputy Chairman reminded that on October 4, he and Valerii Sushkevych introduced the Resolution on holding of the parliamentary hearings on the pension reform that should have been held on December 1. "However, the Party of Regions advisors stated that there was no need to hold the hearings, as there were no plans to hold the reform", M. Tomenko admitted.
Mykola Tomenko stressed that the idea of increasing the retirement age since 1 February without a wide discussion would not gain public support, and would provoke a serious tension in the society.