25 January 2011, 11:53
Mykola Tomenko: All the Democratic Forces in Opposition should act in Unison to win
Commenting on the necessity to unite the oppositional forces, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declared that there were no opportunities for the opposition, unless it consolidated to stand against the leading powers that demonstrated authoritarianism. "If the authorities continue stimulating fights inside the opposition, while the opposition itself is not able to set the common game rules, there will be no chances to change the power during the next parliamentary and presidential elections", the politician believes.
Thus, M. Tomenko suggested five principles of the negotiations. First of all, the Deputy Chairman calls for setting the fundamental principles for the common activity of the parliamentary opposition. Secondly, the Deputy Chairman deems necessary to determine the most essential aspects of the election legislation on parliamentary elections to guarantee legitimate and fair elections. Furthermore, a single register of the opposition should be formed, including 255 candidates for the deputy offices in majority constituencies, in case a mixed election system is adopted. The fourth principle envisages cooperation during the parliamentary election campaign. Finally, the fifth principle is the discussion of the mechanisms of selecting the candidates for the future presidency.
Mykola Tomenko stated that public character of the negotiations would guarantee its effectiveness. "Society should be aware of the political positions of different parties, as it can assess responsibility of the politicians in the result of the negotiations", he emphasized.