Extraordinary plenary meeting on November 13, 2013

EXTRAORDINARY PLENARY MEETING OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE WAS HELD ON NOVEMBER 13, 2013

307 people’s deputies registered to participate in the meeting. Representatives of the Communist Party faction did not register. 

The parliamentarians welcomed the leaders of the European Parliament Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Kwasniewski and Pat Cox.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak, having opened the morning meeting, announced a break on demand of the ‘Batkivshchyna’ and ‘UDAR’ factions.

Volodymyr Rybak invited leaders of the deputies’ factions to the office of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for consultations on agenda items.

After the break, Volodymyr Rybak informed about the results of the meeting of the deputies’ factions leaders.  

Volodymyr Rybak gave the floor to Hennadiy Vasylyev, the Chairman of the Interim Working Group on preparation of the bill on the possibility of treatment of the sentenced to imprisonment abroad.    

H. Vasylyev, reporting on the elaboration of the bill, claimed that the basis of work of the Interim Working Group is the principle of achieving consensus suggested by the leaders of the European Parliament Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Kwasniewski and Pat Cox.

‘To elaborate a coordinated bill it was suggested to establish its basic provisions. It concerned amendments to the Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Criminal Execution Codes. When we started agreeing upon these issues, it appeared that only a third part of them finds general support. Several issues such as amendments to the Criminal Procedure or Criminal Execution Codes were not agreed upon at all. Actually, we lost a day and have not reached anything.      

We all agreed that amendments to the Law should regard deferral or interruption of punishment for treatment abroad. At the next meeting of the Working Group, the opposition presented a new bill on conditional early release from punishment in connection with the necessity of being treated abroad. Such matters of principle as medical report of the establishment where a convicted person was treated with recommendations for further treatment abroad, obligation of such person to come back and continue serving a sentence after the treatment abroad, as well as other issues were neglected.            

Further discussion of these issues brought no positive results and, thus, the Working Group does not have a coordinated bill,’ noted H.Vasylyev.

Leaders of deputies’ factions reported on their suggestions.

The Chairman of ‘Batkivshchyna’ faction Arsenii Yatseniuk expressed his regret that the Party of Regions refused to consider the bills regarding treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko. According to him, he ‘was officially given the answer of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych that the President of Ukraine is not going to adopt any acts regarding free pardon of Yulia Tymoshenko. This is a clear answer as to whether Viktor Yanukovych is ready to sign the EU Association Agreement.’               

A. Yatseniuk also informed that ‘the opposition not once was in Working Groups and addressed political opponents – follow the instructions of your President who said that the law should be adopted. As of today’s morning, no suggestions from the Party of Regions were submitted.’

A. Yatseniuk claimed that ‘the opposition demands from the President of Ukraine to make a political decision on signing the Agreement and to adopt three laws necessary for European integration of Ukraine.’

The Chairman of the ‘UDAR’ faction Vitalii Klychko noted that ‘the less time we have before the Summit in Vilnius, the more it becomes obvious that the government does not want to sign the Association Agreement.’

 According to V.Klychko, ‘Yanukovych can settle the issue of Tymoshenko with a stroke of the pen. President Yanukovych forgets that European integration is not his virtue – it is a demand of the Ukrainian society and it will have its say on it.’     

V.Klychko claimed ‘if the government wrecks the Association Agreement, it will be signed by a new President. A new President will do everything to implement European standards of living in Ukraine and to make possible for every citizen of Ukraine to experience European changes.’

The Chairman of the Svoboda faction Oleh Tiahnybok noted that ‘opposing forces gave the ruling party all but the last chance to rehabilitate before the Ukrainian people.’

‘We gave you the possibility to vote on the bills today. Correspondingly, we appeal to you today: Party of Regions, give a chance to Ukraine and give a chance to Ukrainians for a different, better and real future, so that we could calmly face the tomorrow,' claimed O.Tiahnybok.  

O.Yefremov, the Chairman of the Party of Regions faction, noted that ‘today Ukraine has made a significant progress on the way to signing the Association Agreement with the EU. The last several steps are to be made to raise our country to a higher level of relations with the EU.’

According to O.Yefremov, ‘we have faced serious obstacles on this way that threaten to stop integration of a 46 million country into the European family. The whole society is aware of the causes of these problems.’  

‘In view of this, I have one question to the representatives of opposing part of the Parliament – what is going on among you? We have clearly agreed that the Euro-integrational component is the top priority one in the law-making activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, we have adopted the Criminal Procedure Code, the law on advocacy, and several other documents without you. We have finished the first stage of modernizing legislation in order to facilitate visa regime and adopted the whole complex of laws on protection of intellectual property. We have actually voted on all of the bills pertaining to adaptation of Ukraine’s legal system to the European criteria without you.    

As of today, the Verkhovna Rada has to adopt three laws – on the prosecutor’s office, on elections to the Verkhovna Rada and on treatment of the convicted abroad. And here is where we have come to a dead end. Representatives of opposing factions have referred almost 500 amendments to the bill on the prosecutor’s office and on election, therefore they blocked the possibility to adopt them not only today, but even in the nearest future,’ noted the Chairman of the Party of Regions faction.   

O.Yefremov claimed that “the President of Ukraine has referred the law on the prosecutor’s office that was agreed with the European experts. The Party of Regions is ready to vote on it. 

We have elaborated and referred the bill on amendments to the law on election of the people’s deputies, and we are also ready to vote on it.

As to the law on treatment of the convicted abroad, we are ready to scrutinize it in the version adjusted by the working group that was set up by the Verkhovna Rada. If you involve yourself in this work, then the way to Europe for our state is open.’

After the speeches of faction leaders, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak noted that the Interim working group failed to adjust the bill on treatment of the sentenced to imprisonment for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. ‘The Committee jointly with the Committee Chair took the decision to recommit all the bills pertaining to medical treatment to the working group,’ he said.

In regard to the draft laws on the prosecutor’s office and on refining electoral legislation, Volodymyr Rybak informed that the Committee did not adjust them either. According to him, “there are so many amendments to these bills that it will take a month to consider them in the committees.’ 

Volodymyr Rybak reminded that under the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada, the people’s deputies can refer amendments to these bills until November 15, 6 p.m. 

‘In the circumstances, according to the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution, we cannot deprive the deputies of the right to refer their proposals to the bill. Thus, of three agenda items submitted for consideration during the extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, the two cannot be scrutinized for there are a lot of amendments to them and the third issue was not adjusted by the working group,’ he noted.

The Chairman adjourned an extraordinary plenary meeting.

Next plenary meeting of the third session will be held on Tuesday, November 19.