Poroshenko warns of governance crisis in Rada, calls for voting on European integration bills
People's Deputy and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, speaking in the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday, stated that a deepening crisis of state administration is unfolding in Ukraine and urged parliament to prioritize critical legislation, particularly European integration bills, according to the party's website.
"Media outlets are filled with reports of a deep parliamentary crisis in Ukraine. It is much worse. This is not a crisis of parliament; it is a crisis of state administration. And the cause is not (investigations of MPs by – IF-U) the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) or Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), not the opposition or public activists. The cause is corruption and total incompetence of the authorities," Poroshenko said.
He drew attention to the agenda of Wednesday's Verkhovna Rada session and the low attendance in the session hall. "The agenda that European Solidarity demands: every day, put forward European integration reforms, a component of the 'Kachka-Kos plan.' This includes the reboot of the SBI [State Bureau of Investigation], which the authorities fear but the European Union requires. This includes the rule of law, independence of courts, and the staffing of the Constitutional Court. They are not even coming close to these," the politician noted.
"The next position is the restoration of parliament as an institution. To consider specifically critical bills," Poroshenko added.
According to information on the Verkhovna Rada website, the first decision by people's deputies on Wednesday was made at 10:43 a.m., but at that time 94 MPs were absent, and 78 of those registered did not vote. The number of deputies in the hall gradually increased; during a vote at 12:09 p.m., 64 MPs were absent and 23 did not vote.
On Wednesday, parliamentarians supported bills on changes to legislation regarding the expansion of state support in the field of education, utility payments and the accounting of losses related to damaged real estate, the ratification of a financial agreement with the EIB on improving road networks, Ukraine's accession to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and changes to the Civil Code regarding the improvement of legal transactions by minors.
