Another bout in the Rada

September 8, 2010

A new session but an old story. As the Verkhovna Rada opened for its first session after a summer recess, it once again witnessed punches flying between rival deputies yesterday, whilst thousands of supporters of the government and the opposition rallied outside, and the police sealed off the building.

As the session opened, opposition MPs from former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's BYuT party attempted to block the podium in support of their demand to hold a vote on proposals against recent austerity measures. However, deputies from the ruling Party of Regions intervened, and the violence flared.

The opposition was demanding that parliament vote on a moratorium on increases in the cost of gas and housing and utilities, as well as raising the retirement age for women. All of these measures have been introduced recently as part of the package that the government agreed with the IMF in return for pledges of close to $16bn in loans. Tymoshenko had promised supporters outside not long before that the opposition would "... block this tribune until we are allowed a vote."

The irony is that the IMF deal was made much harder to push through because the international institution found it difficult to trust the figures for the federal budget put forward by the government - to no small extent thanks to the false numbers it was given in previous negotiations with Tymoshenko when she was in power.

Outside meanwhile, government supporters rallied around the Rada, according to Interfax, whilst a similar number of opposition demonstrators gathered nearby. Thousands of police stood between the opposing sides, but also closed entrances to the parliament. The opposition complained to Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn that their MPs were being stopped from entering.

President Viktor Yanukovych, whose party would regularly resort to physical confrontation in the parliament when in opposition, appealed to MPs of all colours to remain calm in the chamber. "I would like common sense to outweigh emotions and political passion in the session hall," he said, according to AP.