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Parliament factions fail to approve agenda

Opposition said it demanded a law to return the 2004 Constitution be included in the agenda

© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze

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KIEV, February 03. /ITAR-TASS/. The coordination board of Ukrainian parliament groups and factions has failed to approve an agenda for a new parliament session and for a plenary session.

The opposition said it demanded a law to return the 2004 Constitution be included in the agenda. The law considerably limits the president’s powers in favur of the parliament. “The opposition prepared an act to return the 2004 Constitution, which should be voted for if deputies really want Ukraine to overcome the deepest crisis by peaceful means,” leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party faction Arseny Yatsenyuk said.

Yatsenyuk was supported by leaders of other opposition factions - Vitaly Klitschko of UDAR (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform) and Oleg Tyagnibok of the Svoboda (Freedom) party.

In the meantime, parliament speaker Vladimir Rybak said the Verkhovna Rada should debate over 1,900 issues on the country’s activity.

Leader of the Party of Regions Alexander Yefremov said the party was ready to agree with the opposition on certain issues “if the opposition keeps its promises”.

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At the same time, Yefremov said, “We can hardly work constructively.”

The opposition and the leader of the Party of Regions engaged in recrimination of illegal seizure of power and the escalation of confrontation. They failed to agree on the agenda and decided to continue debates behind closed doors in the speaker’s cabinet.

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