Lyovochkin and Kolomoiskiy will compete for the title in the parliamentary opposition

Photo: Konstantin Melnitskiy

Next week the formation of a deputy group with the rights of a faction named Ukrainian Opposition (UKROP) will be announced in the Verkhovna Rada. According to information of Capital, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration Ihor Kolomiskiy is involved in the organization of the faction. The future group is already announcing its opposition stance and is blaming the Opposition Bloc faction for the non-conformity with essence of its name.

Privatization on the mind

People’s deputy Boryslav Bereza (independent) confirmed for Capital information that the group will be formed. He says talks are currently being held with potential participants in the group, though he refused to name them. So far a namesake deputy inter-faction association has been registered in the parliament with representatives of voluntary battalions Volodymyr Parasiuk and Andriy Biletskiy, representative of the Right Sector Dmytro Yarosh and former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration Borys Filatov as its members.

Members of the Svoboda party, which is represented in the parliament by seven first-past-the-post deputies, could join the UKROP faction. One of them is Andriy Ilyenko, who pointed out in a conversation with Capital that such talks are currently under way. “We do not rule out that such a group will exist. We are holding consultations and talks and are trying to act jointly, but whether there will be such a group depends on whether we manage to gather 19 members,” he noted.

A source of the publication in the Svoboda party said its deputies are ready to join the future group. “There are agreements at the highest level. Of course, we had a conflict with Kolomoiskiy due to Rudyk, but at the moment it has been resolved,” the source added.

As a reminder, member of the Svoboda party Serhiy Rudyk, who prior to being elected to the parliament held the post of head of the State Land Agency, said in August he was abducted by representatives of the Dnipropetrovsk OSA.

Parasiuk says the group sees itself in the opposition. “The Opposition Bloc is not a genuine opposition, rather a fifth column in the Verkhovna Rada. The real opposition is made up of individuals that did not make it into the coalition and have nothing to do with ex-members of the Party of Regions. We want to form a group that will become a counterweight and will control the powers that be,” he stated. Bereza specified that as a representative of the opposition UKROP put forth claims to the coalition for leading posts in the committees on freedom of speech, national security and defense, parliamentary procedures, the fight against corruption and legal policies. “We were proposed to join the commission on privatization in exchange for refusal from the committee on the fight against corruption. I proposed uniting the two structures into one, but some reason my proposal did get any support,” said Bereza.

According to a source of the publication in the PPB, Samopomich submitted a proposal to appoint Filatov the head of the Privatization Commission. “I see in this the interests of Kolomoiskiy given his ideas of re-privatization,” the source underscored.

The return of Kolesnykov

Vice Chair of the Opposition Bloc faction Yuriy Voropayev believes the claims to the opposition group UKROP indicate the desire of its deputies to take under their control the necessary committees. “The opposition is a group of individuals that takes a position that is separate from the ruling coalition. However, they vote with the majority. So, how can it be an opposition force,” he noted.

People’s deputy Ihor Shurma (OB) reminded that his political force during the time it was formed officially stated that it will be in the opposition to the ruling power. “If we are not considered the opposition, then as a faction we are also contending for our committees,” he added.

At the same time, his colleague in the faction Tatyana Bakhteyeva says the party insisted on the leadership of committees on issues of freedom of speech, the parliamentary procedures and human rights as it has the right to this as an opposition faction. “We already began work on an opposition government that will be headed by Borys Kolesnykov. Other posts are being discussed, but people’s deputies will definitely not be appointed to them,” Bakhtayeva told Capital.

Shurma said the faction will insist on the quickest possible adoption of the law on the parliamentary opposition. “The coalition is systematically violating the law as was the case during the voting for the Cabinet of Ministers. The faction made a decision to get down to constructive work in the parliament. We must control the powers that be,” he said.

Noteworthy is that when the new Cabinet of Ministers was appointed all members of the Opposition Bloc left the parliamentary session hall. One of the leaders of the political force is Serhiy Lyovochkin, the former head of the Presidential Administration under ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.