12:11 04.10.2017

Opposition Bloc deputies split on judicial reform vote - Novinsky

2 min read
Opposition Bloc deputies split on judicial reform vote - Novinsky

An internal opposition could be created in the Opposition Bloc after a number of MPs and the leadership of the bloc's faction in the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of the law on judicial reform on October 3, MP Vadim Novinsky has said.

"I express my disagreement with the actions of some people's deputies from the Opposition Bloc faction, with the leadership of our faction, and declare that together with our colleagues, like-minded people who did not vote for this judicial reform or voted against it, we will create an opposition platform within the Opposition Bloc," he told reporters on Tuesday.

He explained such a decision by the fact that "we don't want to reach any agreement with these authorities" and the reluctance to give the authorities control over the judicial branch.

He said that this decision was by no means a split in the party and in the faction.

"This is by no means a split. We will never split our party. We are like-minded ideologically, but in terms of some tactical steps we reserve the right to act differently and announce the creation of a separate platform inside the Opposition Bloc," Novinsky said.

Opposition Bloc faction deputy Mykhailo Dobkin, in turn, announced his withdrawal from the party due to the vote for pension reform.

"Taken together, the so-called 'dictatorial' laws of January 16 cannot be compared with the shame of the judicial 'reform' that was adopted today. And from now on, I don't belong to any party," Dobkin wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

A total of 20 out of 43 Opposition Bloc MPs voted for the judicial reform on October 3. Those who supported the bill included the co-chairs of the faction, Yuriy Boiko and Oleksandr Vilkul. Eleven more did not vote, ten were absent, and only two voted against the document - Novinsky and Dobkin.

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