Volodymyr Lytvyn's statement of resignation as parliament speaker was registered in the Verkhovna secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 4, the parliament's press service reported on Thursday.
As reported, on July 3, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on the state language policy, which significantly expands the sphere of use of the Russian language. The law was passed with its intitial wording, without taking into account more than 2,000 amendments made after the adoption of the document at first reading.
The parliamentary opposition said that the language law had been passed with a large number of violations.
On the morning of Wednesday, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn and his deputy, Mykola Tomenko, tendered their resignations.
The speaker said that the vote on the bill on the state language policy on Tuesday took place in his absence, so he "was called to the president."
"I have been fooled, Ukraine has been fooled, the people have been fooled," Lytvyn said.
"My former friend, with whom I shared bread and salt, has completely betrayed me," Lytvyn said, pointing to his first deputy, Adam Martyniuk.
