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Head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction David Arakhamia has commented on the initiative by MP Maksym Buzhanskyi, who is a faction member, to repeal the law on official language.

"I don't assess [the initiative]. We had no discussion within the faction. I was aware about such plans by Buzhanskyi as he had been waiting for the Venice Commission's conclusion. This is his personal position. He registered the bill [in Ukraine's parliament]. Well, we had no discussion, and we cannot ban any deputy from introducing any bills," Arakhamia told journalists on December 12.

According to the faction chief, the issue will be discussed at the Servant of the People faction's meeting after the bill is registered and forwarded for consideration to the relevant committee.

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As UNIAN reported earlier, the law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language entered into force on July 16.

On December 6, the Venice Commission said State Language Law of Ukraine failed to strike balance between strengthening Ukrainian and safeguarding minorities' linguistic rights. The Commission called on the Ukrainian government to postpone the implementation of the provisions of the language law until the adoption of the law on national minorities.

On December 10, Buzhanskyi announced he had submitted to Parliament a bill recognizing the language law as invalid. At the same time, he claims repealing the language law would be in line with the Venice Commission's recommendations. Buzhanskyi is confident that the repeal of the law "will open up the possibility for drafting a really worthy document," as well as "a broad debate on the subject between residents of eastern and western Ukraine, nationalists, rationalists, cultural figures, and representatives of the media."

Read alsoUkraine says no problem with Venice Commission's conclusions on language law

Commenting on Buzhanskyi's legislative initiative, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Oleksandr Tkachenko said that "not every bill registered by deputies with the Servant of the People [party] represents the faction's position."