President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko postponed his annual speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, according to the President’s Chief of Staff Victor Baloha.
According to the President’s press-office, this decision was made because the coalition and the opposition failed to reach understanding and compromise, and unblock the work of the Verkhovna Rada.
“The minority and majority factions appeared to be unable to not only listen to each other, but also listen to the nation’s leader. The President cannot and will not speak in the chamber, where the uproar drowns his words”, V.Baloha said.
He also considers shocking the fact that several Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense faction lawmakers were not present in the parliament on Tuesday. “I know for sure that not all OU-PSD lawmakers were absent due to serious reasons. I hope the faction leadership will respond adequately and properly to the truancy”, V.Baloha said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Yushchenko was expected to address lawmakers Tuesday, but the opposition, which had blocked the podium for the past two weeks over the declared intention to join NATO, had refused to cooperate.
