Verkhovna Rada has recalled four of its members from the National Television and Radio Council. The preliminary political agreement on the appointment of new candidates and the revocation of the National Council members appointed by Parliament earlier was concluded the Monday before last at a meeting of the Coordination Council of Parliamentary Groups and Factions. However, despite the existing agreement, 216 deputies voted for revocation on the first ballot. This enables us to say again that political agreements with the parliamentary majority are rather shaky. That this shortfall was caused by political, rather than organizational, reasons is confirmed by the fact that, following the noise about this item, the majority confidently passed the bill on dismissing the Parliament-appointed National Council members.
Nevertheless, the bill to recall the National Council four was put to a vote at the very end of the morning session. According to People’s Deputy Shevchenko, some Deputies, who took a clear stand on this issue, failed to vote for organizational reasons. Thus he suggested to Viktor Medvedchuk, then presiding, that this very important question be put to the vote again. This time, there were 242 ayes. According to Oleksandr Zinchenko, chairman of the Freedom of Speech and Information Committee, the committee will again discuss new candidates and propose a motion to vote on them in the general assembly hall. No agreement has so far been reached on the new four’s composition. Some of the Deputies are inclined to include in it Oleksandr Tkachenko, New Channel general manager, while others press for a no less known television personality, Mykola Kniazhytsky. “I think as soon as Parliament makes the final decision about the four, the President will appoint candidates of his own. This will allow the National Council to conduct normal and coordinated work,” Mr. Zinchenko pointed out.
