The OPPOSITION BLOC insists that the opposition should have the parliamentary committees that would allow to control the government. Serhiy Lovochkin, an OPPOSITION BLOC leader said this answering journalists’ questions on parliament sidelines prior to the meeting of the Preparatory Deputy Group on Wednesday, November 26.

“There have been no negotiations, at least with the participation of the OPPOSITION BLOC there wasn’t. Yesterday we tried to find a common solution with the government. So far we have not found one. The fundamental difference is that we insist that there should be a functional distribution of posts of committee chairmen. The opposition should have controlling functions, and the majority should have the rest. The majority plans, as far as I know, to work based on the quota principle - that is, depending on the number of MPs in each parliamentary faction,” Serhiy Lovochkin said.

The politician added that the OPPOSITION BLOC insisted on taking leadership positions in six committees that would allow the opposition to effectively exercise its functions and control the government.

“We do not consider the quota principle now. Speaking of the functional principle, we insist on [taking charge of] the Committee on Freedom of Speech, the Committee on Regulations, the Committees on Human Rights, Social Policy and the Fight against Corruption as well as the Legal Committee, which would allow us to control the judiciary,” he said.

Serhiy Lovochkin emphasized that the OPPOSITION BLOC faction currently had 40 MPs and was the third largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada.