The
new parliament had its first brawl on Dec.
4 during the third plenary day since
election. The Ukrainian legislature is known for its televised
parliamentary fights.
The
conflict began after Rada speaker Volodymyr Groysman asked member of
parliament Volodymyr Parasyuk to take his seat after making a speech
during a debate on legislative committee chairs.
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Parasyuk
then walked over shouting to a group deputies where the scuffle
began. After calls from Groysman to break up the fight members of
parliament pulled the groups apart.
During
his speech prior to the scuffle Parasyuk told former members of the
Party of the Regions to “close your mouth or we will kick you out
and your millions won’t help you.”
Parasyuk
is known for his impassioned outbursts. Parasyuk stormed the stage on Feb. 21 and delivered an emotional speech and issuing an ultimatum to the
then President Viktor Yanukovych
to leave power by 10 am. He said otherwise protesters would storm his office. The next morning Yanukovych fled Kyiv.
On
the day of his fiery speech from the stage, the opposition leaders
came to face the people on the square to explain to them that they
had struck a compromise deal with the president to hold elections
half a year later. This was after the regime killed more than 100
people on Maidan. The opposition’s compromise was not received well
by the crowd.
Parasyuk’s
Maidan speech made him a political celebrity. In
the Oct. 26 parliamentary election he
ran in a majority district in his native Lviv region. He is one of
several wild cards in the new parliament.
“I
have never allowed,
and
never will allow anyone to insult the ideas of Maidan. Because that
is the basis of our struggle and only that power our heroes gave us
and paid for with their lives will move our nation forward.
Furthermore I will not tolerate it when I am told ‘sit in your
seat. this isn’t Maidan,’” said Parasyuk on Dec. 4 via a post
on Facebook. “I came here to break the system and I will do that
with all opportunities available to me as a member of parliament.”
Parasyuk
belongs to the opposition group “Dill,” which includes members of
parliament Borislav Bereza, Dmytro Yarosh, Borys Filatov and Andriy
Beletskyi. Bereza and Yarosh are both members of the radical
right-wing party Pravy Sektor. Pravy Sektro did not win the five
percent of votes required to enter parliament. Bereza and Yarosh both
ran in majority districts. Andriy Beletskyi previously served as the
commander of the right-wing Azov volunteer battalion.
Members
of Dill did not vote for the new cabinet.
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