KIEV, November 21 (RAPSI) - On Thursday, the Ukrainian Parliament rejected all six bills that were designed to allow Yulia Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment abroad.
The ruling Party of Regions earlier did not support any of the six draft laws. Members of the party claimed they would only vote for a bill developed by an established working group.
Yesterday, the working group on developing a bill on medical treatment for the ex-prime minister that would be accepted by both the government and the opposition failed to approve a half-way document on the issue. Batkivshchyna leader Arseny Yatsenyuk assigned the blame for the bill’s failure on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Yatsenyuk believes the president “personally issued an order to his parliamentary party to vote against any of the bills.” Batkivshchyna leader also stated that the opposition has drafted an executive order granting a pardon to the former prime minister. The bill is reported to have been forwarded to Verkhovna Rada Speaker Vladimir Rybak.
Settling the Tymoshenko issue is the main condition for closing an association agreement with the EU, which Ukraine hoped to sign at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29. Otherwise, Ukraine’s integration with Europe will be put on hold.
In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power. The judge said she abused her powers when she signed a 2009 deal with Moscow, under which Ukraine paid a high price for Russian gas. She also faces accusations in a high-profile murder case.