Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Oleksandr Turchynov dissolved the communist faction of the parliament today. As of July 1, 2014, the party had 23 members of parliament (out of 33 earlier), RIA Novosti reports.
On Tuesday, after four failed attempts, the parliament passed amendments to its regulations, allowing the speaker of parliament to dissolve a faction with less than a minimum number of members. President Petro Poroshenko signed the amendments the same day. Turchynov promised yesterday that his historic mission of putting an end to the communist faction would be accomplished.
The initiative to dissolve the communist faction appeared after an MP accused communists of helping militia in the east. The Communist Party denies the accusations and plans to appeal the dissolution.
Communist Leader Petro Symonenko emphasized earlier that the Communist Party of Ukraine will take part in early parliamentary elections in the country, should they be organized in autumn.
