One of the deputies says that he “doesn’t like it”, and another – because of the presence in parliament of representatives of the now banned Opposition Platform – During Life party.
Two people's deputies from the For the Future group – Stepan Ivakhov and Igor Palitsa – have not participated in Verkhovna Rada meetings since 2023. Journalists from Bihus.Info reported this on Monday, April 29.
Thus, Ivakhov explained his absence from voting since August 2023, claiming that he does not like the work of the Verkhovna Rada, which, in his opinion, has been reduced to mechanical pressing of buttons.
“I am a person who in life is accustomed to acting or influencing something. And since VRU has turned into “go press the button,” it’s not to my liking or heart,” he noted.
Ivakhov is a co-founder of the Continuum group of companies, which owns the WOG gas station network. He is one of the five people's deputies who most often “missed” work in the Rada even before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. During his almost five years as a deputy, he initiated only seven bills, of which only one was adopted.
At the same time, Ivakhov emphasized that he remains in Ukraine and is ready to come to work if he is invited.
In response to a question about responsibility to the people who elected him, Ivakhov said: “This is my political responsibility, but I will live with it, suffer with it and die with it.”
Another parliamentarian from the For the Future group, Igor Palitsa, also stopped attending the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada. He explained that he would not be in the hall until a bill was passed banning members of the opposition party OPZZH from participating in the work of the Council.
“Until this law passes at least to the regulations committee and is put to a vote in the hall, I will not be under the same ceiling with the ex-members of the OPZH,” said the people’s deputy.
Palitsa noted that he is in Ukraine and communicates with voters. When asked about responsibility for passing important bills, he replied: “What’s the point of me sitting there? Who will I look at? On Kachny (elected from OPZZH)? I have a principled position,” summed up the people’s representative.