How do you stop parliament from meeting? Cut their telephone lines!

Ukrainian parliament severed from special telephone lines

05.09.2007, 18.53

KIEV, September 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Over 280 special line telephones have been switched off at the Ukrainian parliament.

Transport and Communication Minister Nikolai Rudkovsky said on Wednesday the telephones had been switched off on Tuesday evening when the parliament session was in progress.

The special line went dead in the office of parliament speaker Alexander Moroz. The speaker asked Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich on Wednesday not to switch off his telephone.

Yanukovich instructed Justice Minister Alexander Lavrinovich to promptly “prepare a legal opinion for a resolution on the restoration of the special communication system in the administration of the Verkhovna Rada”.

Rudkovsky claims that the lines had been switched off “on President Viktor Yushchenko’s personal order”.

The president considers the parliament illegitimate, which might have been the reason for disconnecting its telephone lines.

Rudkovsky and Emergencies Minister Nestor Shufrich have happened to be in the centre of the growing conflict between the president and the government.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, chaired by Yushchenko, decided to dismiss Rudkovsky and Shufrich.

In his words, the two ministers had numerous shortcomings. “Rudkovsky did not ensure higher safety of railroads, while Shufrich did not organise the appropriate response to the recent calamities in many Ukrainian regions,” the president said.

But the government has declined to comply with the Security Council’s decision.

Commenting on this decision, Lavrinovich said, “There is no subject for discussion.”