The Verkhovna Rada has renamed 327 Russified settlements, according to Roman Lozynsky, a Servant MP.
Among them was Chervonohrad, which was renamed Sheptytskyi.
The arguments of Servant of the People MP Yuriy Kamelchuk for leaving the party, but not the faction, are as follows:
“I did not vote for this collective farm resolution.
You cannot show democracy through a resolution where 328 names of settlements depend on one button. And without discussion. Why is that? Because the factions agreed to do so. They must have been afraid of getting caught up in mutual accusations again.
My requests to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and the heads of the factions to speak were rejected. My appeal immediately before my speech was ignored. You can see this in the recording of today’s meeting.
It is because of this attitude to the will of the community and democracy that I did not vote for this resolution. You can also see my two raised hands on the video of today’s meeting. I will never accept the fact that people’s voices are ignored.
Yesterday, there was a behind-the-scenes coordination council of the factions. Today, the Committee on Public Administration held a meeting. Yesterday, the resolution contained 333 settlements. Today there are 328. Five will still be discussed. Unfortunately, Chervonohrad was not among them.
And, you know, I even admit that the community was ready to accept the process of changing the name, but on one condition – the involvement of the community in this process. But in return for numerous appeals and thousands of signatures, democracy through the knee?
What can be done if the community decides not to accept the new name? The Chervonohrad City Council can initiate a new renaming process with the involvement of the community and the military who are now at the front.
And finally.
I cannot agree with this attitude of the leadership of the Servant of the People party. I am leaving the party. The statement has already been written and sent. I am also resigning as a member of the council of the Lviv regional party organisation “Servant of the People”. P.S. I will continue to work in the faction. This will allow me to perform my functions in the Energy Committee and in the PACE delegation The system of government and approaches to public administration need to be changed.