Around 300 people gathered for the United Opposition Forum in Kiev’s Mykhailivska Square on Saturday to condemn political repression and corruption in the country.
They also criticized the government’s economic policies, especially those that have led to soaring taxes and unfavorable pension reforms.
Svoboda Party leader Oleh Tiahnybok, For Ukraine Party leader Viacheslav Kyrylenko, Reforms and Order Party leader Serhiy Sobolev, and Verkhovna Rada Deputy Speaker Mykola Tomenko attended the event.
The participants stated their plans to strip incumbent President Victor Yanukovych of leadership and establish a state where “democracy and the rule of law will prevail.”
The scattered opposition parties have joined in a united front since the arrest and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is a popular opposition figure.
Many of them believe Yanukovych was behind the decision to give Tymoshenko a seven-year prison sentence last fall.
At the end of the forum, the united opposition decided to approve the proposed draft action plan, entitled “A fair state, an honest government, decent life,” as the basis for holding a national public debate.
They also announced their decision to hold a series of conferences, roundtable meetings, and public hearings with civil society representatives, experts, and civil society organizations from May to July.
They also plan to hold opposition forums across Ukraine in order to discuss and complete the draft action plan and submit an improved version to the next national forum of the united opposition.
MRS/MF/HGL
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