Recent brawl in Ukraine's parliament, Supreme Rada, casted a shadow on Ukraine's image of democratic state, Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian ex-minister of foreign affairs, said on Saturday.
Deputies from the ruling Party of Regions on Thursday attacked members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc-Batskivshchyna alliance after the opposition party members staged a protest in the chamber.
Five members of parliament, including two with serious injuries, were hospitalized. The Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc opposition party condemned the Party of Regions for its involvement in the brawl.
Tymoshenko said on Wednesday that a criminal case had been opened against her over alleged misuse of public funds, adding she was ordered not to leave the city and to reappear at the Prosecutor's Office on Monday.
Tymoshenko moved to the opposition after her government was dissolved in March following presidential elections narrowly won by her rival Viktor Yanukovych. The opposition has strongly criticized the Yanukovych government over its "anti-Ukrainian" and "pro-Russian" policies.
"Unfortunately, in the light of these events I have to say that I am proud that I am not in the parliament now. I am ashamed of Ukraine's parliamentary government," Poroshenko, who is currently heading the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine, said.
"Parliament means the art of compromise. If the parliamentary discussions are chocked, and the search of public compromise is not bolstered, I am strongly convinced that the discontent and protests will shift to the streets," Poroshenko said.
KIEV, December 18 (RIA Novosti)
