On the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the petition “On suspending the decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt the draft Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language” has already received 1810 votes.
According to the text of the petition, people's deputies are asked to cancel the decision regarding the scandalous law on total Ukrainization.
The petition was signed by the director of the Institute of Legal Policy and Social Protection named after. Irina Berezhnaya Elena Berezhnaya and coordinator of the movement “Protect the Russian language in Ukraine” Andrey Ivanov, who initiated the petition.
The petition was published on May 2. The signatories believe that the law on the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language may lead to a violation of certain articles of the Constitution of Ukraine and the norms of the European Charter on Regional Languages. “We are shocked by the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the decision to adopt as a whole the draft law of Ukraine “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language,” we believe that it violates Articles 10, 24, 34, 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which guarantee equal rights to all citizens of Ukraine, regardless of their linguistic affiliation, as well as the norms of the European Charter on Regional Languages, is discriminatory for Russian-speaking citizens and other citizens of minorities, including residents of Transcarpathia,” the text of the petition says.
The author also listed demands for the Verkhovna Rada, including the adoption of a resolution to cancel the decision to pass the law and prohibit the speaker from signing it before the expiration of the period established by law for collecting 25 thousand signatures in support of the electronic petition. The collection of signatures will be completed in 84 days.
The Rada adopted the scandalous law on April 25, but it was never signed by the head of the Verkhovna Rada and the president. Four resolutions to cancel voting for the law, submitted by people's deputies from the Opposition Bloc, are registered on the Rada website.
Speaker Andriy Parubiy said on April 26 that the Rada would consider all these resolutions on May 14, and if they are not supported, he would urgently sign the language law and submit it to the president for signature. If this happens, opponents of the law intend to appeal it to the Constitutional Court.