M. Tomenko: The decision to prohibit to the National TV company to conduct the live broadcast with the participation of MPs was issued by the President of Ukraine

M. Tomenko asserts that the prohibition to the administration of the National TV company to conduct the live broadcast with the participation of MPs was issued by the President of Ukraine. The head of the Supreme Rada committee said this at the press conference in Kyiv.

Tomenko appealed to the administration of the National TV company with the request to permit the political discussions in the live broadcast. He proposed to cancel the translations of the records of the Days of government, Parliamentary hearings and the features about the work of the Supreme Rada and to transmit instead of them the features in the live broadcast with the participation of the leaders of various political forces.

“I mean not the political debates, but the opportunity to discuss the decisions of the Supreme Rada at the end of the session day”, he pointed out. “Such format of the features with the participation of political leaders is the only possibility to express one’s political position”. Tomenko said that such features might be translated on the days of session sittings, and then the Parliament should refuse from the pretensions to other features.

The head of the committee also supported the creation of a special parliamentary channel, which would broadcast through the cable TV and satellite.

According to his words, such channel can appear in the cable network of Kyiv as early as in 2003. Tomenko said that the greatest Kyiv operator “Volia” reserved the place for such channel in its package – this obligation was taken by the company when it obtained the license.

Speaking about the results of the work of the committee during the year, Tomenko welcomed the signature by the President of the amendments to the law, which released the journalists from the responsibility for their evaluative judgments.

At the same time, commenting the reproaches to his address on the side of President’s administration, Tomenko remarked: “During this year the President, being a subject of legislative initiative, did not propose any amendments to the laws directed at their improvement. So, it is strange, when the President’s administration states that our laws are bad and the Supreme Rada is guilty of this”.

Tomenko informed that the committee handed to the Parliament the proposal on the amendments to the Civil and Civil-Procedural Codes, proposing to liquidate the norm reading that “negative information is regarded as inauthentic”.

He also told that during the next session the draft of the law on public TV would be presented to the Supreme Rada. He said that the subscribers of this TV would pay about 2-5 hryvnas per month, the channel will not contain advertisements, and will contain a great amount of news, educational and culture programs. At the same time the MP expressed the doubt that this channel will begin to work before the Presidential election-2004.

9 June 2003, UP, http://pravda.com.ua