The first secretary of the Volyn regional committee of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Mykola Milinchuk, shared his thoughts on the voting in parliament by the SPU faction for introducing amendments to the Medvedchuk-Symonenko bill.\nThe position taken by the Socialist faction during the vote to remove certain provisions from those amendments that were adopted in December is not a new position of the SPU, stated the secretary of the Volyn regional committee of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Mykola Milinchuk. From the very beginning of work on the political reform, the SPU's position was clear and obvious, he says. This position, in principle, consisted of what the socialists voted for several days ago.\n"We adhered to the view that the time had already come to change the system of power in Ukraine and, in principle, this is the main goal of the political reform we have been talking about for a long time. The essence is that we should move from a presidential-parliamentary to a parliamentary-presidential form of government. For this, it is necessary to distribute powers between the branches of power. This means that it is necessary to take some functions from the president that he currently performs, to revise some functions of our government so that it is possible to balance the powers of the branches of power, because the powers with which the current president is endowed create an atmosphere of one-man rule in the state," says Mykola Danylovych.\nHe also noted that the socialists from the very beginning took the position that the President should be elected by the people, since such a provision is written in the Constitution. And in order to switch to the election of the President by the Verkhovna Rada, the consent of the people is needed, that is, the holding of a referendum. The question of electing the President by parliament has not yet matured, believes Mykola Milinchuk.\n"The accusations from certain political forces, say, 'Our Ukraine' and 'Batkivshchyna,' toward the SPU faction in parliament that they voted this way are unfounded, because the position of both our party and the Socialist faction in the Verkhovna Rada was clear from the very beginning. And when the time came when it was possible to adopt what we had declared, we voted for it. And there is no betrayal here. Our position did not arise spontaneously: it has been spoken about for a long time," states Mykola Milinchuk.\nMykola Danylovych also expressed his firm conviction that the time for political reform has come. Certain political forces do not want this reform, because they are trying to preserve the powers of the current President. "A new President will come to power, and he will not need political reform. He needs the power that Kuchma currently possesses," he stated.\n\n\nRead also:\n\nMoroz's support for the Medvedchuk-Symonenko bill also involves the fault of Yushchenko — head of the Lutsk city organization of the "Batkivshchyna" party Oleksandr Viktorov\n\n"The SPU adhered to its position, so there can be no talk of any betrayal" — first secretary of the Volyn regional committee of the SPU\n\nThe SPU's voting on January 3 is a clear reflection of their adherence to the declared goals — Volyn regional organization "Trudova Ukraina"\n\nVoting on January 3 for changes to the Constitution could lead to an internal split in the SPU — head of the Volyn KVI\n\nThe introduction of amendments to the bill on changes to the Constitution by Medvedchuk-Symonenko is illegitimate, believes people's deputy Volodymyr Bondar