Ukraine: Cancel this!

This country...Take a look at the name of this draft parliamentary resolution.

Проект Постанови про скасування рішення Верховної Ради України про прийняття Постанови Верховної Ради України "Про скасування рішення Верховної Ради України про прийняття Закону України "Про мораторій на підвищення цін і тарифів на житлово-комунальні послуги та спожиті у побуті природний газ і електроенергію, послуги громадського транспорту (крім таксі)"

http://gska2.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb_n/webproc4_1?id=&pf3511=28210

Now unless you speak Ukrainian, that probably won't mean much to you, so here's my unofficial translation [comments added]:

Draft resolution on the cancellation of the decision of the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] of Ukraine on the passing of the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine [entitled] "On the cancellation of the decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the passing of the Law of Ukraine "On a Moratorium of Price and Tariff Rises for communal-living services [i.e. council tax] and for the domestic use of natural gas, electricity, and civil transport services (except taxis)"

If that isn't confusing enough for you, then the story of how this came about certainly is. I have cut this story down, in order not to bore you and also because I do not understand all its intricacies.

But basically, earlier in the year, some populist MPs, with a view to the elections, decided to impose a moratorium on price rises for 'communal services' (gas, water, etc), and no one wanted to look bad in front of the voters so everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Given that this was economic bad sense, a short while later a decision was quietly passed cancelling this moratorium.

In fact, prices didn't rise for most of the year, as the political situation made it too hard. But then, a few weeks ago, several local councils decided that it was time at last to go ahead. So they started raising the prices. At which point, some populist MPs (not sure if the same ones), then voted to overturn the block on the moratorium - i.e. to reinstate it. Once again, virtually all the leading parties supported this move, and bish bash bosh, this moratorium was again imposed. Not only did this make the local councils look stupid, however, it was also economic nonsense. And it was quite probably constitutionally nonsense as well. And nobody really wanted to put a moratorium on prices, they just wanted to look like they were rescuing the common man.

So now there is a proposal to once again cancel it. The speaker has been dragging his heels, refusing to send the relevant resolution on to the President as procedure requires, in order to buy time, and Tymoshenko has been waving her fists around saying that the moratorium should be reinstated forthwith. Meanwhile, we only have two and a half months left and the whole thing becomes academic anyway. But it's certainly a nice procedural knot those MPs have got themselves into - can they, um, string it out any longer?