Kuchma appoints new chief of staff, a centrist leader and mayor of Kharkiv (12/29/96)

Kuchma appoints new chief of staff, a centrist leader and mayor of Kharkiv

by Marta Kolomayets
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Yevhen Kushnariov, mayor of Kharkiv, was appointed President Leonid Kuchma's chief of staff on December 20, just 10 days after the Ukrainian leader sacked his longtime aide and administration chairman Dmytro Tabachnyk.

Mr. Kushnariov, 45, who heads the Association of Ukrainian Cities, supported President Kuchma's presidential bid in 1994, when he was one the leaders of Nova Ukraina, the centrist organization whose roots are in Kharkiv. He is also an active member of the National Democratic Party, and President Kuchma acknowledged that Mr. Kushnariov's party affiliation "will be profitable for the president and all the people." Political observers note that if President Kuchma is to win his bid for a second term he must have the support of various political parties.

During his first meeting with the press on December 25, Mr. Kushnariov made it very clear that he has no intention "to fill the niche Mr. Tabachnyk occupied." He told reporters he is not one to look for conflicts, and hopes to cooperate with all branches of power. An ethnic Russian, Mr. Kushnariov is a building engineer by profession. In the 1980s he worked as a deputy chairman of the Kharkiv City Communist Party organization, but since the early 1990s he has been considered a centrist-democrat, working on issues of local self-government and serving as a national deputy from Kharkiv in the previous Parliament convocation (1990-1994). He has served as Kharkiv's mayor since 1990.

He noted that he has already met with Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz and they discussed various issues they can tackle together.

This is precisely the kind of approach that will help President Kuchma work with the Verkhovna Rada. He recently infuriated the national deputies with a December 17 decree "On the Ukrainian Presidential Administration," which grants the administration authority not outlined in the new Constitution. It states that "the orders given by the presidential chief of staff, the first aide, the first deputy chief and other deputy chiefs of the administration are within the limits defined by the president, and concerning the matters within their competence are mandatory for executive branch agencies and executive officials."

The decree also notes that the presidential administration bears responsibility for the president's interaction with Parliament, other organs of power and local governments. It is responsible for drafting laws and resolutions submitted by the president to the Verkhovna Rada. The president himself is to approve staff members, with the presidential administration, in turn, having over-all responsibility for providing organizational, legislative, consultative and analytical support to the president.

On December 18, 316 deputies appealed to President Kuchma to cancel his decrees on powers of the presidential administration and restructuring the Cabinet, and making the interior, foreign, defense and information ministers directly subordinate to the president on issues related to the president's constitutional powers.

As a number of deputies have pointed out, according to the Constitution, the prime minister is the head of the executive branch and not the president, therefore, this decree is not constitutional.

President Kuchma has rejected this argument, stating that "all bodies of the executive branch have to fulfill the orders of the presidential administration."

While rumors continue to fly regarding Mr. Tabachnyk's ouster, President Kuchma recently told reporters - in an obvious dig at his former aide - that he views the role of a presidential chief of staff as that of an organizer, "not a personality and much less of a politician."

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