Verkhovna Rada chairman predicts cooperation with executive branch (08/02/98)

Verkhovna Rada chairman predicts cooperation with executive branch

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Downplaying differences between himself and President Leonid Kuchma on the commercialization of land, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko said on July 27 that he sees no reason the legislative and executive branches cannot work together to resolve Ukraine's economic and social ills.

"One of my goals for the next session is to deepen relations with the executive so as to develop a good legislative base for this country, especially for the needs of society," said Mr. Tkachenko at a press conference that focused on the accomplishments of the first session of the legislature elected in March of this year. At the news briefing Mr. Tkachenko also outlined his agenda for the next second session. The national deputies began a summer recess on July 24 that will last until September 7.

Mr. Tkachenko took the initiative in working to close the rift between the government and the Parliament on July 21, when President Kuchma, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and leading Cabinet ministers met with him and the leaders of Verkhovna Rada factions at the chairman's invitation.

After the meeting, President Kuchma stated that he, too, believes the prospects for cooperation between the executive and the legislative branches are good. "The fact that we have gathered together in such a composition gives me reason to believe that serious cooperation between the president, the government and the Parliament is possible," said President Kuchma.

The previous Verkhovna Rada, led by Socialist Oleksander Moroz, was marked by its confrontational attitude toward the executive branch.

Mr. Tkachenko said during his press conference that another meeting between the executive and legislative branches of government is scheduled for the beginning of September - this time to include the full complement of national deputies.

Mr. Tkachenko explained that he has already convinced the leaders of parliamentary factions that there is no need to approve changes to the 1998 budget that the president has demanded. President Kuchma, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, wants the budget deficit for 1998 reduced from 3.3 percent to 2.5 percent.

"We concluded that by granting the president and the Cabinet of Ministers the right to incorporate amendments into the national budget, without first examining that issue in the parliamentary session hall, we would not be breaking the law," said Mr. Tkachenko. He said that if the Parliament were to take up the task it could have become a six-month process.

The Parliament chairman explained that the budget problems arise from a shortfall in revenues, which is a result of the government inaccurately forecasting budget receipts; therefore, he added, the government is responsible for adjusting the forecast and making the needed changes.

Mr. Tkachenko, who was elected the leader of Ukraine's Parliament after a nearly two-month process in which scores of nominees were rejected, also said the economy will be the priority for the Verkhovna Rada in its next session.

Forty-seven economic bills will be examined - among them 15 bills based on the 41 presidential decrees issued in the last month by President Kuchma to ward off a looming economic and financial crisis. The crisis was caused, to some extent, by the collapse of Asian economies, as well as strict requirements proposed by the IMF for a multi-billion-dollar loan that Ukraine needs to pay off international debts and outstanding treasury notes.

Ten of those decrees have already taken effect because the Parliament did not act on them within the 30-day period it has to reject presidential orders; three have been rejected.

Mr. Tkachenko said that among the most important issues that need to be addressed in September are the 1999 budget, which he pledged will be approved before the end of the year, government administrative reform, tax reform, banking regulation, hard currency regulation and support for business expansion.

"We must give our entrepreneurs a chance to show how they can add to our quality of life, to employ our people and add money to government coffers," said Mr. Tkachenko.

He said Ukraine's energy and agro-industrial sector needs special attention. However, he set limits as to how far those areas of the economy can be separated from government control and referred to the energy sector as "an integral part of the ability of the state to assure its people's welfare."

The commercialization of land (that is the buying and selling of land), for which President Kuchma has strongly pushed, will not happen soon, according to Mr. Tkachenko, who is the leader of the Peasant Party and who was the Ukrainian SSR's last minister of agriculture. "If we make land a commodity, within five years it will no longer belong to us, and we will not be able to get it back," said Mr. Tkachenko. He did allow that after 10 to 20 years, the sale of land may be an option to consider.

The structuring of the Verkhovna Rada along political party and faction lines and the high degree of party allegiance currently evident in the Parliament will allow the next parliamentary session to work much more effectively, observed Mr. Tkachenko. However, he said he will look to make at least one major procedural change that he hopes will keep the legislature more focused on its agenda. "We need to raise the quality of the work in the committees," said Mr. Tkachenko. "Because bills and deputies were not properly prepared, the work of the Verkhovna Rada suffered." Mr. Tkachenko said he would like the Verkhovna Rada's rules of procedure to be changed so that plenary sessions are held for two weeks every month, as opposed to the current three-week allocation. The extra week would be dedicated to work in committees.

Mr. Tkachenko - whose election as chairman was greeted cynically in the press, primarily because of a controversial $75 million (U.S.) debt owed to the government by the Land and People Agro-Industrial Organization that he founded and whose debt was dismissed by the government the day before his election - stated repeatedly at the news conference that he would like the mass media to reassess the negative way in which it portrays him.

Some of Mr. Tkachenko's comments were greeted by snickering and laughter from the press. At one point he stated that he doesn't understand why the mass media tends to concentrate on the pursuit of trivial matters in the lives of Ukraine's politicians, such as where they will vacation. "We now have a democracy, and I don't think that the press needs to intrude in our private matters," he said.

The controversial Mr. Tkachenko, who has long been known for his sharp tongue and less than diplomatic demeanor, told the press that, given time, it will come to understand him and his way of working.

"If I am not a star, then I am a planet that people are trying to figure out to better predict the future of Ukraine's highest legislative body. The mass media will get used to my viewpoints in a month or two," said Mr. Tkachenko.