A standoff in Crimean Parliament (01/02/00)

A standoff in Crimean Parliament

RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

PRAGUE - On December 16, 1999, 51 deputies of the 100-seat Crimean Supreme Council voted to dismiss its presidium headed by Crimean Communist Party leader Leonid Hrach, Interfax reported. The vote was the culmination of the harsh standoff between Mr. Hrach, the parliamentary speaker, and Crimean Prime Minister Serhii Kunitsyn, which reportedly began on November 7, 1999, when Mr. Hrach publicly accused Mr. Kunitsyn of preparing a "criminal revolution" on the peninsula.

Mr. Kunitsyn finally gained the upper hand in the standoff by mustering the support of the Zlahoda and Respublika caucuses in the Crimean legislature. Mr. Hrach, who is supported by the 45-seat Communist and People's Democracy caucus, declared the dismissal to be "destructive and illegal" (in the sense that it violated the parliamentary regulations, which give considerable leverage in the government for the Communist-dominated legislative presidium). He announced that the Parliament will go into recess until January. However, Mr. Kunitsyn's supporters - possessing a formal quorum - resolved to continue the session on January 21.

Kyiv immediately hastened to send mediators to Symferopol. It is not clear how the conflict will develop and whom Kyiv will choose to support. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma commented earlier this month that both Messrs. Hrach and Kunitsyn "are equally responsible for the socioeconomic and political stability in Crimea."

The December 7, 1999, the Kyiv newspaper Den speculated on possible motives behind the current political crisis in Crimea and the enmity between the two Crimean leaders.

According to the newspaper, the current cabinet of the autonomous republic is a "paradoxical" regional coalition based on the pro-Kuchma Popular Democratic Party and the Communist Party led by Petro Symonenko (the Crimean Communist Party headed by Mr. Hrach is a regional branch of Mr. Symonenko's organization). The two men opposed each other in this year's presidential elections. The serious cracks in the Crimean coalition appeared exactly during the election campaign.

Another supposition ascribes the initiation of the political crisis to the Respublika caucus (10 deputies) and its political ally, the Soyuz party, which formerly cooperated with Mr. Hrach's Communists but - "washed out from power structures by the Communists" - changed their position during the presidential election. According to Den, Mr. Hrach's ouster was planned by the Respublika/Soyuz alliance as "the necessary condition for a new distribution of portfolios in Crimea."

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