Yuschenko government hangs on, for now (04/22/01)

Yuschenko government hangs on, for now

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The government of Victor Yuschenko was left hanging by a thread on April 19 after Ukraine's Parliament voted in support of a resolution criticizing the work of his Cabinet in 2000 as unsatisfactory. The lawmakers decided to schedule a vote on a motion of no confidence within a week, which if passed would lead automatically to the dissolution of the government.

The stormy session was marked by a near tragedy as National Deputy Lilia Hryhorovych of the Rukh faction doused herself with an unspecified liquid believed to be gasoline minutes before the vote. She was whisked away before she set herself afire.

The same factions who successfully carried the resolution condemning the work of the Cabinet of Ministers by a vote of 283-65, namely the Communists, the Social Democratic Party (United) Labor Ukraine, also drove the petition for a vote of no confidence. The Democratic Union faction (formerly Revival of the Regions) also supported the petition-signing campaign, as did members of the Green faction, although members of these two factions split on the vote condemning the government.

The motion itself came from the Communist Party faction in the Verkhovna Rada, which last week submitted 237 lawmakers' signatures in support of the proposal. A simple majority of 226 signatures was needed to table the proposal. The parliamentary session accepted the motion on April 17 prior to a report by Prime Minister Yuschenko on the progress made in 2000 on implementation of the government's economic revival plan, called "Reforms for Well-Being."

The Social Democrats (United), Labor Ukraine and the Democratic Union are considered the bastions of the business oligarchs and are led respectively, by Viktor Medvedchuk, Viktor Pinchuk and Oleksander Volkov.

Mr. Yuschenko strove determinedly in the 16 months since President Leonid Kuchma appointed him to head the government, to bring the economy out of the shadows. He ended most barter operations and brought sectors that have existed at the edge of market conditions, such as the energy sector, under stricter government regulation. While achieving a good amount of success, he also developed political enemies among the oligarchs whose cozy and shady business dealings he disrupted.

In the days before Mr. Yuschenko gave his report on the state of government reforms - which he had agreed to do a year ago in return for a one-year moratorium on just the sort of vote of no confidence he is now facing - some political experts said the prime minister successfully had steered away from a political crisis and predicted he would survive a vote of no confidence. Now the outlook is not so clear.

Earlier President Kuchma had given indications that he was satisfied with his prime minister's work. But that changed when he told journalists last week that Mr. Yuschenko must overcome his problems with the Parliament and find the compromises and consensus to continue to govern. That half-hearted backing by the president firmed up support for the ouster attempt among many members of the Labor Ukraine faction who had been wavering.

Mr. Yuschenko said now he expects that before a final vote on his government's future he will be given a chance to cut a deal for ministerial portfolios to accommodate his critics. By law, the prime minister has from five to 10 days to answer political charges and find a compromise before a vote of no confidence can take place. However, the prime minister did not sound hopeful that he could reach an agreement.

"I would say that the chance to do so does not lie with the government," explained Mr. Yuschenko. "I am sure that this government needs to be saved because of its value and effectiveness. But I also believe that it will not be saved. My feeling is that Ukraine and its leaders believe they do not need this type of government."

Mr. Yuschenko has waged a political struggle for the last two months with the three faction leaders who represent the business oligarchs, as well as with Serhii Tyhypko of Labor Ukraine, over their demands that he turn his Cabinet into a coalition government. The lawmakers have threatened to bring down the Cabinet if they are not given a good portion of the portfolios.

Their factions have joined with the Communists, the largest parliamentary caucus, to form a new informal majority to replace an earlier, more traditional center-right coalition that has disintegrated over the tape scandal and the Gongadze affair.

Mr. Yuschenko - who initially had resisted entering into negotiations over the issue, citing the absence of clear laws on the Cabinet of Ministers and parliamentary majority coalitions and their relations - finally succumbed, only to have the talks stall over serious constitutional issues about who could approve an agreement between the new majority and the government, and what form it should take.

The prime minister has found support among the center-right parties that many politicians, including President Kuchma, blame for destroying the previous majority coalition in the Verkhovna Rada in their attempts to force the president's resignation over his alleged role in the disappearance of journalist Heorhii Gongadze.

Those parties, which include the two Rukhs, the Reforms and Order, Batkivschyna and Sobor parties and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists failed, however, to solidly back a proposal calling for a positive assessment of the prime minister's economic reform plan. The lack of unity among the pro-Yuschenko lawmakers caused Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch to mutter that they needed to get more discipline among their cadres.

The effort to put pressure on the Parliament to keep Mr. Yuschenko was highlighted by another petition-gathering effort - this one of supporters of the prime minister, which resulted in 3.4 million signatures. The 50 odd boxes containing the petitions were placed before the Parliament's main rostrum minutes before Prime Minister Yuschenko gave his report to the lawmakers on April 19. As he spoke, another 3,000 or so supporters listened before speakers placed outside the Verkhovna Rada Building.

During his speech Mr. Yuschenko emphasized that 2000 was the most dynamic year of economic development and reform in independent Ukraine's 10-year history. He cited myriad figures to support his attestation, including a 6 percent growth in GDP and 16 percent industrial production growth; the repayment of 1.4 billion hrv in pension and wage arrears; the development of two balanced budgets; energy and agricultural sector reforms; foreign debt restructuring, which allowed Ukraine to avoid bankruptcy; a 53 percent increase in savings in the last year; a 42 percent rise in pensions.

He said that at the moment Ukraine is presented with a choice: "We will either become stronger and our possibilities will improve, or we will fail the test and fall into the abyss."

The vote to oust the prime minister is expected to take place on April 26 if the Verkhovna Rada presidium formally confirms it on April 24, as is expected.

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