Lytvyn elected to chair Verkhovna Rada (06/02/02)

Lytvyn elected to chair Verkhovna Rada

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - The Verkvona Rada elected the former chief of President Leonid Kuchma's administration as its chairman on May 28, following two weeks of harsh debates, and prompting opposition criticism. Of the 309 lawmakers present at the meeting, 226 voted for Volodymyr Lytvyn, which was the minimum number necessary for his election. The remaining 83 deputies ignored the vote.

President Kuchma actively promoted Mr. Lytvyn's candidacy for his leadership of the pro-presidential For a United Ukraine bloc. Mr. Lytvyn, 46, is a professional historian and a career politician. Though the pro-presidential bloc won only about 12 percent of the popular vote, many lawmakers from independent single-mandate districts allied with it, creating the Parliament's largest faction. The Our Ukraine and Communist Party are the second and third largest factions, respectively.

The Kyiv-based International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research said that the vote clarified the political situation in the parliament, making it "black and white" by splitting the lawmakers into pro-Kuchma and anti-Kuchma camps.

"There is the authorities' party and the Social-Democratic Party (United) on one side, and all the rest is opposition," said the institute's director, Volodymyr Malenkov. "In principle, this is a temporary step backward for democracy."

The reformist Our Ukraine bloc, the Socialist and Communist parties, and the opposition bloc of ex-Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko left the parliamentary hall to protest Mr. Lytvyn's victory. The four factions had agreed to vote jointly for their own candidates, which included Communist Adam Martyniuk as chairman, and Our Ukraine's Roman Bezsmertnyi and Mrs. Tymoshenko's ally, Oleksander Turchynov as vice-chairman.

However, their proposal did not come up for a vote, because deputies managed to elect United Ukraine's candidates first.

Minutes after the vote, the leader of the Our Ukraine faction and former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko kicked out seven members who supported Mr. Lytvyn. Among Communists, who were not expected to support United Ukraine's leader, former Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko voted for him. After the vote, Potebenko declared to give up his deputy's mandate, Communist leader Petro Symonenko said on May 30, according to the Interfax news agency.

Mr. Yushchenko said last week he would actively oppose the United Ukraine faction (as the For a United Ukraine election bloc renamed itself) if it won the chairman's post.

Mr. Yushchenko's ally and the leader of the National Rukh movement, Yuriy Kostenko, said on May 28 that the outcome may lead to political confrontation in the Parliament, which could include efforts to unseat Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh.

Repeating previous claims that lawmakers unaligned with United Ukraine were coerced to support a pro-Kuchma candidate for the parliamentary leadership, Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz said that some lawmakers were forced to vote for Mr. Lytvyn under threat of government authorities.

The 450-seat Verkhovna Rada elected also Hennadii Vasyliev, former procurator of the eastern Donetsk region and United Ukraine member, as Mr. Lytvyn's vice-chairman. Oleksander Zinchenko, leader of the SDPU, is the second vice-chairman.

Soon after the Verkhovna Rada was sworn in May 14, lawmakers launched into tense debates to elect its leadership but had failed to come to any conclusion until the vote this week.

Their disputes increased further, when the Rada started to divide parliamentary committees. The Our Ukraine faction and Communists insist that the committees should be shared on a proportional basis, according to the outcome of the parliamentary elections.

Some opposition lawmakers started an initiative to cancel the current parliament's leadership on May 30, but received poor support from Mr. Yushchenko's faction, which considered the idea inefficient. Our Ukraine said it would refrain from any negotiations until it produces a new political strategy to fit the current power division in the Parliament.

Mr. Malenkov commented that Mr. Lytvyn's victory is positive for Mr. Yushchenko in the long term, because his faction and other opposition movements now have the opportunity to take an aggressive position and win the presidential election in two years.

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