Verkhovna Rada reaches accord on its committee chairmanships (06/16/02)

Verkhovna Rada reaches accord on its committee chairmanships

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's Parliament reached agreement on June 7 on divvying up committee chairmanships, which will allow it to finally begin its primary job of legislation.

Within days the controversial United Ukraine faction, which had swollen to 177 members through what opponents called coercion and pay-offs after winning only 36 seats on the 12 percent electoral support it had received, began to crumble into the five political components that had drawn together to form it, as had been widely predicted by experts.

More than two months after the March 31 elections and a month after the new Verkhovna Rada officially convened - a session that, thus far, has been marked by bickering between the six factions that make up the new Parliament and acrimony over the election of the parliamentary presidium - the legislative body finally sewed together an agreement on committees.

The political logjam surrounding the committee chairs seemed to break after President Leonid Kuchma stepped into the process and invited National Deputy Viktor Yushchenko, head of the Our Ukraine faction, for deliberations a day before further negotiation among the six factions led to the breakthrough. After the Yushchenko-Kuchma meeting the presidential press office released a statement in which it stated that preliminary agreement had been reached.

The statement became reality only two days later, however, after which President Kuchma expressed satisfaction with the newly elected parliamentary leadership.

"Let's consider that with the agreement reached today, the most difficult work of the Verkhovna Rada is completed and now it can go about the relatively mundane task of passing legislation," said Mr. Kuchma.

The Our Ukraine faction, which had stubbornly held out for the chairmanship of the Budget Committee as the basis for any further discussion, attained its objective, but only after another week of jumps and starts in negotiations. It was awarded a total of nine chairs, giving it the most committee heads of the six parliamentary factions.

The Communists came next with six chairs, including the committee on economic policy, national property, ownership and investments; followed by United Ukraine with four, most notably the committee on energy, nuclear policy and nuclear safety; and then the Socialist faction with two; the Yulia Tymoshenko faction, also with two; and the Social Democrats (United) with one.

The process of electing the parliamentary presidium led to a split among the six factions into two groups, with United Ukraine and the Social Democrats forming a coalition to support their nominees against the four other factions, which came to be known as the "Parliamentary Four."

The union between the two pro-presidential parties paid off when United Ukraine took the chairmanship of the Verkhovna Rada and a second vice-chairman's post, while the Social Democrats (United) received the first vice chair.

Our Ukraine had received the largest support in the national vote and the most seats awarded to an individual faction, but was shut out after seven of its members broke ranks and supported the slate proposed by United Ukraine, which occurred after nearly two weeks of unsuccessful votes. Our Ukraine managed to regroup, however, for the committee selections, and its steely resolve not to give in on its primary demand - the Budget Committee - forced United Ukraine and the Social Democrats (United) to cave. In the end the Parliamentary Four took 20 of the 25 committee chairs, while giving United Ukraine but five chairs along with 16 vice-chairs.

Mr. Yushchenko was successful in gathering support for an agreement on parliamentary cooperation, which was a primary part of the negotiations that took place between the two sides. The document sets out legislative goals that the Verkhovna Rada should pursue in its work, including many aspects of the reform program he jump-started as prime minister. It has received general acceptance from both sides, with only some minor observations from the Social Democrats (United). However, it has yet to reach the Parliament floor for a vote.

Our Ukraine had also wanted the post of prime minister thrown in as part of the negotiations, which Mr. Yushchenko explained was necessary to properly align all aspects of political power within the country. One of the goals of many members of the Our Ukraine faction is to see Mr. Yushchenko return to that position to continue the reforms he undertook during a 16-month stint that ended just over a year ago after the Parliament passed a no-confidence vote on his work as head of government. In the end that issue was left outside the discussions.

The protracted negotiations and the initial refusal of the two pro-presidential factions to give in on committee leadership posts even after winning outright the three presidium seats caused problems within the United Ukraine faction. Some leading figures in the caucus began to grumble after several days of negotiations led only to more stalemate that Volodymyr Lytvyn - the new Verkhovna Rada chairman and the leader of United Ukraine before he resigned after his election - was acting unethically in not speeding up the process and forcing the national deputies to find a compromise.

National Deputy Stepan Havrysh, a member of the United Ukraine faction who was elected as an independent in district voting, said that Mr. Lytvyn was ignoring the demands of others like himself.

"Those who supported Mr. Lytvyn are overwhelmingly from majoritarian districts," explained Mr. Havrysh. "For us party interests are less important than to get working on our most important responsibility, passing legislation."

Mr. Havrysh's chosen faction did not have long to live, because within days party interests caused its break-up. Beginning on June 11 - only four days after parliamentary leadership positions were finally settled - the first of the five major parties that comprise the United Ukraine bloc announced it was pulling out to form its own faction. National Deputy Mykhailo Hladii said that his Agrarian Party of Ukraine would register as a faction within a week with 23 or 24 lawmakers.

The same day Serhii Tyhypko told reporters that his Labor Ukraine, the largest and perhaps most influential party in United Ukraine, would form a separate faction as well. He said he expected that some 40 lawmakers would join him.

Finally, Mr. Havrysh said he also would split from United Ukraine to form a Democratic Initiative faction. He said 15 lawmakers thus far had expressed an interest in joining, including Ivan Pliusch, the former Rada chairman.

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