Pro-presidential deputies announce majority in Rada (10/06/02)

Pro-presidential deputies announce majority in Rada

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Leading members of the pro-presidential parliamentary factions announced on September 26 that they had succeeded in gathering assent from a sufficient number of lawmakers to form a majority.

The parliamentary coalition would include the nine factions that once constituted the For a United Ukraine political bloc along with the Social Democratic faction plus a small number of independent lawmakers. Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine faction, along with the Tymoshenko, Communist and Socialist factions remain outside the majority.

While the press initially announced that a parliamentary majority was in place, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn admitted during a routine weekly briefing on September 30 that it was merely an unofficial agreement among lawmakers. The coalition still needed to be officially registered with the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat, a process that could take a couple of weeks.

"The majority has been de facto formulated. It has around 230 members," Mr. Lytvyn told journalists.

Among much erroneous speculation over who had joined the 10 factions that support presidential policy - whose members total 217 lawmakers, nine short of the minimum needed to achieve a majority - rumors abounded that some members of Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine faction had defected. One national television network even announced incorrectly that leading Communist faction member Hryhorii Kriuchkov had joined, an announcement he later vociferously repudiated.

It became apparent after a short time that no Communists and no members of the Our Ukraine faction had broken ranks, and that the nine lawmakers needed to achieve a majority came from the ranks of unaligned national deputies.

Mr. Lytvyn told journalists he was optimistic that negotiations between the leaders of the fragile majority and Mr. Yushchenko's faction, which at 110 members is the largest individual faction, would continue. He reinforced the notion that Our Ukraine is needed for a sustained and effective majority, essential for the formation of a coalition government.

"As Hennadii Udovenko so aptly said today, we need to keep the door open, that is what is most important," explained Mr. Lytvyn. Mr. Udovenko heads the National Rukh Party, a leading member of the Our Ukraine faction.

Last week, after a second round of public demonstrations seemed to mark the deepening of a domestic political crisis in Ukraine in which thousands of protesters again called for the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma over allegations of widespread corruption, Our Ukraine announced that it would join the three opposition factions in blocking the work of the Parliament by not taking part in legislative votes.

The decision by the faction came after negotiations between Mr. Yushchenko and Serhii Tyhypko, leader of the Labor Ukraine faction, broke down over demands put forward by Our Ukraine that any parliamentary majority must represent the desires of the Ukrainian nation as expressed in the March 31 vote for Parliament.

In that election a plurality of Ukraine's voters - some 30 percent - supported Our Ukraine. However, Mr. Yushchenko's political bloc was effectively shut out of the Verkhovna Rada leadership after arm-twisting and alleged blackmail by presidential representatives gave the For a United Ukraine bloc a temporary majority.

Mr. Lytvyn told journalists that he believed the only matter separating the pro-presidential factions and Our Ukraine was a clash of personalities and personal ambitions.

"There are personality differences, but the last meeting with Viktor Yushchenko showed that even these may not be insurmountable. I believe perspectives remain for the development of a consensus," explained Mr. Lytvyn.

It remains to be seen whether a majority can exist at all without Our Ukraine's participation. On September 29 the just-born pro-presidential majority attempted to establish its viability by pushing through minor bills by the closest of votes. Opposition lawmakers complained, however, that the bills passed only with ghost voting by national deputies for colleagues not present - an illegal but common practice in the Verkhovna Rada. After several unsuccessful appeals to the Secretariat to disconnect the voting instruments of lawmakers not present, the opposition blocked the leadership rostrum, paralyzing parliamentary work and forcing the end of that day's session.

National Deputy Petro Poroshenko, a top lieutenant to Mr. Yushchenko, said that if pro-presidential political forces continue to ignore Our Ukraine's demands, it would paralyze the 2003 budget process, which could lead to the ouster of the government.

"A 230-voice majority may settle some theoretical issue surrounding numbers, but the budget does not support the interests of a great many lawmakers, and forcing them to vote against their will is not going to work," said Mr. Poroshenko.

Mr. Lytvyn said that if the current minority in Parliament continues to refuse to take part in legislative work, he would respond by ordering a change in committee chairmanships.

The opposition announced on October 1 that it would continue to call for the resignation of President Kuchma and would stage another round of nationwide demonstrations on October 12.

Oleksander Moroz, leader of the Socialist Party, said during an October 1 press conference that the opposition forces would also ask for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to visit Ukraine on October 6. Mr. Moroz, with Yulia Tymoshenko of the eponymous faction and Petro Symonenko of the Communist faction expressed similar beliefs that circumstances and developments would soon force Our Ukraine firmly into the opposition camp.

Mr. Yushchenko, who has taken part in the two demonstrations and has signed resolutions calling for President Kuchma's resignation, nonetheless has maintained a political dialogue with the pro-presidential forces in the hope that a compromise can be achieved in which his faction would obtain the reins of parliamentary or governmental power.

President Kuchma has not show any inclination to either heed any sort of political demands or work toward a compromise. On September 28 President Kuchma told a nationwide television audience that he had no intention of resigning and would carry out his presidential responsibilities until the end of his term in 2004.

Mr. Kuchma stated that the attempt at political upheaval made by the opposition in the last weeks had failed. The president called on the "radicals" to return to the work of the Verkhovna Rada and carry out the responsibilities their constituents have placed upon them.

| Home Page |