Yushchenko takes symbolic oath of office in Verkhovna Rada (11/28/04)

Yushchenko takes symbolic oath of office in Verkhovna Rada

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - In an unexpected move, Viktor Yushchenko symbolically took the oath of office of the president of Ukraine on November 24 during an emergency session of the Verkhovna Rada.

Mr. Yushchenko and the other leaders of the Power of the People election coalition, which was created as the vehicle for the election of the former prime minister and central bank chairman, expressed no reservations afterwards that the oath was nothing more than a symbolic swearing-in. They said it was needed, however, as a strategic move against state authorities, who they claimed are trying to steal the presidential election of November 21 and deny their candidate his victory.

The 191 lawmakers who witnessed the swearing-in included members from the parliamentary factions of Our Ukraine, the Tymoshenko bloc, Socialist Party, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, along with the Center group. The other 259 lawmakers who make up the Ukrainian legislature failed to turn up for what was an emergency session of the Parliament, originally called to review the validity of the presidential elections and to vote on a resolution drawn up by the Power of the People coalition members.

Mr. Yushchenko, his face still disfigured and discolored, initially hesitated when called to take the oath of office, but then slowly made his way forward to the speaker's dais. As he did so, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn and First Vice-Chairman Adam Martyniuk scurried into an anteroom after the lawmakers present failed to heed the chairman's call not to turn the session into a political show.

At the dais, Mr. Yushchenko read the short oath of office with his left had placed on an open page of the Ostroh Bible, which was held by National Deputy Ihor Yukhnovsky, the oldest member of Parliament and the person who had called Mr. Yushchenko to the front.

The Power of the People coalition initially expected that the Verkhovna Rada would consider a resolution it had prepared, in which it accused the Ukrainian government and state authorities of state treason in organizing a coup d'état and "attempting to illegally grab power."

The resolution called on the Verkhovna Rada to recognize Mr. Yushchenko as the duly elected president of Ukraine; to form an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate and document the violations that occurred on election day; to express a vote of no confidence in the Central Election Commission because of the manner in which it aided in a fraudulent vote; and to dismiss the CEC and appoint a new one.

National Deputy Roman Zvarych, who announced the resolution, also called on law enforcement and military officials not to take part in criminal actions, to uphold the oath they swore - which calls on them to defend the nation and not state authorities; and to join in recognizing Mr. Yushchenko as the fairly elected president. He turned to the international community also, to recognize Mr. Yushchenko as Ukraine's new legitimately elected state leader.

When it became apparent that the Communist Party faction, which the Power of the People coalition believed would join in condemning the CEC, would not take part in the emergency session and thus would make it impossible to gather the 226 votes needed to pass the resolution, the pro-Yushchenko lawmakers went to the other option, the swearing-in ceremony.

After the Verkhovna Rada session, Mr. Yushchenko explained to a cheering, chanting throng of more than half a million Ukrainians on Independence Square, who had gathered in a driving snow, that he and the Power of the People coalition had no recourse but to go the route of a symbolic oath.

"We had two choices forced upon us by the actions of the state authorities: either the Parliament would consider the manner in which democracy had taken place or the people would," explained Mr. Yushchenko. "Today was a huge step for Ukrainian democracy."

National Deputy Mykola Tomenko, who has acted as coordinator between the masses on Independence Square and the camp of Mr. Yuschenko's closest advisors from a huge stage set up at one end of the square - an emcee of sorts - said Power of the People officials had been concerned that the CEC would announce official results even before some of the 10,000 complaints filed with the Supreme Court of Ukraine were resolved. That would have cleared the way for the immediate succession by Mr. Yanukovych to the presidency, even in a private ceremony.

President Leonid Kuchma had stated days before the election that he was ready to transfer power immediately after the official results were announced. After the oath-taking event in the Verkhovna Rada, Mr. Kuchma called the ceremony "a political farce."

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Lytvyn opened the special session after a spirited meeting of the Rada leadership, including the pro-Yanukovych faction, had agreed to it. In a special statement read before a more than halfempty hall - after the six factions that compose the majority as well as the Communist faction failed to show - he said that Ukraine was on the brink of a major disaster.

"The situation in the country is quickly deteriorating into a civil conflict. It only depends on who will cause the first spark. The circumstances are such that this will not simply melt away. Here the Verkhovna Rada must act because tomorrow the people might," explained Mr. Lytvyn.

Outside the building, tens of thousands of supporters who had encircled the building broke into a thundering chant of "Yushchenko" after they were told their presidential favorite had taken the oath of office. Some broke down a barrier and rushed across the plaza before the Verkhovna Rada building to its main entrance. As they pressed against the structure, they turned back to face the masses on the streets and began chanting other, now familiar refrains, including "We shall not be defeated," "You can't stop freedom," as well as the staple "Kuchma Out."

The only obvious instance of outright civil disobedience in the last three days occurred when one of the demonstrators, emotionally charged by the events, who had broken through the police cordon and raced across the small square to the Parliament building with others, took the flag he was waving and shattered a windowpane with the back end of the flagpole. He was quickly subdued by other demonstrators and then whisked off the square as other Yushchenko supporters tried to get at him with their fists amid cries of "provocateur."

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