NEWSBRIEFS (01/23/05)

NEWSBRIEFS

Court OKs publication of results

KYIV - The Supreme Court - while still considering the appeal by presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych against the victory of his rival, Viktor Yushchenko - decided on January 18 to lift its ban on publication of the official results of the December 26 vote. The court said the results may be published in Uriadovyi Kurier and Holos Ukrainy after January 19, thus clearing the way for Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration. The decision is widely regarded as a signal that the court will soon reject Mr. Yanukovych's appeal. "This is a brutal violation of our rights. Now we know what the final verdict of the court will be," Mr. Yanukovych's proxy Nestor Shufrych told Agence France-Presse on January 18. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yanukovych supporters pitch tents

DONETSK - Some 5,000 people took part in a rally in Donetsk on January 18 to express support for former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whom they believe to be the elected president of Ukraine, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported. Mr. Yanukovych's supporters have also pitched some 90 tents on Donetsk's central square for the past week. They are collecting signatures under a petition to hold a referendum on establishing a federal system in Ukraine. According to ITAR-TASS, more than 50,000 Donetsk residents signed by January 18. A previous rally in Donetsk on January 13 attracted 6, 000 people. Speakers at that rally, which was organized by the Progressive Socialist Party led by Natalia Vitrenko, called for autonomy for the Donbas coal-mining region and for annulling the official results of the December 26 presidential election, whose winner was declared to be Viktor Yushchenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv tent city is dismantled

KYIV - The residents of the tent camp on Khreschatyk, Kyiv's main thoroughfare, have begun dismantling their tents, following a January 15 directive from President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported, quoting Yushchenko spokeswoman Tetiana Mokridi. Ms. Mokridi said some 100 tents remain on Khreshchatyk, out of more than 450 pitched there by Yushchenko supporters after the second round of the presidential election on November 21, 2004. According to Ukrainian news agencies, some residents of the tent camp have decided to remain there until Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko to speak in Strasbourg

KYIV - President-elect Viktor Yushchenko is scheduled to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on January 25, Council of Europe press officer Andrew Cutting reported. The same day, Mr. Yushchenko will hold a joint news conference with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who will address the PACE on January 26. National Deputy Oleh Rybachuk from Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc told Interfax that in Strasbourg Mr. Yushchenko will present his five-year action plan. "[Ukraine's] full membership in the European Union has been and remains the strategic aim of Viktor Yushchenko as president," Mr. Rybachuk said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pope gives blessing for Yushchenko

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II on January 10 transmitted his blessing for Ukraine's President-elect Viktor Yushchenko to Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Hryhorii Khoruzhii. The pope and the ambassador met during a traditional New Year's reception for the diplomatic corps accredited by the Holy See. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Court reviews Yanukovych appeal

KYIV - The Supreme Court on January 17 began examining the appeal by presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych against the official results of the December 26 presidential run-off. The first day of the proceedings was devoted to procedural and formal matters. The Supreme Court rejected numerous motions by the Yanukovych side, including challenges against the judges, a request to postpone the hearing and a motion to transfer the case to another court. By law, the Supreme Court has to make its ruling by January 21. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU not to change action plan for Ukraine

KYIV - The European Commission is not going to modify its European Union-Ukraine Action Plan within the EU's New Neighborhood Policy, Ukrainska Pravda reported on January 18, quoting European Commission spokeswoman Françoise Le Bail. Ms. Le Bail was commenting on rumors that such a change might take place following last week's European Parliament vote calling on the EU authorities to give Ukraine "a clear European perspective, possibly leading to EU membership." The vote reflected "the great sympathy among the populations and governments of democratic countries towards the Orange Revolution," commented Borys Tarasyuk, President-elect Viktor Yushchenko's top foreign-policy adviser. Meanwhile, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told Reuters that he wants to deepen trade and economic relations with Ukraine and grant it market-economy status once the country has showed a commitment to reforms. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Candidates report election expenses

KYIV - President-elect Viktor Yushchenko spent 16.8 million hrv ($3.2 million) for his election campaign, while his rival Viktor Yanukovych spent 14.4 million hrv ($2.7 million), Interfax reported, citing their official financial reports published in the January 14 issues of Holos Ukrainy and Uriadovyi Kurier. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moroz, too, aspires to be PM

KYIV - Socialist Party head Oleksander Moroz said on the NTN television channel on January 12 that he is ready to assume the post of prime minister if he is offered it by Viktor Yushchenko following the latter's presidential inauguration. "I can name dozens of states that are being run not by economists or business managers," Mr. Moroz said in a reference to his lack of experience as a Cabinet member or business executive. "Possibly, this is why they have more successes than we do," he added. Mr. Moroz, who served as chairman of the Verkhovna Rada in 1994-1998, has been in opposition to the government and President Leonid Kuchma since then. Mr. Moroz is the fourth politician, after Yulia Tymoshenko, Anatolii Kinakh and Petro Poroshenko, who has publicly announced his desire to head a new Cabinet. Mr. Yushchenko vowed on January 5 that within days he would name a new prime minister. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Wrangling begins over portfolios

KYIV - Ihor Yefremeyev, head of the parliamentary caucus of the National Agrarian Party of Ukraine (NAPU), told Interfax on January 5 that his party will demand no fewer than three ministerial posts in exchange for supporting a new Cabinet formed by President-elect Viktor Yushchenko. "I suppose that a new [parliamentary] majority will consist of 280 deputies," Mr. Yefremeyev said. "I am convinced that the NAPU caucus will be in the new majority." The NAPU, which is led by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, has 29 lawmakers. It is still not clear which parties could form a new pro-government majority. Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and his current political allies - Oleksander Moroz's Socialist Party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Anatolii Kinakh's Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - have some 150 deputies in the Verkhovna Rada, well below the 226 votes necessary to pass most legislative resolutions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Patriots seek blessing of Rada

ODESA - The Organization of Ukrainian Patriots, a civic union operating in numerous areas of the country, is asking that Ukraine's Parliament building be solemnly blessed, with the participation of all the country's Christian denominations, on January 22, which is celebrated in Ukraine as the Day of Unity (Sobornist). The organization sent an appeal regarding the matter to President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn and the Christian denominations of Ukraine. At a press conference in Odesa, Hanna Semeniuk, head of the Organization of Ukrainian Patriots, stated that "The greatest force of unity for the Ukrainian people remains prayer, spirituality. So, to re-create Ukraine, with its high culture, art and national traditions, is the most important assignment of the newly elected president of Ukraine." She added that the newly elected president of Ukraine "will become a symbol of the union of Ukraine, west and east." (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

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