President tries to stay above the fray, wants Rada to resume legitimate work (07/16/06)

President tries to stay above the fray, wants Rada to resume legitimate work

KYIV - The Press Office of President Viktor Yushchenko released a statement on July 12 on the recent events in the Verkhovna Rada. Ivan Vasiunyk, first deputy chief of staff, told the media that the president wants the Parliament to resume legitimate work and added that continued negotiations with parliamentary parties is imperative, as is the nomination of a "non-controversial" prime minister.

According to the press release, President Yushchenko believes that deputies should observe the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian laws, set national interests as priorities, search for compromises, and be ready to tolerantly, publicly and unemotionally start a dialogue in order to resolve the existing problems.

Commenting on the recent change in coalitions, President Yushchneko said, "Unfortunately, we all see that politicians have not learned to implement those agreements but make political decisions secretly 'under the table'."

In response to the change in the majority coalition in the Verkhovna Rada, President Yushchenko proposed the following steps: convening the Constitutional Court as the only institution that can settle legal collisions and the nomination of a non-controversial prime minister.

"Yesterday's events in the Verkhovna Rada show that this questionable political performance in Parliament ... obviously contradicts the fundamentals of the European parliamentary culture and Ukrainian laws. It is particularly important in Ukraine, whose new Constitution requires exceptional understanding and knowledge of democratic mechanisms," said Mr. Vasiunyk.

Mr. Vasiunyk added that the president was "indignant that decisions in Parliament were made under pressure with bribery and subornation involved, and so he urges all the forces in Parliament to discard such agreements and decisions, for they devalue democracy, devalue Ukrainian government and promote huge political corruption in Parliament."

"All attempts to contradict the logic of national reunion, including legal and political manipulations to appoint top parliamentary and governmental officials, are doomed," said Mr. Vasiunyk. "The president has always supported a national political dialogue, which he believes is the only way to overcome the current stage of parliamentary uncertainties. At the same time, efforts to involve the president in any confrontational scenario are in vain."

Mr. Vasiunyk also said the president was going to send a letter to the Verkhovna Rada to demand that parliamentarians forget words and mere declarations and begin working to consolidate society.

In related news, at the request of President Yushchenko, the Party of the Regions and Our Ukraine spent the afternoon on July 12 conducting negotiations, reported The Ukraine List, which is published by the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa.

News sources said the Regions side was represented by Raisa Bohatyriova, Mykola Azarov, Olena Lukash, Andrii Kluiev and/or Volodymyr Rybak. The Our Ukraine delegation comprised Roman Zvarych, Mykola Martynenko, Borys Tarasyuk and Anatolii Kinakh.

Afterwards, Mr. Yanukovych appeared optimistic on the prospects of Our Ukraine joining forces in a coalition with the Party of the Regions. However, President Yushchenko was more pessimistic in his remarks to journalists.

Various news sources reported that the negotiations between the Regions and Our Ukraine had taken place but noted that the talks were being conducted in secret.

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