Pro-Yanukovych deputies jumping ship
Staff Writer
As of Nov. 27, it remained unclear whether opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko would take the presidency of Ukraine through a street-side revolution or by legal-political means – if he took it at all.
Insiders say Yushchenko has been fighting his way to power along several routes, in addition to taking advantage of the massive street demonstrations that have rocked Ukraine, and of his growing support in the government.
One of Yushchenko’s options is appealing to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The appeals surgically target specific polling stations where massive election fraud allegedly took place in favor of presidential contender and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
If the Supreme Court accepts his complaints, Yushchenko could be declared president-elect even if the second-round Nov. 21 vote is not legally voided.
Other options are being developed in parliament. On Nov. 27, the splintered legislature passed several key votes that further strengthen Yushchenko’s hand. It passed a no confidence vote in the Central Election Committee, which organized the elections, and passed a decree to the effect that the Nov. 21 vote was marred by violations, and that its results do not fully represent the people’s will.
If the Supreme Court in coming days does not weed out the violations that inflated Yanukovych’s tally, Yushchenko can use the parliament votes as evidence that the elections were a sham. The votes also open the door to other possible Rada actions, such as passing laws that cancel the election and arrange a new one that will be more carefully controlled.
Meanwhile, more Ukrainian officials have abandoned the current regime, expressing their support for or allegiance to Yushchenko, even as millions of pro-democracy demonstrators back him on Ukraine’s streets.
As of Nov. 27, more than 470 foreign ministry officials had publicly pledged their support for Yushchenko, essentially recognizing him as the next president of Ukraine. More law enforcement officials have also pledged support or allegiance to Yushchenko and his campaign. The support of these officials puts more pressure on the ruling regime and on officials who haven’t yet switched sides. Their support would be crucial for Yushchenko’s chances of rising to power through a quasi-legal forced coup, should events develop in that direction.
Parliamentary defections are also mounting.
In the past two days, several parliament deputies allied with President Leonid Kuchma’s regime jumped ship. Two left the parliamentary faction of the Regions of Ukraine party, headed by Yanukovych. They include Ihor Chelombitko, (Cherkassy oblast) and Volodymyr Maystryshyn (Vinnystya oblast). Anton Kisse (Odessa oblast) defected from the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), lead by Presidential Administration Chief Viktor Medvedchuk.
Reports emerging late on Nov. 27 also suggest that Anatoly Pisarenko (Zhytomyr oblast) had expressed his intention to dump the SDPU(u) faction.
The business tycoons in eastern Ukraine that supported Yanukovych appear to be taking extreme measures to protect their interests, which include lucrative assets in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkiv and Luhansk. Government officials and legislators in these oblasts have in the past two days demanded the formation of an autonomous eastern-southern Ukrainian republic and are threatening to split their oblasts away from Ukraine altogether.
Kharkiv governor Yevhen Kushnyarov on Nov. 26 declared that his oblast would rule itself and control the military on its territory before it takes orders from what it calls extreme right-wing factions allied with Yushchenko. Parliamentarians in the eastern oblasts Donetsk and Lugansk and in the southern part of the Crimean peninsula called for the creation of an eastern autonomous Ukrainian republic. Eastern They began blacking out Ukrainian television channels that are reporting objectively about the current situation in Ukraine, leaving only propaganda outlets on the air. Officials from these regions also pledged to stop sending budget revenues from their industrial regions to the capital.
Granting autonomy to these regions would provide guarantees to the business elite in these regions, such as Donetsk tycoon Rinat Akhmetov, who fear that Yushchenko’s inner circle would attempt to gain control over their multi-billion dollar business empires should they come to power.
Less clear is whether the local populations of these regions would support such separatism. Insiders say the large crowds of demonstrators in these regions who have been supporting these measures are employees of factories owned by the local business elite, and that they were forced to take to the streets by management.
It remains to be seen whether these separatist threats are genuine. It’s possible they’re being spread merely to make people fear that Ukraine could splinter into pieces if Yushchenko and his team take power.
Regardless, separatist actions are unconstitutional and punishable by law. Maryna Ostapenko, a spokesperson at the Ukrainian Security Service, said that her agency was investigating separatist statements and rulings passed throughout Ukraine in recent days, including those by officials in western Ukraine who pledged allegiance to Yushchenko as president.
“The SBU is working within its competency to protect the sovereignty and unity of the country,” Ostapenko said.
She declined to answer whether Ukraine’s top security agency was capable of keeping the country together.
