The opposition in the Ukrainian parliament may be taking some shape with the creation of an opposition association led by Yulia Tymoshenko
Ukraine’s perennially divided parliament might be taking some shape lately as political femme fatale Yulia Tymoshenko formalizes her opposition to the country’s pro-Russian majority, and cracks in the Rada’s five factions harden.
As the deadline set by firebrand opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko for the unveiling of a parliamentary opposition passed, lawmakers in the pro-presidential Our Ukraine faction, some offering her tacit support, were nowhere to be seen. Tymoshenko’s plans to make an announcement on Sept. 22 about the creation of a broad-based alternative to the Rada’s pro-Russian majority ended with her signing a deal with just two Socialist MPs, Yosyp Vinskiy and Halyna Harmash. Our Ukraine, or most thereof, continues to vacillate in talks on joining a coalition with the majority, led by the Donetsk-based Regions party and including the Communists and the vast majority of Socialists.
Speaking to reporters during the signing ceremony on Sept. 22, Tymoshenko, a former prime minister who has vowed radical opposition to the recently installed coalition government said: “It is a landmark event because parliament will for the first time since independence have an opposition with a clear lineup and a precise idea of what it is doing.” She said the opposition would work to prevent those in power from arbitrary and irresponsible actions. Tymoshenko will lead the parliamentary association, with deputies from her BYuT factions, MPs Oleksandr Turchynov and Mykola Tomenko, and maverick Socialist Yosyp Vinskiy. Vinskiy, a vociferous opponent of the decision taken in the first week of July by Socialist party leader Oleksandr Moroz to withdraw from coalition talks with BYuT and Our Ukraine and defect to Regions and the Communists, was expelled last week from the Socialist Party after resigning from its political council. Speaking about the new opposition on Sept. 22, Vinskiy said its aims were “to save Ukraine from a move backwards, from a move towards a totalitarian regime.” The BYuT-led opposition has 127 MPs, 125 from BYuT and two Socialists, in the 450 member parliament.
Though no Our Ukraine MPs joined Tymoshenko in opposition last Friday, a section of the pro-presidential party is still contemplating joining her, while official party statements continued to lean toward a so-called coalition of national unity with the Rada’s pro-Russian majority.
In fact, only 30 Our Ukraine MPs voted for the appointment of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych as premier on Aug. 4. Last week, Tymoshenko said she would summon all opposition forces in the country, including those who did not get into parliament, for a forum in October. Speaking after the creation of the inter-factional opposition and the claim by Tymoshenko that the majority of Our Ukraine members would side with the opposition, Our Ukraine MP Borys Bespaliy said “there is not a single deputy from the Our Ukraine faction.” He added that he has no confirmation that talks on this issue had been held between Our Ukraine and BYuT.
“If Our Ukraine receives any proposals on that score, we shall consider them, just like any other proposals. So far there have been no such steps by Yulia Tymoshenko, although she has predicted the emergence of a powerful opposition in parliament uniting Our Ukraine and her own bloc.”
Indeed, it would seem that Our Ukraine is close to making a decision. As the Post was going to print news came out of the pro-presidential party’s camp that talks are moving to a conclusion. Speaking on the pro-Regions NTN TV channel on Sept. 26, Our Ukraine MP Vasyl Kuybida said that “I expect the last round of talks to take place today at 16:30 and that the coalition agreement will be ready. If that is so, then by the end of the week Our Ukraine will make up its mind on whether or not to join the coalition.” Though a meeting of the bloc’s political council took place the same day, members like MP Volodymyr Stretovych refused to say anything. Senior figures Roman Zvarych and Anatoliy Kinakh, who took part in the talks, were also reticent, though Kinakh admitted that it is too early to talk because “the decision-making process is still continuing.”
In the meantime, BYuT is showing that it is not completely against cooperating with the Pro-Russian parliamentary majority.
The business daily Delo reported on Sept. 26 that chief Socialist Moroz, the current parliament speaker, and other leaders of the parliamentary majority have agreed to the candidacy of senior BYuT figure Mykola Tomenko for the post of deputy speaker. The post is normally the domain of the opposition and has been vacant since July. If appointed, Tomenko will sit next to Moroz from the Socialists and Adam Martynyuk from the Communists. Parliament will return to work in plenary session mode next week and Tomenko’s candidacy is likely to be high on the agenda. There are also two draft bills on the opposition, one from BYuT and one from Regions, to be considered, as the status and rights of the opposition are not set out in legislation.
To bolster his own fledgling position, President Viktor Yushchenko is cleaning up his own backyard, shuffling and consolidating his team. After the recent arrival of Viktor Baloha as head of the presidential secretariat, last week saw the departure of Iryna Herashchenko as the president’s press secretary. She has been Yushchenko’s press secretary for over four years, including two years when he was in opposition. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the economics minister in the previous cabinet led by Yuriy Yekhanurov was appointed Baloha’s right-hand man as first deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the president’s representative in the Cabinet of Ministers. Yatsenyuk will also be responsible for the president’s control over the work of the Security Service of Ukraine – the nation’s spy service. Speaking about Herashchenko’s dismissal, BYuT MP and former Channel 5 anchor Andriy Shevchenko said “perhaps Iryna was pushed to resign … I believe that this is connected with the latest personnel changes in the presidential secretariat. I believe that her dismissal coincides with the desire of Baloha and Yatsenyuk to raise the media image of the president.” One of Baloha’s first jobs was to return seven presidential decrees for signing by the prime minister and other relevant ministers to the secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers after they had been returned to the presidential secretariat. The decrees were returned because the cabinet argued that they had already been officially published without their being countersigned. Speaking on the issue, Yushchenko has said that decrees come into force after they have been signed by the president and made public. In turn, Prime Minister Yanukovych has said that the process of demarcation of the powers of the president and the cabinet and their work is an “ordinary process” which the authorities must “experience calmly”. Clearly, the new cabinet is chipping away at the president’s powers. On Sept. 25 Yanukovych said that “the executive branch should have an indirect input in the preparation of presidential decrees … There is no politics here.” He added that the system by which presidential decrees are adopted must be regulated by legislation and that a draft bill on this would soon be prepared by the cabinet. With the cabinet trying to erode presidential powers and raising the prospect of further political reform, Yushchenko, who is clearly consolidating his secretariat, has two choices. The first is to create his own majority in parliament, which is hardly likely. The second is to turn to the Constitutional Court for rulings and explanations delineating the powers of the president and those of the cabinet. The irony is that regardless of whether or not Our Ukraine joins the coalition, Yushchenko’s allies will keep their seats in the cabinet as long as the alliance holds between the president and the dominant Regions party.
