Parliament on Dec. 14 rejected President Leonid Kuchma’s request that it reappoint Valery Pustovoitenko prime minister, forcing the president to look for a new candidate.
Pustovoitenko, who had been the longest-serving prime minister in independent Ukraine, fell 20 votes short of securing a required majority of 226 votes in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada.
The former premier, a long-time personal friend of Kuchma, accused several pro-government factions, whose support he said he had negotiated, of betraying him.
‘I became a victim of a political reprisal,’ Pustovoitenko told a press conference Dec. 15.
Kuchma, barred by law from proposing the same candidate for the post of prime minister a second time, said after the vote he had no immediate new choice and needed time to pick a candidate that most lawmakers would accept.
‘I cannot just propose another candidate and receive the same negative answer, although this would once again demonstrate to the people the real face of our Verkhovna Rada,’ Kuchma said, alluding to his long-running confrontation with parliament.
Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko said Kuchma would likely submit a new nominee by Dec. 17 and in that case lawmakers would vote on whether to approve the next candidate on Dec. 21.
Analysts say Kuchma’s next candidate could be either National Bank chief Viktor Yushchenko or Deputy Prime Minister Serhy Tyhypko, both regarded in the West as the most sincere proponents of market reforms among Ukraine’s present leadership. Other possible candidates include hard-line and far less pro-reform State Security Service chief Leonid Derkach and Tax Administration chief Mykola Azarov.
The state-owned TV channel UT-1 channel reported late on Dec. 15 that 10 centrist and rightist factions in parliament asked Kuchma to nominate Yushchenko.
Yushchenko, who was out of Ukraine Dec. 15, did not react immediately to the report.
Pustovoitenko, 52, became prime minister in July 1997 and pledged to stay in the post for 10 years, swearing his unfailing allegiance to Kuchma.
But despite holding office longer than any of the other six premiers Ukraine has had since gaining independence in 1991, Pustovoitenko failed to stem the continuing economic recession and promote any significant changes, despite picturing himself as a reformer.
This time around, Kuchma might really need a totally new face in the government, one capable of tackling Ukraine’s crushing $3 billion debt burden next year.
Kuchma acknowledged on Dec. 14 that a reformist government was essential to continue the dialogue with the International Monetary Fund on resuming loans.
The IMF suspended disbursal of tranches of its $2.6 billion Extended Fund Facility loan to Ukraine in September.
‘If in January we do not hold talks with the IMF, we may go bankrupt because in March we will have to pay off around $1 billion in foreign debts,’ Kuchma said.
Many lawmakers say that parliament may vote down Kuchma’s second nominee as well, but will approve the third one.
‘In any case, everything will be over by the end of the year,’ said Artur Bilous, a deputy from the pro-government Batkivshchyna faction.
‘Everyone is scared that the president may dissolve parliament,’ Bilous said.
Kuchma, who has been at loggerheads with parliament since he was first elected in 1994, used parliament’s failure to approve Pustovoitenko to warn lawmakers that he was prepared to take tough steps to make them cooperate.
Kuchma said if lawmakers failed to form a pro-government majority, he would hold a nationwide referendum on disbanding parliament if it fails to form such a majority or approve the national budget within three months.
So far, the Rada can only be dismissed if deputies fail to show up for their regular session in sufficient numbers for 30 consecutive days.
‘If there is [a] majority, let parliament work until [the next election in] 2002. If not, the country does not need this parliament,’ Kuchma said.
Ukraine’s constitution requires that three million signatures be collected across the country in support of a national referendum before it can be held.
Opposition lawmakers said preparations for the referendum in Kuchma’s administration were already underway.
Meanwhile, leaders of pro-Kuchma factions in parliament said that they were eager to vote for a new prime minister and on that basis form a pro-government majority.
‘I don’t doubt that a constructive majority will be formed, which will support the president’s choice for prime minister,’ said Hryhoriy Surkis of the pro-Kuchma Social Democratic Party (united).
Political analysts also said the new prime minister will be approved soon, and will start forming his Cabinet, but the real issue for debate is whether this person will actually be given the go-ahead to proceed with serious reforms.
‘We’ll see what the president lets him do – that’s what’s most important,’ said Vyacheslav Pikhovshek, head of the Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Research.
Pustovoitenko and his Cabinet resigned last month in line with the constitution following Kuchma’s inauguration. The old Cabinet will remain in place in a caretaker capacity until the new government is formed.
