President Viktor Yushchenko scrambled Monday to secure the necessary support or his candidate for prime minister amid growing signs that the Ukrainian parliament would block his choice.
Failure to approve acting Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov's candidacy would lunge Ukraine into another crisis after the dramatic sacking of popular Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as Yushchenko needs to get a new government in place.
Yekhanurov must win 226 votes to be named prime minister by the 450-member parliament. But as of Monday evening, he had only 199 promised votes and little room to maneuver, with opposition parties either opposing him on principle or as a show of loyalty to Tymoshenko.
Yushchenko planned a series of meetings with faction leaders in a last-ditch effort. He even met with losing presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych for the first time since their heated presidential battle last year. Yanukovych heads the Party of the Regions, which has a bloc of 52 deputies that had said it would abstain.
I bet the author was out of breath when finished. Then I see it's the AP. Not known for complete accuracy recently. "Scrambling," "growing signs," "plunge," "last ditch"? I wonder how you measure these kinds of things. The article says that some of the other factions won't vote for Yekhanurov out of loyalty to Tymoshenko. Rada deputies working from what looks like a principled position? Could be but I don't think so. It would be a bit, umm, uncharacteristic. That they might be trying to curry favor(s) with (from) Tymoshenko would be a little closer to the truth. But Yuschenko has the power right now even if he is working a little harder to get his government picks through Parliament. I suspect a hold out for some of that power--the standard reason. I don't know what they would get if Yekhanurov is not confirmed. Tymoshenko again? They stand to get something now for that vote.
No, I think this is just old fashioned horse trading with pols who sense an ability to get something.
The article mentions Yanukovych and meetings with him. This might raise suspicions in some quarters but I don't think it should. His party shouldn't be marginalized; he does represent the east after all. Bringing them into the government in some way is not a bad idea just like the rapprochement that is happening some with Russia is not a bad idea either. You can't write off a whole region of Ukraine and it's deputies and you cannot write off a whole country that is a major trading partner with historic ties to the country. It's just not smart. Pragmatism should be the rule. Principles which we should have and to which we should refer often to get our bearings, when applied rigorously, however, can cause a lot of misery.
I was surprised that Yekhanurov was only short three votes! I think that is pretty good but bodes ill as it will mean compromise, negotiation, promises, ... while Western press reports it as failure on the part of Yushchenko. Aargh.
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