Tuesday, December 09, 2008

President floundering.

The following truncated version in English of a fuller posting in Ukrainian appeared on the president Yushchenko's official site today:

"President's position on the situation in the VR remains the same - Iryna Vannykova

According to President’s Press Secretary Iryna Vannykova, President Victor Yushchenko’s position on the situation in the Verkhovna Rada remains the same: state deputies should resume proper work and form a coalition as soon as possible.

According to President instead of search for compromise by political partners, collusion between business groups is attempted in the Parliament, which does not have anything in common with protection of national interests.

Therefore, President Yushchenko will not take part in parliament’s sitting on December 9, as state deputies suggested and will wait for the deputies to renew their work before meeting them.

President is also ready to return to a question of early parliamentary election if he sees that national anti-crisis policy is threatened by Parliament’s inability to function properly."

The Ukrainian version includes these quotes from Vannikova: "Viktor Yushchenko considers participation in [any] parliamentary sitting to be a dialogue with Ukrainian society. Instead, for the head of state it is unacceptable when his presence is demanded [merely] to legalise business-tandems. Dialogue between those elected by the nation and the head of state is possible if deputies renew their internal self-organisation and announce political priorities."

And perhaps more ominously: "The president has taken responsibility before Ukrainian society for co-ordination of anti-crisis policy in Ukraine and for a consolidated position of [state] authority. Because of this, Viktor Yushchenko is prepared to utilise all means which would allow renewal of financial, economic and political stability in the country."

Your blogger considers that Ukraine's largest parties are trying their hardest to settle their considerable differences and make parliament work, otherwise they would be merely sitting on their hands waiting for the president to call early parliamentary elections. Both PoR and BYuT face possible major splits and problems in their own ranks if they succeed.

The president knows well that a priority for any PRyBYuT coalition would be constitutional change, diminution of presidential powers, and election of the president by parliamentary deputies. The fearful president Yushchenko has constantly strove for a subservient parliament, but by dismissing PM Tymoshenko in 2005 and dissolving a PoR-led parliament in 2007 he has made too many enemies, and will pay the price for this.

There is, however, certainly a good case to be made for the president to be nationally elected, particularly when parliament is dominated by a handful of financial-industrial groups.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

BYUT and POR trying for the good of the country to get Parl working or to save their own interests? And the Pres just wanting a subserviant Parl. That's an odd way of looking at it. Tym in 2005 completely messed up the economy and was replaced by someone, now forgotten who sorted out the mess and in 2007 the Pres was saving himself from obliteration by a proposed 300 plus coalition which hadn't been elected. And he said if people want this coalition which will make such wide rangeing changes they should elect it.

And in politics, in any case there are no permanant enemities or friendships, only interests.

Anonymous said...

I agree with what you say.

But there's more.

It seems that at least one analyst believes that the National Bank of Ukraine deliberately undermined the hryvnia for the benefit of insider friends of Yushchenko.

The proposition is that the favored insiders remain in a strong position to buy up failed businesses due to the failure of the NBU to respond adequately to the devaluation of the hryvnia - all with the blessing of Yushchenko.

They even went through the motions of blaming the head of the central bank - Stelmakh. But nothing happened.

http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-288899.html

Anonymous said...

The band have reformed for another trip around the carousel.

In what is a major blow for Yushchenko OU-PSD have agreed to the election of V.Lyon and Te reformation of a coalition between OU-PSD.BuT and Bloc Lytvyn. The Lytvyn bloc was need to put an end top Yushchenko's henchmen who betrayed Ukraine and caused the collapse of the coalition. Had Ukraine faced fresh elections Our Ukraine ran the serious risk of being decimated at the polls. There was no gain in holding early elections. Yushchenko standing has not improved, his personal rating dropping to an all time low of 3.6% according to reports in Kyiv Post.

Yushenko's destructive power struggle has cost Ukraine dearly. The political instability has deepened Ukraine's recession and increased inflation.

Yulia called Yushchenko's bluff and played a cool hand of poker and left Yushchenko with a losing hand.

She may have brought himself sometime. come July Yushchenko loses the power of black mail and the right to dismiss Ukraine's parliament.

The battle as to who will become Ukraine's next head of state will be on in ernest and the only certainty is that Yushchenko will not be in a position to win a second term. Yulia has stated before that she will support a common candidate but refused to name Yushchenko as being that candidate.

Anonymous said...

Another trip around the carousel, indeed.

Or, as someone else put it, the kaleidescope has taken another turn - slightly different pattern, same pieces.

Well, except of Yatseniuk, who was young, highly intelligent, and likeable.

When will they rid of parliamentary immunity?

When will they get rid of the party list system?

The people voted for Yushchenko because he promised to get rid of Kuchmism - ні брехні, ні махинації, ні "поняття", ні фальсификація.

No more lies, no more machinations of government, no more secret "understandings", no more falsification.

ми не бидло, ми не козли
ми України - доньки, сини.

we are not beasts of burden,
we are not goats,
we are Ukraine's - sons and daughters.

At the time, Yanukovych was calling the people assorted names - beasts of burden, goats, narcomaniacs.

Has the Party of Regions treated the people like sons and daughters of Ukraine?

Has Yushchenko treated the people like sons and daughters of Ukraine?

Hell, no - it's still been all about the oligarchs.

What is Yanukovych's son doing as a member of Parliament? Whom does he represent?

Yushchenko blew it - big time.

The people put their hearts, their hopes, their faith in him, based on what he told them in the campaign.

He frittered it all away.

He blew it. And he still hasn't explained why.

All of the Orange Coalition "team" blew it.

To be hokey about it - they forgot that there is no "I" and "team," and that Ukraine has the huge task of shaking off all the horrible baggage of the sovok system, and transforming itself into a good government.

It's a huge task that established democracies do not face. Their task is limited only to maintaining and improving their democracies.

Ukraine has had a more difficult task, along with all of the other former sovok republics and satellites.

When will they "one law for all"? When will they get rid of parliamentary immunity?

Anonymous said...

Craats, threaten anymore politicians lately?