"The members of the European Parliament's observation mission - former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and former European Parliament President Pat Cox – have said that the bill on treatment of convicts abroad submitted by independent parliamentarian Anzhelika Labunska is the optimum for reaching a consensus in the issue of treatment convicts [i.e. Yulia Tymoshenko] abroad.. The proposed bill, [one of four], is to be voted on in parliament next week."
Several weeks ago K&K appealed to president Yanukovych to release Tymoshenko for treatment abroad 'by way of a pardon'. but their request was ignored.
Now several PoR deputies have already declared that they will not support Labunska's bill, so it is unlikely it will 'get off the launch pad' either.
There are several reasons to suspect Yanukovych may be stalling to deliver on the EU's conditions which need to be satisfied for a successful Association Agreement signing in Vilnius in late November.
If Tymoshenko were to be released there would be immediate, massive interest in her in the western political circles and media which would naturally taper off in the days and weeks after this. Yanukovych wants to avoid this period of greatest interest in Tymoshenko coinciding with any possible signing...And her presence in Western European capitals will be an even greater thorn in his side whenever Ukraine's relationship with Europe is discussed in the future.
At the moment PoR can only command a majority in parliament with the help of 32 Communist deputies. In the event of a successful Vilnius, the Communist deputies will denounce their ruling coalition partners, go their own way and operate independently. The loss of guaranteed control of parliament would be a substantial blow to the president.
A third 'gas war' with Russia looks likely; even though Russian PM Medvedev insists that: "for now everything is okay". It is a war that Ukraine cannot win, whatever the outcome in Vilnius. Those sitting in freezing apartments in Ukrainian cities will blame Yanukovch, He will inevitably have to crawl back to Putin..
Major economic problems await in the New Year. The country needs a quick financial fix, not drip feed of financial support from Europe linked to further progress on economic reform....Yet Medvedev has already said: No more loans from Russia...
'Kyiv Post' have got it right: "it looks more likely that the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania at the end of the month will be a dud.
Yanukovych may be thinking: Putin and Lukashenko have got it right..this democracy nonsense is a load of bollocks.
1 comment:
The Yanukovych spin-doctors and lobbyists are now twisting like the maggot on the hook over the "Tymoshenko issue". For more than two years they have repeatedly stated that the EU claims have just been "ritualistic" and that Tymoshenko will soon be forgotten. But as the Vilnius summit is approaching and Tymoshenko has not been forgotten, their desperation and confusion has increased almost day by day. Clearly, the prospect that the current regime may be forced to put an end to the practice of targeting political opponents and personal enemies of "the president" with kafkaesque show trials make them very nervous and sweaty. The priorities outlined by the spin-doctors are, no surprise, 1/ keep Tymoshenko in prison at all costs 2/ deny responsibility and blame Tymoshenko and the opposition if the Vilnius summit turns out a fiasco. That's why they suddenly come with all kinds of imaginative suggestions: a temporary "pause" in the politically motivated punishment in order to continue it later, possible convictions in other fake prosecutions of Tymoshenko "in absentia" etc. Meanwhile "the president" appears remarkably indifferent, he has not even bothered to comment the appeal for pardoning Tymoshenko by Cox-Kwasniewski. Is he not aware of it? Does he not understand it? Maybe he is just busy ordering new golden taps to his bathroom. After three years of spectacular mismanagement in practically every field of politics, Ukraine is now close to bankruptcy. And the fate of the nation is in the hands of a weak-minded person who is only interested in the enrichment of himself and his family.
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