Premier Viktor Yanukovych’s presentation of the cabinet’s action plan won 335 ayes in Verkhovna Rada, a record. Among those supporting it were the majority factions, those of the Socialist Party, Yuliya Tymoshenko bloc, and 55 Our Ukraine members. Not a single aye came from the Communists. There were 59 nays from the 429 lawmakers registers as present.
In other words, Yanukovych’s government received carte blanche for the next year. In an interview, the premier, who had practically no doubts that “everything will be OK,” said that the deputies’ approval of the cabinet’s performance was a victory of common sense and evidence that they wanted to cooperate. The triumphant mood, however, proved short-lived. Ten minutes after the vote the lawmakers began considering the bill on proportional representation (backed by the opposition factions). The billboard came alive with “217 ayes: resolution rejected.” Apart from the opposition, the bill was supported by several Agrarian Party and NDP deputies.
The opposition immediately accused the premier and most majority factions of breaching the political arrangements allegedly made previously. Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz said his faction had had a meeting with Premier Viktor Yanukovych Wednesday and that he had promised at least 40% majority support of the proportional representation bill in return for approval of the cabinet performance. “We think we’ve just been cheated,” he said.
Another Socialist, Yury Lutsenko, was even more outspoken: “We must admit that we’ve been raped and that we’ve been stupid.” He further implied that his blockheads were prepared to block the podium and wreck the Rada software.
Similar accusations came from Our Ukraine and the Tymoshenko bloc. The proportional representation elections bill was twice put to the vote Thursday and every time the turnout was woise: 213 to 190 ayes. Meanwhile, the Group of Four factions demanded a meeting with the premier to bring him to account for going back on his word.
In other words, the opposition made it publicly clear that they would not mind making a deal, regretting having been led down the garden path. In this sense the Socialists took an interesting stand. They had more than once demonstrated readiness to come to terms. Suffice it to recall how they voted on Anatoly Kinakh as premier. Then, as in so many other cases, the SPU showed support of the forces in power, something totally inexplicable from the standpoint of political logic. No one had mentioned being raped. It stands to reason to assume that somebody had volunteered to establish a certain kind of relationship, except that somebody then refused to make good on the incentive previously understood to have been offered. This sounds logical...
Majority deputies, in turn, claim that no arrangements were made to support the proportional representation election bill in return for having the cabinet action plan approved — that such arrangements “could never have been made” in the first place. Volodymyr Rybak, Regions of Ukraine and cabinet spokesman in Verkhovna Rada, adamantly denied the alleged arrangements between the premier, regions, and opposition factions: “We have held no talks and the action plan was approved by a majority of votes, since the premier invited the deputies to cooperate.”
SDPU(O) parliamentary leader Leonid Kravchuk declared, “I see no grounds for any arrangements, because this time the majority votes would suffice to approve the action plan; we had 230 majority ayes.”
Oleksandr Volkov (nonaffiliated) stated, “I’m not sure that the premier made that promise and I would like to see the man who witnessed him doing so.”
Oleksandr Zadorozhny, permanent presidential representative to Verkhovna Rada, told journalists the premier and the forces supporting him in parliament, on the one hand, and opposition factions on the other could have discussed support of the reform-oriented political course, including proportional elections: “A lot of majority members support the idea of proportional elections in principle and make no secret of this. The proportional system is mentioned in the presidential message, but no arrangements were made to support a bill in return for supporting the cabinet’s action plan.”
Thursday’s turnout in parliament was somewhat controversial. The vote of confidence in the cabinet looked quite convincing. The president also welcomed it. However, there is every indication that the premier and his team will, as before, have to make every effort to push their initiatives through parliament, as the votes of Group of Nine alone are not a very reliable guarantee. SDPU(O) leader Leonid Kravchuk says another political crisis is underway in parliament. He believes its duration will depend on the lawmakers’ ability to steer a middle course. Some hope is inspired by the agreement signed by all faction leaders late Thursday, whereby political efforts will be aimed at the political reform. According to Oleksandr Moroz, the meeting agreed that the opposition factions would interfere with parliamentary work and that the majority would be free to deal with the issues on the agenda.
