During her Sunday appearance on Ukraine’s ICTV channel Yulia Tymoshenko reaffirmed the sensational statement she had made in Strasbourg about the need to make Ukraine into a parliamentary republic. The prime minister said she was convinced that this transformation will take place shortly after Easter; that the Ukrainian parliament will vote for pertinent changes to the constitution, and that “parliamentary reform in Ukraine will finally put things in order, the way it was done Germany: we will have our chancellor, law and order. Yulia Tymoshenko spared the incumbent president, saying that he will stand his chance during the next presidential campaign, but that he will have “moderate powers” if and when re-elected.
Tymoshenko expects the democratic coalition to vote for the amendments in a consolidated manner, although this optimism on the prime minister’s part is anyone’s guess. Under the circumstances she can count on votes from the Party of Regions, considering that the BYuT and PR have had an effective situational voting experience. After all, there are a number exponents of this political system among the PR members, including Oleksandr Lavrynovych who said in a recent interview with Interfax: In my opinion, we must have a parliamentary republic; this system exists in more than 40 European countries. If so, the president must discharge his function as head of the state, except any tactical functions in the executive branch. He must not concern himself with issues such as taxation, construction, oil pipelines, and least of all do anything in the prime minister’s line of duty.”
Will the Party of Regions play into Tymoshenko’s hand this time?
The political scientist Vadym Karasiov said in an interview with The Day:
“Now the main thing for the Party of Regions is not to let president strengthen his position by was of the National Constitutional Council and referendum, in accordance with the new constitution. On other hand, this doesn’t mean that this party will help Yulia. They are supporting Tymoshenko as part of their power play. They are actually going through the motions of it. They pretend to support the parliamentary republic idea while waiting for the Orange coalition to fall apart, whereupon they will come to power.
“Tymoshenko is a different case. If she can keep the Party of Regions in opposition and solve this ‘chancellor problem’ by making the president a figurehead, OK. If not, she won’t stand to lose much. IF and when running for Ukrainian presidency, she will say something like ‘I opted for a presidential republic, but they wouldn’t let me have it. Now I have to run for the presidency.’ Hers will be an option that won’t fail.”
Taras Berezovets, the coordinator of the Polittech Project, says that after Yulia Tymoshenko’s statement about the switchover to parliamentary republic the president will become dependent on the Ukrainian Speaker Arsenii Yatseniuk, and that the later will be hard put to take a stand in support of the head of state: “Tymoshenko has made a very good offer to Yatseniuk. Strictly off the record he will be the next Ukrainian parliament’s speaker, so the man must make up his mind, which is easier said than done.”
May promises to be eventful month for Ukraine: the municipal election campaign, certification, and attempts to alter the political system.
