Orange Opposition Gets Together, Again
February 6, 2007 – 3:59 pmThe signing of an agreement on 6 February by Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc to work together is of course an important statement, in of itself (www.razom.org.ua). But, it has taken a long time in coming as Our Ukraine went into official opposition five months ago. Why has it taken so long to draft an agreement that is already creaking at the seams?
The reasons lie with both Our Ukraine and President Viktor Yushchenko, rather than with the Tymoshenko bloc. Our Ukraine-2006 is a very different bloc to Our Ukraine-2002. What happened in the ensuing four years was that the business group took over Our Ukraine and most national democrats left. The twin paradoxes of Our Ukraine-2006 are that it firstly, received ten percent less support when its honorary chairman Yushchenko was President than under when Leonid Kuchma was President and secondly, that national democratic parties deserted THEIR presidents party when he was President.
Our Ukraine-2006 is a bloc that has become like the Party of Regions an ideologically amorphous shell. Our Ukraine-2002 had a clear center-right, pro-reform, national democratic profile.
Three problems that exist in Our Ukraine-2006 make me pessimistic about the new opposition unity. Firstly, as Tymoshenko said in a Ukrayinska Pravda interview late last year, Our Ukraine’s relationship to the opposition are like patients standing outside a dentist’s clinic, unsure of whether to enter or not. Our Ukraine’s business wing just finds it impossible to go into opposition to the authorities.
Anatoliy Kinakh is a clear example of this. Tymoshenko bloc deputy Hryhoriy Nemirya described him as “Kuchma-Chanel†(or Kuchma-Lite to Americans). Kinakh was the interim Prime Minister between Yushchenko and Yanukovych.
Secondly, most of the five parties that make up Our Ukraine-2006 are virtual parties. Not only Kinakh’s Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs but also the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ([KUN] which is jokingly renamed in Ukraine as Komitet Upravlinya Naftohaz after its leader headed Naftohaz`in 2005). The Ukrainian Republican Party Sobor is split between Our Ukraine and the Tymoshenko bloc. Indeed, as KUN is anyways a virtual party it was never clear to me why it was included in Our Ukraine in the first place and more importantly how Our Ukraine-2006 expected to win votes in eastern Ukraine with KUN in its bloc?
Rukh is the only serious party from Our Ukraine-2002 remaining in Our Ukraine-2006. In the 1990s under Vyacheslav Chornvil, Rukh could obtain ten percent by itself in elections. Our Ukraine-2006 only obtained four percent more in the 2006 elections than what Rukh would have therefore obtained fighting the elections alone.
Thirdly, Yushchenko himself is undecided, lacks strategy and has what Vasyl Baziv described in www.obozrevatel.com as “Yuliaphobiaâ€.
Why am I therefore not in the least bit surprised that almost immediately Our Ukraine leaders began to denounce the new opposition agreement. Our Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Kyrylenko said the statement was not agreed by the Our Ukraine faction and that there are issues in the statement that Our Ukraine could not support, such as early elections and the law on the opposition (why?)! He said that Anatoliy Matvienko, Kinakh and Serhiy Holovatiy (all three under the influence of “Yuliaphobiaâ€) would not support the statement. Kinakh rushed to agree that he did not back it.
This again shows the acute Hetmanshchina in Our Ukraine that we saw after last years elections. Following the elections, one wing under Roman Besmertnyi negotiated for an Orange coalition while another wing led by Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov negotiated with the Party of Regions, both negotiations backed by Yushchenko. Maybe this was an example of multi-vector coalition building?
The unity of the opposition in the face of the Party of Regions and government’s bulldozer is crucial in defending the democratic gains of the Orange Revolution which are now under threat. If Our Ukraine and President Yushchenko still do not understand this then it will it be up to the Tymoshenko bloc to single-handedly fight for Ukraine’s democratic future. The view in Washington is increasingly that Yushchenko seems to be a lost cause who if he was not willing to fight for Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiukcould not be expected to fight for other important issues.
3 Responses to “Orange Opposition Gets Together, Again”
No wonder Yushchenko gets compared to Hindenburg, the tired old man who, against his better judgment, handed Hitler the key.
Will Lutsenko’s March on Kyiv generate enough attendance to chase away Kuchma’s retirement blues, evoking adrenaline-rich memories of 3/9/2001? Will Proffessor call in sick?
Unless we Ukrainians are willing to bend over and take it, we’re gonna have to take another bite at it. There’s work we have to finish.
By TR on Feb 10, 2007
Do you agree with Levko at Foreign Notes that PoR and BYut are trying to make this a two-party show after new elections, and that NU is waking up and trying to play nicer along with BYut so as not to be totally excluded?
It seems change is still in the wind in Ukraine, which I know is not something that many Ukrainians relish, but hopefully the resultant system will balance well change and stability.
dlw
By dlw on Feb 12, 2007
I have read with interest various comments on the current political situation in Ukraine but I must challenge and seek clarification on a few very important assumptions.
1. THE APPOINTMENT OF PRIMEMINISTER AND MINISTERS
In reading of Ukraine’s current constitution (According to the English version published by the Venice Commission http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2006/CDL(2006)070-e.pdf) the authority and power to appoint the Prime-minister and other Ministers lies with the elected parliament and not the President (See extracts of constitution below)
2. THE DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN POLICY
Foreign Policy is determined by the Parliament not the President,. The President has the authority only in respect to administration of Foreign policy which is also shared by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Foreign Minister is appointed by the parliament and has the responsibility of representing Ukraine’s foreign Policy which is determined by the Parliament
3. LAW ON CABINET OF MINISTERS
In what does the Law on the Cabinet of Ministers is in conflict with the constitution?
Ukraine is a Parliamentary democracy in pretty much governed the same way as all other European countries (with the exception of Cyprus which is a Presidential democracy)
The Law on the Cabinet is not that different to laws, regulations or conventions adopted and used by EU countries.
4. PRESIDENTIAL POWER “CHECKS AND BALANCES”
The President maintains two very powerful and often abused powers 1) the power of veto of Legislation passed in the Parliament and 2) the right to suspend acts of the executive Cabinet of Ministers that he deems to be un-constitutional;.
The recent agreement between Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoschenko has significantly strengthened the power of the president as Parliament will no longer have the numbers to pass amendments to Ukraine’s constitution or override the presidents right of veto.
Ukraine could very much face a period of instability brought on by the destabilising actions of the president.
In many Western Parliamentary democracies the power of the president is curtailed and rarely used to stifle government policy or initiatives. Various laws, regulations and conventions all seek to govern and regulate the relationship between the office of the Head of State, The Parliament and the Executive Government. The Law on the Cabinet of Ministers is similar to other laws, regulations and conventions that currently exist in European nations
Myth will soon be seen to be fact.
The current assumption that the President’s powers have been usurped is not supported by fact.
Extract from the Constitution of Ukraine as published by the Venice Commission 25 May 2006
Article 114
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is appointed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine upon the submission by the President of Ukraine.
Article 85
The authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine comprises:
(5) determining the principles of domestic and foreign policy;
(12) appointing to office – upon the submission by the President of Ukraine – the Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; appointing to office – upon the submission by the Prime Minister of Ukraine – other members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Chairperson of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Head of the State Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, and the Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine; dismissing from office the officials mentioned above; deciding on the resignation of the Prime Minister of Ukraine and of members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
(13) exercising control over activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in accordance with this Constitution and law;
Article 106
The President of Ukraine:
(9) puts forward, upon the proposal by the parliamentary coalition formed in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as provided for by Article 83 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the submission on the appointment by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, no later than fifteen days after the receipt of such a proposal;
(10) puts forward to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the submission on the appointment of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
(15) suspends the operation of acts by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on grounds of their inconsistency with this Constitution and challenges concurrently the constitutionality of such acts before the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
By Online Editor - Ukraine Today on Feb 16, 2007