In between dissolution

President Yushchenko is expected soon to submit Viktor Yanukovych’s candidacy as the next prime minister to the Verkhovna Rada. At least, the Party of Regions is certain this will happen. In view of this situation, the Ukrainian parliament decided to work in plenary mode, although it had been scheduled for work on the parliamentary committee level.

Interestingly, the Ukrainian president had a secret meeting with coalition officials on Sunday. Some journalists managed to learn that the Party of Regions was represented by Raisa Bohatyriova, Mykola Azarov, and Andriy Kliuev. Our Ukraine was represented by Roman Bezsmertny; the socialists, by Vasyl Tsushko. “No matter what they call it — consultations, arrangements, negotiations, associations, disassociations — this process is taking place in a continuous mode,” declared deputy speaker Adam Martyniuk. Earlier, Yanukovych complained to journalists that the question of his prime ministerial post was being drawn out: “This issue is hanging,” he declared after a reconciliation council. Yesterday, his supporters even blocked traffic on Hrushevsky Street by forming a solid cordon of people holding hands. When asked by journalists why they were doing this, some replied they didn’t know and others told them to leave them alone.

The president’s radio message leads one to assume that the future prime minister’s name has been determined. According to President Yushchenko, he will have a decent political legacy. Ukraine’s head of state noted real GDP rate growth and an increase in per capita incomes, pensions, and social standard. “Without artificial interference and overregulation, our economy is growing healthier and stronger,” declared the president.

Yushchenko recommended that the next prime minister refrain from taking a populist stand and promised to name his candidate for prime minister within 15 days, the timeframe determined by the Constitution of Ukraine. He made no comment on the possibility of dissolving the Ukrainian parliament.

Yulia Tymoshenko appears to be the only one who believes this idea is possible. Yesterday, all members of her faction in the Verkhovna Rada signed a statement saying that they were prepared to resign as members of the Ukrainian parliament. Tymoshenko called on Our Ukraine to follow suit, reminding them that after collecting at least 151 statements from MPs (the BYuT doesn’t have enough kamikazes, only 125 faction members) the president of Ukraine would have to order early parliamentary elections on the strength of Articles 102 and 77 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Our Ukraine, however, responded sarcastically. “We are not sure exactly what the BYuT has in mind,” Roman Zvarych told journalists, adding, “If they want us out of the faction, we won’t go; if they are calling for our resignation as parliamentarians, we won’t do this either.