“Street Day” in Parliament

Verkhovna Rada could not put the NBU leadership issue to the vote, December 12, and nor could the people’s deputies deal with the committee portfolios. The opposition, having lost almost everything they had, applied street fighting methods.

Volodymyr Stelmakh’s retirement as head of the National Bank of Ukraine was point number one on the agenda, followed by that of reallocating the VR committees. The latter had to be considered after Mr. Stelmakh’s replacement. However, the opposition, aware of the alignment of forces, obviously not in their favor, decided to resist it not the legitimate way, using their ballots. They declared that voting on the same issue (e.g., Volodymyr Stelmakh’s replacement) twice during one session was contrary to a number of clauses in the VR bylaws (a disputable point; people’s deputies Leonid Kravchuk believes that there are no clearly formulated NBU leadership replacement procedures in the bylaws). People from four opposition factions blocked access to the podium and tried to put the speaker’s microphone out of order. Volodymyr Lytvyn had to announce four intermissions, practically one after the next, to try to come to terms with the opposition jointly with the majority factions’ leaders, but to no avail. Meanwhile, about 70 opposition MPs continued besieging the podium, resisted by majority colleagues, especially Oleksandr Volkov. He showed such zeal, defending the speaker’s seat while Mr. Lytvyn was away holding counsel, that some of the opposition tried to actually put him in that seat. Mr. Volkov did not like it and pushed them all away with a mighty shove. Another brief skirmish (5-10 people’s deputies) took place by the podium as the speaker eventually tried to put the NBU issue to the vote again. Finally, he announced that Volodymyr Stelmakh had tendered his own resignation, but that did not improve the situation. After that he tried to put to the vote two issues: the unacceptability of the vote on Mr. Stelmakh’s resignation (as formulated by the opposition) and the NBU head’s retirement. The opposition, however, met every proposal by chanting Bylaws! Bylaws! In the end, after a conference with the factions’ leaders, lasting almost an hour, Volodymyr Lytvyn announced that the sides had failed to steer a middle course and adjourned the session till 16:00. The evening session had hardly begun when it was interrupted again. Shortly afterwards, the speaker closed it. Instead of leaving, the opposition people’s deputies proceeded to sort out their relationships with the majority, tearing wire from sockets, incapacitating the Rada software (most likely to prevent further casting of ballots).

Thursday VR session results looked as follows: no resolutions passed; the idea of Ukrainian parliamentary discredited once again. Although one could call in question the expediency of including the NBU leadership issue into the package of majority-premier agreements, use of street-smart methods in parliament can hardly be regarded as an adequate response to such challenges. Meanwhile, the opposition leaders, inspired by their “success,” say they will resort to such tactics again if necessary. Our Ukraine’s behavior under the circumstances deserves special notice. They showed an unusual degree of aggressiveness. Viktor Yushchenko told journalists that he regards the NBU leadership replacement issue as nonpolitical, adding that the NBU head has a special status; people are elected to this post under a special law and the elect enjoys a special immunity, so he can adequately discharge his functions. As it is, some people’s delegates propose to “consider NBU leadership replacement alongside allocating the ministerial portfolios, under the pretext of consolidating the majority... if Ukraine wants to demonstrate the National Bank’s independence, this issue must be deleted from the political package.”

People from other factios see the whole thing at a somewhat different angle. “It is generally known that Volodymyr Stelmakh is Viktor Yushchenko’s man and his replacement would, of course, be followed by an audit of the National Bank and the Mint,” The Day was told by Nestor Shufrych of the SDPU (O) faction. “Back in 1998, a special VR commission of inquiry was set up to investigate both financial institutions. Its activities were cut short as Viktor Yushchenko became Prime Minister. In fact, the IMF took notice of NBU transgressions when under Viktor Yushchenko and Volodymyr Stelmakh. They are still to be properly assessed. We also know that before the NBU issue was put to the vote, Viktor Yushchenko called a number of people’s deputies, urging them to oppose Volodymyr Stelmakh’s retirement.” Among the possible consequences of what happened at the Verkhovna Rada, December 12, Nestor Shufrych sees the actual frustration of the budgetary process. He believes the problem can be solved by (a) granting Volodymyr Stelmakh’s resignation and (b) by “sitting down and negotiating the principles of further cooperation between the majority and minority.” He feels sure that there is a fair chance to achieve a compromise before the next session (December 19). In his own words, the majority is prepared to steer any kind of middle course but will not tolerate the minority’s dictatorship.