Yushchenko's Coalition Offer Receives Icy Response
Coalition Talks continue admist calls for Yushchenko to resign
Radio Free Europe reports orange Coalition negotiations go sour with the President's Our Ukraine holding out for a better deal without Yulia at the helm. Yulia Tymoshenko (22%) received nearly twice as many votes as Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party (14%). The Socialists Party (6%) backed the position put forward by Yulia Tymoshenko.
Meanwhile calls for Ukraine's President to withdraw from party politics and resign from Our Ukraine continue unabated. Ukraine which has transferred power from its President to the Parliament. The President is no longer the leader of the government but Ukraine's Head of State.
The President must represent all of Ukraine and not just the views of a minor political party. By resigning form Our Ukraine and withdrawing from direct involvement in party politics Yushchenko would help regain public and international confidence in Ukraine democratic development. under the principles of a westminster parliamentary democracy the President is not a member of a political party and act independently on the advice given to him in the interest of all of their subjects. If Ukraine is to develop strong democratic government the Yushchenko must distance himself from Party politics and resign from Our Ukraine.
want to be on the outside looking in (file photo)
(EPA)
Uneasy talks are under way in Ukraine on how to put together a governing coalition following the March 26 parliamentary election. President Viktor Yushchenko's party has drafted a protocol of intent it says could serve as a basis for an alliance with the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party. But Yushchenko's former Orange Revolution partners today poured cold water on the presidential offer.
PRAGUE, April 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The Our Ukraine People's Union (NSNU), the leading party in the Our Ukraine election bloc, yesterday said it had offered its former Orange Revolution allies the chance to form a coalition.
NSNU said it had decided to team up with the bloc led by former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and Oleksandr Moroz Socialist Party and that it had drafted a protocol of intent to that effect.
Dual Rejection
But both Tymoshenko and Moroz today rejected the offer. Addressing reporters at a joint press briefing with the Socialist Party leader, Tymoshenko accused the pro-presidential party of dragging its feet for political purposes.
"I know for sure that these guys would rather eat their own hands than sign a memorandum under which our political force would have the right to form a government," Tymoshenko said.
The NSNU, Timoshenko's bloc, and the Socialists collectively garnered more than 42 percent of the vote in the March 26 legislative election. Together they would control 243 seats in the 450-member parliament, or Verkhovna Rada.
If completed, the new alliance would be similar to the one that was set up in the wake of Viktor Yushchenko's election in December 2004.
Addressing reporters ahead of Tymoshenkos and Moroz press briefing, Yushchenko said he hoped the upcoming coalition would not meet the fate of its predecessor.
"Such a coalition existed eight months ago," Yushchenko said. "It fell apart. Lessons have been [learned]. The problems that made the previous coalition fall apart have been resolved. How lasting is this [new] coalition going to be? I'm sure everything depends on trust, on the sincerity of declared values, and on individual actions."
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Ukraine's first post-revolution coalition collapsed when Yushchenko last September dismissed Timoshenko's cabinet amid infighting over privatization and accusations of corruption among high-ranking government officials.
Timoshenko's bloc finished second in the March 26 election with nearly 23 percent of the vote. The pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine bloc finished third with just 14 percent.
Ukrainian media reports suggest a vast majority of NSNU leaders oppose the idea of having Tymoshenko run the government again.
The former prime minister has pledged that, should she return to office, she would amend some of Yushchenko's policies. She has notably threatened to review a controversial gas deal with Russia that the Ukrainian president insists is good for the country.
Presidential Stamp
But Yushchenko has made it clear that he wants the future coalition to fulfill his program.
The Ukrainian president has mandated Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov and NSNU Political Council Chairman Roman Bezsmertnyy to agree on a future coalition program with his potential allies.
Bezsmertnyy today said no negotiations on ministry portfolios would be held until an agreement is reached on how the governing alliance should work.
"The coalition should be united around the president's program and coalition members cannot present ultimatums, including regarding candidates for specific posts in the government and in parliament," Bezsmertnyy said.
In his first comments since the March 26 election, Yushchenko on April 1 accused Ukraine's political leaders of being more interested in vying for cabinet posts than working for the good of the country.
In addition, the president today warned his prospective coalition partners that they should pay more attention to those voters who backed his rival in the bitterly contested 2004 presidential election --Viktor Yanukovych.
Ukraine Divided
Yanukovych Party of Regions, which is deeply rooted in Ukraine's Russian-speaking eastern areas and in southern Crimea, finished first in the March 26 polls with nearly one-third of the votes.
In Yushchenko's words, steps need be taken to overcome the traditional divide between Ukraine's regions.
He said: "The [new] coalition must find enough courage in itself to give the proper answers so that calls [for federalism] are not heard again."
Meanwhile calls for Ukraine's President to withdraw from party politics and resign from Our Ukraine continue unabated. Ukraine which has transferred power from its President to the Parliament. The President is no longer the leader of the government but Ukraine's Head of State.
The President must represent all of Ukraine and not just the views of a minor political party. By resigning form Our Ukraine and withdrawing from direct involvement in party politics Yushchenko would help regain public and international confidence in Ukraine democratic development. under the principles of a westminster parliamentary democracy the President is not a member of a political party and act independently on the advice given to him in the interest of all of their subjects. If Ukraine is to develop strong democratic government the Yushchenko must distance himself from Party politics and resign from Our Ukraine.
want to be on the outside looking in (file photo)
(EPA)
Uneasy talks are under way in Ukraine on how to put together a governing coalition following the March 26 parliamentary election. President Viktor Yushchenko's party has drafted a protocol of intent it says could serve as a basis for an alliance with the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party. But Yushchenko's former Orange Revolution partners today poured cold water on the presidential offer.
PRAGUE, April 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The Our Ukraine People's Union (NSNU), the leading party in the Our Ukraine election bloc, yesterday said it had offered its former Orange Revolution allies the chance to form a coalition.
NSNU said it had decided to team up with the bloc led by former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and Oleksandr Moroz Socialist Party and that it had drafted a protocol of intent to that effect.
Dual Rejection
But both Tymoshenko and Moroz today rejected the offer. Addressing reporters at a joint press briefing with the Socialist Party leader, Tymoshenko accused the pro-presidential party of dragging its feet for political purposes.
"I know for sure that these guys would rather eat their own hands than sign a memorandum under which our political force would have the right to form a government," Tymoshenko said.
The NSNU, Timoshenko's bloc, and the Socialists collectively garnered more than 42 percent of the vote in the March 26 legislative election. Together they would control 243 seats in the 450-member parliament, or Verkhovna Rada.
If completed, the new alliance would be similar to the one that was set up in the wake of Viktor Yushchenko's election in December 2004.
Addressing reporters ahead of Tymoshenkos and Moroz press briefing, Yushchenko said he hoped the upcoming coalition would not meet the fate of its predecessor.
"Such a coalition existed eight months ago," Yushchenko said. "It fell apart. Lessons have been [learned]. The problems that made the previous coalition fall apart have been resolved. How lasting is this [new] coalition going to be? I'm sure everything depends on trust, on the sincerity of declared values, and on individual actions."
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Ukraine's first post-revolution coalition collapsed when Yushchenko last September dismissed Timoshenko's cabinet amid infighting over privatization and accusations of corruption among high-ranking government officials.
Timoshenko's bloc finished second in the March 26 election with nearly 23 percent of the vote. The pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine bloc finished third with just 14 percent.
Ukrainian media reports suggest a vast majority of NSNU leaders oppose the idea of having Tymoshenko run the government again.
The former prime minister has pledged that, should she return to office, she would amend some of Yushchenko's policies. She has notably threatened to review a controversial gas deal with Russia that the Ukrainian president insists is good for the country.
Presidential Stamp
But Yushchenko has made it clear that he wants the future coalition to fulfill his program.
The Ukrainian president has mandated Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov and NSNU Political Council Chairman Roman Bezsmertnyy to agree on a future coalition program with his potential allies.
Bezsmertnyy today said no negotiations on ministry portfolios would be held until an agreement is reached on how the governing alliance should work.
"The coalition should be united around the president's program and coalition members cannot present ultimatums, including regarding candidates for specific posts in the government and in parliament," Bezsmertnyy said.
In his first comments since the March 26 election, Yushchenko on April 1 accused Ukraine's political leaders of being more interested in vying for cabinet posts than working for the good of the country.
In addition, the president today warned his prospective coalition partners that they should pay more attention to those voters who backed his rival in the bitterly contested 2004 presidential election --Viktor Yanukovych.
Ukraine Divided
Yanukovych Party of Regions, which is deeply rooted in Ukraine's Russian-speaking eastern areas and in southern Crimea, finished first in the March 26 polls with nearly one-third of the votes.
In Yushchenko's words, steps need be taken to overcome the traditional divide between Ukraine's regions.
He said: "The [new] coalition must find enough courage in itself to give the proper answers so that calls [for federalism] are not heard again."
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