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Newsroom / Press Reports More wrangling ahead for Orange Coalition July 11, 2006 New Europe Ukraine’s tortured efforts to form a pro-Europe government have crashed and burned, with the country’s pro-Russia party shoving its candidate into the country’s top legislative job, in a fast bit of parliamentary footwork. Ukraine’s Verhovna Rada, the former Soviet republic’s top legislature, by a narrow margin shortly before midnight last Thursday named Socialist Alexander Moroz to the influential position of parliament speaker. Moroz, 62, served as Rada speaker in 1994-1998. His Socialist Party captured 5.7 percent of the vote in Ukraine’s March parliamentary elections, Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. Moroz and his Socialists had been the junior member of Ukraine’s three-party pro-Europe Orange Coalition, which had been trying to form a working majority in parliament since March. Ukraine’s Orange Coalition supported - at least overtly - free market reforms, government assistance to medium and small business, crack downs on corruption, and fair and open elections. Moroz obtained the plum speaker job on the strength of 238 votes out of the 450-seat house, with 186 from the Regions Ukraine party, 31 from Moroz’s Socialists, and 21 votes from the Communist party. Two Socialist MPs quit the party rather than go along with the vote. The parliament speaker’s main power in Ukrainian politics comes from his ability to control televised parliamentary debate, giving the speaker leverage with other MPs. Regions Ukraine supports closer Ukrainian relations with Russia, government support to big business, and practically no crack downs on corruption. The rigged election of a Regions Ukraine candidate triggered Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution in late 2004, eventually installing the country’s current pro-Europe President, Viktor Yushchenko, into office. At the time, Moroz and the Socialists supported Yushchenko and the pro-democracy mass demonstrations. There was widespread speculation that Regions Ukraine bought some or all of the Communist votes cast in the secret ballot. Pro- democracy groups and independent media have reported MPs of Ukraine’s smaller parties have sold their votes on critical issues for more than a decade. Petro Symonenko, leader of Ukraine’s Communist Party, has denied his party sells its votes to the highest bidder. Moroz during months following Ukraine March 2006 parliamentary election had repeatedly warned of the inherent instability of an “Orange” government, because of the two larger parties’ unwillingness to share cabinet positions and parliament committee chairmanships with the junior Socialists. Ukraine’s Socialists, with their strongest support in the country’s rural central provinces, over the years have supported moderate economic reforms and a ban on the privatisation of land. Moroz in initial comments to parliament attempted to pitch his abandonment of his Orange allies as a move towards national conciliation, saying “I will work to bring all parties including (my former allies) Our Ukraine and the Julia Timoshenko Block into the government.” Moroz’s switch of alliances effectively placed Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine and the larger Block Julia Timoshenko party in the temporary opposition. Representatives of the new opposition were outspoken in their criticism of Moroz, nationalist MP Andrij Shkil’ telling UT-1 television “A traitor is a traitor, in Africa and in Ukraine and everywhere else.” It was however unclear in the wake of the vote whether the three- party voting block that had put Moroz into office would be able to maintain its majority to capture other key offices in the government. The charismatic Timoshenko in comments after the vote declared she was “absolutely confident” she would become the next Prime Minister because “I am completely sure there is no way our opponents can manage such a vote again.” More furious behind-the-scenes deal-making, and continued Ukrainian governmental gridlock, was the most likely political outcome of the vote, the authoritative Dragon Capital investment house predicted. With parliament having required three months to settle on a speaker, it might take months more to choose a Prime Minister, and still more to agree on a cabinet, political analysts said. |
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