| The socialists did not have time to finish the bargaining Yesterday, the Ukrainian parliament did not approve Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister. “President Yushchenko is not ready to resolve this issue now,” Deputy Speaker of the Rada Adam Martynyuk explained the reasons for the delay in Tymoshenko’s appointment. The vote is expected to take place today.
The case has stalled due to the “unprecedented greed of the new government for portfolios,” says deputy Nestor Shufrich. The culprit is called the leader of the Socialist Party, Alexander Moroz. According to Vremya Novostei, in exchange for Tymoshenko’s support in the Rada, Moroz at yesterday’s negotiations with Viktor Yushchenko allegedly demanded the post of Deputy Prime Minister for his party deputy Joseph Vinsky, as well as quotas for socialists in district and regional authorities.
“We are applying for positions at all levels,” socialist Alexander Baranovsky said yesterday. We are talking about deputy ministers, as well as deputy heads of regional administrations. According to Mr. Baranovsky, the Socialist Party is “ready to enter the government if it has real influence on its policies,” that is, across “the entire vertical of power.” The Ukrainian online publication Tribuna suggests that the socialists are also challenging the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc for the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, proposing to appoint socialist Yuriy Lutsenko instead of her deputy in the bloc, Alexander Turchynov. Alexander Moroz also stated that the Socialist Party is vying for the posts of Minister of Education, Transport, Agriculture and Industrial Policy.
“We are ready to join the cabinet, provided that we can really influence its policies and receive appropriate appointments, since we want the government in Ukraine to build a social state, and not a liberal one, as Acting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko sees it.” , says Nikolai Rudkovsky, a member of the parliamentary faction of the Socialist Party.
“The socialists’ appetites have increased, so they have put forward new demands,” Ukrainian political scientist Vladimir Polokhalo explained to Vremya Novostei yesterday. - In order to prevent the socialists from moving into opposition to the new government, Yushchenko decided to devote another day to negotiations on personnel issues. Tymoshenko's confirmation in the Rada will take place on February 4. Any surprises are unlikely.”
However, former adviser to ex-President Leonid Kuchma, Rada deputy Alexander Volkov, believes that Tymoshenko’s confirmation on Friday may not take place again due to the fact that it will not be possible to sort out personnel issues. “The president needs to sign a decree on the creation of ten more ministries. Because 18 people who want to squeeze into 12 ministries cannot! Someone always lacks something,” Mr. Volkov told Ukrainskaya Pravda. Svetlana STEPANENKO, Kyiv |
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