Translated material
Coups in Kiev
Ukrainian politicians are tired of negotiating
The protracted dispute between Ukrainian politicians about holding early parliamentary elections , provoked by the April decree of President Viktor Yushchenko on the dissolution of the Rada , yesterday began to develop into an open conflict. Negotiations between the presidential camp and the ruling coalition led by the Prime Minister and leader of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych have actually been disrupted. Apparently, the opposing forces were tired of negotiating and began threatening to flex their muscles in full view of the entire country.Viktor Yushchenko summoned the Minister of Defense, appointed to the government under his quota, to a meeting. The Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament addressed the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vasily Tsushko, who is loyal to the ruling coalition. There were statements on both sides that the opponent was trying to carry out a coup. In the evening, the parliamentary coalition was preparing to hold an extraordinary plenary meeting in connection with a new round of the political crisis.
The conflict flared up yesterday over Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun, whom the president fired by decree. Acting Crimean prosecutor Viktor Shemchuk was appointed prosecutor general. Piskun considered this decision illegal and returned to his workplace. With the support of deputies from the ruling coalition and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Piskun entered the building of the Prosecutor General's Office and forcibly occupied his office, forcing out employees of the state security department subordinate to the president. The Prosecutor General and coalition deputies acted under the cover of the Berkut special unit, which Tsushko brought with him. Yushchenko called the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs a “state criminal.” However, Mr. Tsushko himself explained to journalists that he “fought a coup d’etat” in the Prosecutor General’s Office. According to him, the prosecutor's office addressed him with a letter asking the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take the department's building under protection.
The dispute between Yushchenko and Piskun has long roots. The President fired the Prosecutor General back in October 2005 ; until February 2007, he was reinstated to his position through the courts three times, but was then declared dismissed again. And suddenly, at the end of April, Yushchenko appointed Piskun as prosecutor general, hoping in this way to restore order in the department, split due to a political dispute.
Mr. Piskun himself, who did not spend even a month in the chair of the Prosecutor General this time, believes that the president fired him because of the situation surrounding the Constitutional Court (CC) . The court is considering the legality of the presidential decree to dissolve parliament, and the likelihood of a verdict not in favor of the president is very high. On Wednesday evening, Yushchenko made a preemptive move, declaring in a televised address to the people that the corrupt Constitutional Court had “lost its legitimacy.” He instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office to “give an immediate legal assessment of the situation” in the Constitutional Court, where “the constitution and national legislation are being violated,” in particular, judges dismissed by the president sit there. The President believes that the ruling coalition unjustly gained full control over the current composition of the Constitutional Court, and therefore there is nothing to expect justice from the court.
However, the Prosecutor General refused to open cases against the judges of the Constitutional Court, who, according to him, “are in office legally.” It is with this position that Piskun connects his dismissal, although Yushchenko formally dismissed him for combining the powers of a deputy and the prosecutor general, prohibited by law. In response, the ruling coalition, in an appeal to the people and the international community, demanded that the president stop putting pressure on the Constitutional Court and accused Yushchenko of usurping power.
Judges of the Constitutional Court dismissed by the president, including acting Chairman of the court Valery Pshenichny, with the support of coalition deputies, came to the court hearing yesterday , despite the refusal of the reinforced security to let them into the premises. Pshenichny said that the authorities’ actions to “militarize the seizure of the Constitutional Court” are aimed at eliminating “the only body of constitutional jurisdiction.” The court was unable to hold a meeting yesterday due to lack of quorum. Frightened by the outbreak of struggle between the president and the Rada, the judges fled - some on vacation, some on sick leave.
The Party of Regions assessed the “disruption of the work of the Constitutional Court” as “the withdrawal of the presidential side from the negotiation process for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in a democratic and fair way.”
Fiery oppositionist Yulia Tymoshenko said yesterday that if by May 29 the coalition does not take a single step “to get out of the crisis,” in particular, does not announce the dates of early elections agreed upon with the president, then the “Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc” and the presidential “Our Ukraine” will officially leave from the Rada, revoking the parliamentary powers of their factions. After this, the opposition will head towards “the only possible strategy - holding elections under any circumstances.” If all opportunities to reach a compromise are exhausted, then the decision to resolve the crisis will be made by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), and “very quickly,” NSDC member Yuriy Ruban confirmed in an interview with the Ukrainian Channel 5.
“There is a possibility of a severe scenario for the development of the situation, but it has not been programmed,” Vadim Karasev, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Global Strategies, told Vremya Novostey. - Today the pendulum has swung towards an intensification of confrontation. However, it is likely that negotiations to find a compromise will resume in a few days.” The newspaper's interlocutor believes that the transition to a power scenario is unprofitable for Yanukovych, since if it is implemented, “his competitors – Communist leader Petro Symonenko and Socialist leader Speaker Alexander Moroz – will benefit politically.” But at the same time, Yushchenko “does not have sufficient resources to impose a tough scenario on the coalition.” If events develop according to the worst-case scenario, “the outcome of the situation will depend on the position of the Minister of Defense, who clearly stated that he is on the side of the president,” Mr. Karasev believes. The coalition is supported mainly by special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, such as Berkut. The expert recalled that the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, and their head “is part of the National Security and Defense Council.”