Turning the pages back... July 10, 1996 (07/06/97)

Turning the pages back...

July 10, 1996

One year ago, on July 10, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada voted 344-22 to approve President Leonid Kuchma's candidate for prime minister, Pavlo Lazarenko. It was first step by both branches of power to abide by the state's newly adopted Constitution.

On July 1, 1997, Prime Minister Lazarenko offered his resignation, which was accepted by President Kuchma on July 2.

One year ago, the following was the scenario.

Mr. Lazarenko had been named prime minister on May 28, 1996. However, with the adoption of Ukraine's new Constitution one month later, the prime minister and the government ministers resigned on July 5. President Kuchma asked the ministers to stay on until a new Cabinet was named. According to the Constitution the president has three months to name a prime minister, who then has to be approved by a constitutional majority in Parliament. Only after this procedure can the prime minister begin forming a government.

Given the critical economic situation, and the fact that the legislative branch was to break for a summer recess on July 12 and reconvene on September 3, President Kuchma wasted no time in submitting his candidate for the post of prime minister to the Ukrainian Parliament.

In presenting Mr. Lazarenko, who had already served as prime minister, to the deputies in Parliament on July 10, Mr. Kuchma said he found it "inadmissible and dangerous" to drag out the process.

"The economic situation is critical," said the Ukrainian leader two years to the day since he was elected president of Ukraine. He urged the lawmakers to make a decision quickly so that he could instruct Mr. Lazarenko to have a government program ready by early September.

The Verkhovna Rada obliged, with 344 deputies endorsing President Kuchma's choice for prime minister. Twenty-two voted against, nine abstained, and 17 did not register a vote. The decision was greeted with a round of applause and a standing ovation, as President Kuchma, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz and newly approved Prime Minister Lazarenko smiled and posed for photos in the legislative chambers.

Mr. Moroz noted that the Supreme Council's vote was "an exceptionally responsible decision at a crucial juncture for Ukraine," explaining that two years have been spent on "overcoming intrigues in the corridors of power. It is necessary for the government to be engaged not in politics, but in the economy," he said.

Expressing gratitude to the lawmakers, Mr. Lazarenko said he clearly understands the responsibility that comes with his appointment, and thanked them for their vote of confidence.

Having met with all the factions, groups and political parties in the Parliament prior to the vote on his candidacy, Mr. Lazarenko once again assured lawmakers that his guidelines for choosing ministers for a new government would be based on "professionalism, competence and knowledge of the matter at hand." He also stressed that when forming the government, he would take into account the "interests of all of Ukraine's regions," a statement lawmakers regarded as a way to calm their worries that the government would be a "Dnipropetrovsk clan."

Sources: "Parliament approves Lazarenko as PM; president names six "power" ministers," by Marta Kolomayets, The Ukrainian Weekly, July 14, 1996 (Vol. LXIV, No. 28); "Observers doubt Lazarenko will resume PM's duties," by Roman Woronowycz, The Ukrainian Weekly, June 29, 1997 (Vol. LXV, No 26).

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