Politically divided Verkhovna Rada meets in full session (02/13/00)

Politically divided Verkhovna Rada meets in full session

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's embattled and politically divided Parliament held its first full session in three weeks on February 8, but only after a group of national deputies from the majority coalition battled members of the leftist minority for physical control of the chairman's rostrum.

The confrontation, which took place three hours before the 10 a.m. start of the Verkhovna Rada's first full plenary session since the majority coalition ousted Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko on January 21, resulted in some hurt egos and produced more acrimonious words, but no physical injuries.

It was the first appearance by the new chairman, Ivan Pliusch, a member of the centrist National Democratic Party faction, in the main chair of the parliamentary rostrum since he was chosen by a coalition of 11 of the Parliament's 15 factions.

Mr. Pliusch was elected by a unanimous vote of 255 lawmakers of the majority on February 1, after they had abandoned the regular session hall for an outside venue in protest to what they alleged were serious and substantial breaches of parliamentary rules of procedure by Mr. Tkachenko, a member of the leftist Peasant Party faction.

National Deputy Oleksander Yemets, a leader in the effort that produced the majority coalition, called the events of the day "the first stage in the de-communization of Ukraine."

As Chairman Pliusch entered the hall with his newly elected First Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk and Second Vice-Chairman Stepan Havrysh, the majority gave them a standing ovation while the leftist opposition whistled and began to chant "Shame!" and "Criminals!"

Mr. Pliusch presided over a raucous meeting of the national deputies, but managed to keep an element of control even as the leftist factions disrupted the session with a constant barrage of chanting, whistling and noise-making.

Over the din created by the leftist factions - who refused to register, but did not leave the session floor - the 260 legislators officially present managed to agree on the general structure of their spring agenda and to pass several procedural rules before adjourning before lunch and moving to committee work.

By the end of the short session, nerves had steadied, tempers had calmed and a glimmer of hope appeared that the two opposing sides might even be able to cooperate.

As Communist faction leader Petro Symonenko met with members of the majority to find a compromise that would enable the Parliament to return to a normal routine, National Deputy Oleksander Moroz said his Socialist faction would remain in opposition but would take part in future plenary sessions. "We will work together. There is no plan to call for the dissolution of the Parliament," said Mr. Moroz.

The day began turbulently, when some 70 representatives of the majority coalition entered the Parliament building at approximately 7 a.m. and made their way to the session hall. There they were greeted by 20 members of the leftist minority, who had physically occupied the building for the past week to guard against just such an occurrence. Among them were nine representatives of Natalia Vitrenko's Progressive Socialist Party, who had donned white head bands seven days earlier and declared a hunger strike.

As they entered the session hall, the interlopers headed straight for the leadership rostrum, manhandling the leftists as they went, according to witnesses. After a few minor skirmishes and several flayed punches, the group from the majority surrounded the rostrum and stood guard until the start of the session later that morning.

Ms. Vitrenko accused several from the majority of using fascist tactics, and Mr. Moroz said he would call for an official parliamentary investigation. "What certain deputies did this morning was nothing more than banditism. Some of the 70 who attacked the Verkhovna Rada I had never seen before," said Mr. Moroz.

He explained that had the assault not occurred the session would have taken place in more peaceful conditions and in an atmosphere of compromise.

The early morning confrontation was not the only disturbing occurrence that surrounded the day's unusual session. Before the session began, diplomats from the embassies of the United States, Poland, Germany, France and Moldova, who had come to witness first-hand how the reunited Parliament would proceed, were refused entry to the building. Officials of the Security Service of Ukraine explained to them that the situation in the building was such that their safety could not be assured. However, when asked to see the orders banning the diplomats from the building, the officials could not produce the documents.

National deputies could not explain why the diplomats were banned from the building. Nor could they explain why members of the mass media, who normally have access to all parts of the building except for the session floor, were confined to the third-floor press gallery and the outside hall.

The events of February 8 were the culmination of another week of bitter acrimony and crisis in the Verkhovna Rada, a legislative body that increasingly is considered destined for dissolution.

Although both sides had agreed to discuss a resolution to the parliamentary crisis in a consensus commission that met on February 1, the commission immediately clashed over the first premise that divides the two sides: whether Mr. Tkachenko or Mr. Pliusch now runs the Parliament.

Some leftists, most notably Mr. Moroz, as well as an unaligned group of national deputies led by Serhii Holovatii and Anatolii Matvienko, have said that the Verkhovna Rada must allow for another vote on the chairman's position, the two vice-chairs and the committee heads, to assuage the leftists. They argue that if Mr. Pliusch indeed has the support of the majority, the vote would be no more than procedural. The majority, however, maintains that all its acts are procedurally and Constitutionally valid, and has refused to consider such an option.

"Since the president has signed the bills passed by the Verkhovna Rada on January 24, I think there is no need to talk about a confirmation vote. I believe this is all about the intractability of the opposition," said Mr. Pliusch a day before the session.

But the leftist minority has repeatedly insisted that the split among the national deputies is nothing more than a well-planned move by President Leonid Kuchma and his closest aides to wrest control over the legislative process for themselves, or at least to form a more politically malleable Parliament. According to several lawmakers - some of them on the political right - the upcoming national referendum, decreed by President Kuchma after a petition-gathering effort among the public, could spell the end of this Parliament.

Not surprisingly Mr. Moroz, who has attempted to play the role of mediator between the two sides, though he remains a part of the leftist opposition, has said the political upheaval was inspired and supported by the president and could lead to "the beginning of dictatorship."

Even National Deputy Viktor Pynzenyk, leader of the solidly right-center Reform and Order Party, agreed that the days of this Parliament probably are numbered. Mr. Pynzenyk told The Weekly that he believes the national referendum will give a vote of no confidence to the Verkhovna Rada. He said that, even if President Kuchma does not dissolve the body afterwards, new elections must follow not long after.

"A Parliament that has suffered a vote of no confidence is not a Parliament that can work effectively," said Mr. Pynzenyk.

Ms. Vitrenko has already said that it is time to begin thinking about elections - but on a much wider level. "I believe that the only way out of this crisis is new elections all around. And that includes the office of the president as well," said Ms. Vitrenko.

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