Yushchenko appears set against Tymoshenko as PM (06/04/06)

Yushchenko appears set against Tymoshenko as PM

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Presidential Secretariat gave further indication this week that President Viktor Yushchenko will not accept Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister.

Even if the Our Ukraine bloc forms a parliamentary coalition with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU), the president has the right to reject its proposed candidate for prime minister, said Mykola Poludennyi, a presidential advisor.

"The Constitution says nothing about the president's direct obligation to rubber stamp the coalition's decision," he said. "The president can say that he is refraining from proposing a candidate under distinct conditions."

The president's decision would depend upon the coalition's commitment to carrying out his policy, Mr. Poludennyi said.

President Yushchenko is maneuvering to keep Yurii Yekhanurov as prime minister, in the view of Oles Donii, chair of the Kyiv-based Center for Political Values Research.

While the Constitution of Ukraine requires that a parliamentary coalition be formed by June 24, it doesn't require that the president accept its nominations for key government posts, he said.

Mr. Yushchenko will form a coalition government, Mr. Donii said, but isn't planning to accept its nomination for the prime ministership, whether it's Ms. Tymoshenko or a Party of the Regions nominee.

Currently, Mr. Yekhanurov is serving as an Our Ukraine national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada and as acting prime minister.

If the president doesn't accept the parliamentary coalition's nomination, Mr. Donii said, Mr. Yekhanurov and the rest of the Cabinet of Ministers would remain in power as an acting government - an arrangement that could last for years.

Although some of the acting government's members would be violating the Constitution by moonlighting as national deputies and Cabinet ministers, there isn't enough political will in the Verkhovna Rada to prevent them from doing so, he said.

In the event of an Our Ukraine coalition with the Tymoshenko Bloc and SPU, President Yushchenko is not opposed to Oleksander Moroz becoming the next parliamentary speaker, said Mr. Donii, an SPU member.

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