Arseniy Yatsenyuk - New Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a 33-year old trusted confidant of President Viktor Yushchenko, has been selected as Ukraine’s new Verkhovna Rada Speaker. Yatsenyuk received 227 votes, one more than the 226 necessaary for approval of his nomination.
Yatsenyuk previously worked as Ukraine’s Central Bank chief, and more recently was Ukraine’s Economic Minister (September 2005 - August 2006) and Foreign Minister since March 2007.
What I find interesting is that Yatsenyuk apparently only speaks Russian and English. Many people opposed Viktor Yanukovych as both President (2004 election) and Prime Minister because he only speaks Russian. They feel that whoever holds such lofty posts in government should be able to speak the country’s official language, Ukrainian.
I am all for democracy in Ukraine and the Orange Coalition, however I would like to see some consistency in the views of people in seats of power. I am by no means a supporter of Yanukovych, however he still deserves to be treated the same as anyone else. I am sure Yatsenyuk will be a good choice as Speaker, but this inconsistency annoys me.
The next major action by Parliament should be the selection of a new Prime Minister. Yulia Tymoshenko is still favored to win the post, and Yatsenyuk’s appointment could make the process easier. Parliament’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
Photo courtesy of: Nataliya Kravchuk
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