Ukraine: July 2008 Archives
On July 11, 2008, only 174 deputies of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of holding a no-confidence vote against the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, far short of the required 226 needed. Tymoshenko’s government has been highly criticized about the country’s record high inflation rate.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) actually blocked the parliamentary rostrum from July 8-10, most likely to prevent this vote from taking place. However, on July 10, after Party of Regions (PRU) leader Viktor Yanukovich had predicted that the no-confidence motion would carry, the Lytvyn Bloc suggested postponing the vote until September or October. The Communist Party also hesitated, prompting BTuT to cease its blockade of the rostrum, thereby allowing the vote.
Parliament is not scheduled to reconvene until September, so Tymoshenko’s government is safe until then. Raisa Bohatyryova, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council predicts another attempt to oust Tymoshenko’s government in the fall.
This failure indicates that coalition problems not only exist between the democratic alliance of Our Ukraine People’s Self Defense Bloc and BYuT, but also between opposition factions as well. Leonid Hrach from the Communist Party said his party refused to support the PRU motion because PRU does not support the anti-NATO protests organized by the Communists in southern Ukraine several weeks ago.
In an interesting twist, it has been proposed that Tymoshenko reached some type of agreement with businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, who is thought to be amongst the main Communist sponsors. This is most fascinating because President Viktor Yushchenko is supposedly talking with oligarch Rinat Akhmetov about support for his upcoming presidential campaign. Perhaps Tymoshenko and Yushchenko are not as different as they would have us believe.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) actually blocked the parliamentary rostrum from July 8-10, most likely to prevent this vote from taking place. However, on July 10, after Party of Regions (PRU) leader Viktor Yanukovich had predicted that the no-confidence motion would carry, the Lytvyn Bloc suggested postponing the vote until September or October. The Communist Party also hesitated, prompting BTuT to cease its blockade of the rostrum, thereby allowing the vote.
Parliament is not scheduled to reconvene until September, so Tymoshenko’s government is safe until then. Raisa Bohatyryova, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council predicts another attempt to oust Tymoshenko’s government in the fall.
This failure indicates that coalition problems not only exist between the democratic alliance of Our Ukraine People’s Self Defense Bloc and BYuT, but also between opposition factions as well. Leonid Hrach from the Communist Party said his party refused to support the PRU motion because PRU does not support the anti-NATO protests organized by the Communists in southern Ukraine several weeks ago.
In an interesting twist, it has been proposed that Tymoshenko reached some type of agreement with businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, who is thought to be amongst the main Communist sponsors. This is most fascinating because President Viktor Yushchenko is supposedly talking with oligarch Rinat Akhmetov about support for his upcoming presidential campaign. Perhaps Tymoshenko and Yushchenko are not as different as they would have us believe.
