Between Two Chairs or Going on Leave for Moral Considerations
No sooner had government ministers heaved a sigh of relief after Mykhailo Riabets, the chief interpreter of the election law, said that officials can, but not must, go on pre-election vacations, than the president cheered up the executives who wish to run for legislative seats. It will be recalled that President Leonid Kuchma recently suggested that government members who intend to take part in the election campaign could set aside their official duties and relax from February 9 on. Mr. Kuchma also noted that, although the election law does not provide for such a furlough, he believes “this would be moral.” This proposal of the chief executive is quite justified: more than a third of Ukrainian ministers, including the premier, intend to run for parliamentary seats. For instance, Prime Minister and leader of the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine Anatoly Kinakh ranks second in the top five of the For a United Ukraine bloc’s election list. Sixth on the list of the same bloc comes Valery Pustovoitenko, leader of the People’s Democratic Party and Minister of Transport, with Vice Premier and leader of the Party of the Regions Volodymyr Semynozhenko ranking eighth. The second ten include Minister for Agrarian Policies and Agrarian Party of Ukraine member Ivan Kyrylenko, along with Minister for Industrial Policies and Industrialist-Entrepreneur member Vasyl Hureyev. The first five of the Green Party’s election list comprise Minister for Ecology Serhiy Kurykin, while the fifteenth rung goes to privatization chief Oleksandr Bondar. Minister of Education Vasyl Kremen is among the top five of the SDPU(o) list. In addition, Minister for Emergencies Vasyl Durdynets will be running for parliament in one of the majoritarian constituencies in Transcarpathia. Incidentally, as the United Social Democrat leader Viktor Medvedchuk told The Day on November 23, his party’s politburo has even outstripped the president in this matter, advising Minister Kremen and chairman of the State Civil Engineering Committee Valery Cherep, both on the party’s list, to go on vacation during the election campaign.
However, this logical and well-grounded statement by the president raises a number of questions among both the analysts and perhaps real subjects of the election campaign who will have to solve a host of dilemmas in addition to making their choice whether to throw their hats in the ring. Despite the quite clear wording of the president’s suggestion, the first pressing question arises out of the fact that ministers will not be the only participants in the election campaign who wield power. For example, Prosecutor General Mykhailo Potebenko intends to contest the election on the Communist Party ticket, while Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko and Chairman of the Supreme Court Vitaly Boiko are set to do so on the Yednist (Unity) one. This is by no means a complete list, for among the candidates are practically all the heads of regional administrations, a lot of heads and deputy heads of state committees and ministries.
Incidentally, Presidential Administration Director Volodymyr Lytvyn, who tops the For a United Ukraine list, also represents the executive power. What will he do? In short, if the officials running for parliamentary seats choose to relax a little, the executive branch in Ukraine is likely to have more than enough room at the top.
On the other hand, Pres. Kuchma might thus be trying to put a long-awaited end to debates on the importance of the administrative resource in these elections, creating equal conditions for all participants in the parliamentary race. Of course, an executive in office might well have more levers of influence than one on vacation. Yet, the latter also retains some clout and his portfolio, in spite of his chair being temporarily occupied by his No. 2.
However, some experts are very doubtful about the retention of portfolios, especially as far as the current ministers are concerned. It will be recalled that forecasts of a short-lived Kinakh government began to be made almost on the day his candidacy was approved by the parliament. Now is just the right time for those who want to continue their government careers after the elections, especially ministers on the For a United Ukraine ticket, to think. Suppose they make their way into Verkhovna Rada (which they are sure to do). Which of their chairs will they then give up? For, on the one hand, the ministerial portfolio is a hefty thing, but, on the other hand, no one can guarantee that the new parliament will not dismiss any given minister, especially since For a United Ukraine, despite all its administrative might, is opposed by equally shrewd rivals. And if the share of votes polled by the executive bloc turns out to be much smaller than the current overall weight of the other bloc parties? Could this mean a public vote of no confidence in them as ministers? They could well fall between two chairs.
