Clock is ticking
Ukrainians are soon to vote in the special “anti-crisis” presidential election
The official presidential campaign launch date is June 27, although it de facto started two weeks ago, if not earlier. Although the key candidates are still arguing about the date, the Central Election Commission has cheerfully reported that it has started preparations for the big event scheduled to take place in October 2009. It has also hinted to the prime minister and parliament that it wouldn’t hurt to refill its purse for the sake of this great cause.
Meanwhile, President Viktor Yushchenko finally appealed to the Constitutional Court, Maryna Stavniichuk informed on April 8. Remarkably, when the president’s subordinates shared this sensational news, Yushchenko was only “planning” to file his appeal to the court.
“I am going to do it today (April 8) if the department has prepared the required document. After I come to work, I will forward it [to the CC] today,” said Yushchenko. Well, things like that happen when someone else has a rubber stamp with your signature.
Jokes aside, the president obviously no longer counts on the [Ukrainian] political forces to support his initiative to hold the presidential and the parliamentary elections at the same time. Indeed, the possibility of a compromise with parliament becomes increasingly illusory with each passing day, especially after Renat Akhmetov’s statement two weeks ago, which sounds essentially pro-Tymoshenko.
“Above all I want the government to overcome this crisis. In other words, I don’t want to struggle against this government; I want to struggle against the crisis. This is our main objective,” he declared while planting an oak sapling near the stadium that is being built for the European soccer championship.
For several weeks running members of the Party of Regions were yelling at every corner that there will be no law and order unless all the branches of power are replaced, and now the party’s number seven says the opposite: let us not throw monkey wrenches in the government’s works. The political analyst Kost Bondarenko regards Akhmetov’s statement as a perfectly logical one because large business cannot be in opposition:
“Akhmetov has felt the pressure on his group, as in the case of Dniproenerho, and decided not take any risks but adopt a pro-Tymoshenko stand. Also, the Akhmetov camp recently had tensions with Viktor Baloha. An example of this is the relationship between Baloha and Bohatyriova.”
Naturally, against this backdrop the president practically stands no chance of achieving a compromise with parliament. Also, it should be remembered that Yushchenko has named several others conditions on which he is prepared to opt for this scenario. The first condition is a replacement of the electoral system. In fact, replacing this system is easier said than done. It is still unclear precisely how the President intends to change it. He said he would submit a bill in two weeks, which means that it will be possible to carry out his first condition only in two weeks.
The second condition is stripping MPs of their immunity. This is probably a never-ending theme in Ukrainian politics. Parliament has put this issue to vote two or three times, but the situation remains the same.
Finally, how constitutional are simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections? The fact remains that there are serious discrepancies between the laws governing each. For example, there is a discrepancy in the deadlines for the formation of the election commissions and the duration of electioneering. The presidential elections have two rounds, while the parliamentary elections have only one stage, and so on.
Moreover, PACE warns Ukraine against holding these elections at the same time. According to Renate Wohlwend, PACE sees no legal grounds for this, because this arrangement is more likely to result in chaos than produce positive results. The Council of Europe wouldn’t anticipate this kind of election, she added.
BYuT MP Ostap Semerak believes that under the circumstances it is unrealistic to hold both elections simultaneously:
“I think this was a political stunt. Actually, it could be pulled off in the fall. Then the situation could be resolved in this way. At present we have a lame duck president. There is no sense negotiating any deals with him. I take it as a significant fact that 401 MPs voted for holding the elections in October.”
Do you think that October 25 is the final date?
“Very likely so, although a lot depends on what the Constitutional Court will have to say. As a rule, our CC backs those who stand the best chance of success, so I think that in this case the outcome is clear.”
Of course, the election date is very important tactically for the parties, yet exhausting strategic battles for the presidential seat have been around for year and everyone is sick and tired of them. We no longer have political idols and we are tired of hearing about all those Svobodas (Liberties). The general mood appears to be for getting rid of all this mess before the end of the year.
