The First Stage of Parliamentary Crisis Ended January 21
Two separate sessions of Verkhovna Rada deputies took place last Friday. 235 deputies representing 11 factions held theirs at Ukraine House, presided over by Deputy Speaker Viktor Medvedchuk. 180 others representing the Left-wing Communist Party, Progressive Socialist Party (PSPU), and Socialist Party fractions and a few deputies representing the Hromada and Independent ones registered at the morning plenary meeting in the Verkhovna Rada building. Despite the absence in the room of parliamentary majority representatives, the minority announced it would work “in the usual way.”
The objections of Deputy Oleksandr Yeliashkevych (Hromada) that 180 People’s Deputies did not constitute a quorum, were not enough to make any decisions, and his suggestion that the Speaker resign were ignored. Mr. Yeliashkevych said in reply that he and a part of Hromada deputies were forced to leave the hall and join the majority that had gathered in Ukraine House.
On the eve of this, majority coordinator Leonid Kravchuk stated that “there is no parliamentary crisis” in Ukraine. In his opinion, “one could speak about parliamentary crisis only if the Deputies divided into two equal parts. But, given a majority, one can only say that Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko is ignoring the parliamentary majority and grossly violating the rules, not putting on the agenda the proposals from majority representatives.”
Representatives of the Left said that the actions of the majority were being guided by the President, while the President was in turn being guided by the International Monetary Fund. As the word “IMF” is the most terrible cuss word in the mouths of Communists and Progressive Socialists, this statement might seem to crown all rebukes of the majority. However, the Left did not calm down and continually hurled curses at the majority in the name of Ukraine’s people, women, and children.
However, even if we leave aside all these “specimens of parliamentary ethics,” we still arrive at a sad conclusion, for Parliament is the cornerstone of democracy. No matter how loftily this definition sounds, we will get a Lukashenka-style autocracy if the parliamentary system is destroyed in this country.
It is difficult to say at present in what way the legal conflict between the two parliamentary sittings will be settled. Mr. Tkachenko said, “Everything being done today by the so-called majority and the fact that it is illegally headed by Viktor Medvedchuk, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, is not only a violation of the Constitution but a criminal offense.” He also reported he had spoken on the phone with Russian State Duma Speaker Gennady Selezniov and Chairman of the Russian Council of the Federation Yegor Stroyev. In the words of Mr. Tkachenko, materials on the situation in the Ukrainian Parliament will be referred to the State Duma and the Council of the Federation, and a special appeal will be sent to the Council of Europe. According to Mr. Tkachenko, representatives of the PSPU faction have put up a proposal to send a small group of Deputies to the President to discuss the situation. “I agree to meet with the President and hold talks on the existing situation, but I will not initiate this meeting,” he said, adding that the President had “initiated” the current situation in Parliament, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
The majority also sent a relevant statement to Leonid Kuchma as guarantor of the Constitution. Thus the President’s decision is likely to be crucial in the parliamentary conflict.
The majority have fulfilled their first task and clearly voted for the Speaker and his deputy to stand down. But sober-minded observers show no signs of euphoria. The first test of strength, a package vote on the new legislative leadership, is still ahead. Only then will it be clear to what extent the majority is stable, conscientious, and capable of working out a compromise.
