Hromada has of late been quickly reinforcing its position. Money attracts money. This old truth seems to be demonstrated shortly by this faction when it wins over about 20 nonaffiliated Deputies, mostly representing business circles.
It is quite possible that a Parliament session will start by proposing a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet. The Left, having worked on it jointly with Hromada, claim they have collected 215 votes (compared to 191 deputies formally voicing this view last Tuesday).
Hromada is actively working in this direction, not only with coal miners, but also with People’s Deputies, so this effort may well bear fruit. What the faction needs these votes for is not so much to oust the Cabinet as to welcome Pavlo Lazarenko as Deputy Speaker. Aware that this is the best he can expect from the faction, its leader is now extremely busy canvassing and negotiating deals — and word has it that a lot of cash has already been put on the barrel.
Hromada has of late been quickly reinforcing its position. Money attracts money. This old truth seems to be demonstrated shortly by this faction when it wins over about 20 nonaffiliated Deputies, mostly representing business circles. Mr. Babych, in particular, told The Day that he has been approached on the matter: “Their basic reasoning was that I worked in Dnipropetrovsk oblast and that I know Mr. Lazarenko personally.”
There are many NDP members who have worked in that administrative region and who know the ex-Premier rather well. One of the NDP’s majority ballot champions has already stated his intention to side with Hromada. The event is not advertised and Mr. Yemets said that every faction has a black sheep like Nichyporuk. Among the majority devotees still under control — the effort getting harder by the day — one can hear voices saying increasingly often that they are not dumb privates to obey NDP orders. Sensing the other side’s weak points, Hromada increased their pressure. According to Mr. Omelych, one of the faction’s activists, they will have at least 40 additional voices even before Wednesday, which they will use first to retire the Cabinet. He also thinks that this will prompt other Deputies to join Hromada, “because the NDP faction will be demoralized and will certainly split up,” thus adding another 60 votes. Mr. Omelych says quite a few members from business circles are afraid to openly side with Hromada, fearing purges from the Tax Administration and other bureaucratic structures still in power.
However, the fact that Deputies representing Ukraine’s financial elite openly discuss the possibility of joining the opposition means that they are not afraid to speak their mind feeling sure that (a) the Pustovoitenko Cabinet’s days are numbered, blaming the Premier for what they describe as “financial repression” and (b) knowing that there is some kind of arrangement between President Kuchma and ex-Premier Lazarenko. Word has it that Anatoly Kinakh, leader of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, will be the next Premier.
Such recruitment campaign is underway not only among the nonaffiliated and wealthy Deputies. Hromada has “sounded out” several other factions (Rukh, NDP, PSPU), trying undermine the Presidential army’s morale. Here one should expect more than a few who cross the line. According to one Hromada leader, they are now banking on votes from one of the pro-Presidential factions. It is safe to assume that they mean the Greens who nominated Riabchenko as Speaker (former member of the Unity faction, Dnipropetrovsk). The Green Coordinating Conference took place Friday. Their leader, Kononov, told The Day that the party was dissatisfied with the stand its faction took at the Verkhovna Rada. “We have not found our niche and we are not independent,” he summed it up.
It should be noted, however, that Greens are almost entirely people of means, something Hromada recruiters are out for. An informed source (naturally preferring to be unidentified) claims that ideological support in this case will be nicely complemented by greenbacks - in terms of soft credits, tax exemptions, and an opportunity to expand business, promised by Hromada. In a word, another four years and one will have all one’s campaign disbursements nicely reimbursed.
Hromada-related sources further state that this cooperation is kept on a mutually advantageous basis. Mr. Lazarenko, whose finance also has limits (theoretically), will not be averse to having its replenished from an “inter-parliamentary” source.
Photo by Valery Miloserdov, The Day:
Is Lazarenko gaining on his rivals?







