TOGETHER AGAIN...

Scandalous conventions, pushing the president to the back seat of power, low ratings — all this has forced the propresidential bloc to enter into a premature but necessary alliance. On February 24 Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Baloha, acting on behalf of the BYuT and Our Ukraine, signed the long-advertised agreement on joint opposition.

The historic event took place in the conference hall of the Verkhovna Rada, to the accompaniment of Vivaldi. Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Baloha were the only ones to take the floor.

The head of the Secretariat made a rather radical statement: “This is a conscious and responsible step taken by two democratic forces. It is a struggle against the crawling coup d’detat on the part of the parliamentary majority and the cabinet it formed. There are signs of ruination of Ukrainian statehood. For example, the unconstitutional Law ‘On the Cabinet of Ministers,’ formation of a republic named for the prime minister, personnel reshuffling, and the struggle against all things Ukrainian. The anticrisis coalition is threatening the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state. OU and BYuT have united to counteract these actions...”

So the number one objective of the allied opposition is to hold early parliamentary elections. In addition, OU and BYuT have agreed to adopt a new wording of the constitution.

If the early elections project works and the joint opposition takes over political power, the posts will be divided fifty-fifty and seats will be allocated by alternate choice. Whoever collects more votes during the elections will be the first to make this choice.

However, complete unity has not been achieved; BYuT and Our Ukraine will take part in the elections as separate blocs, Yulia Tymoshenko stated on the Inter TV channel Sunday night.

The president’s position under the circumstances remains to be clarified. Will he support the idea of early elections? At present, the allied opposition makes it clear that they are acting on their own. They even wrote a letter to the head of state, asking to take measures to “return Ukraine to the legal and constitutional course.”

Meanwhile people in the government camp are betraying a noticeable degree of nervousness. Viktor Yanukovych threatened the president with abolishing nationwide elections. In an interview with the ICTV channel he admitted the possibility of parliament electing the president in 2009. “I can assume that this will largely depend on the stand taken by the president and by opposition,” he added. In reality, to carry out this plan Yanukovych will need BYuT votes, which is highly unlikely at the moment. Therefore, this threat sounds rather unconvincing.

Raisa Bohatyriova, the Party of Regions’ “dove of peace,” suggests an emergency meeting with Yushchenko at the Verkhovna Rada. Bohatyriova also wishes to meet with the president to discuss a compromise versions of the laws on the cabinet, VR standing orders, and imperative mandate for the members of local councils.

In a word, another political intrigue is unfolding. Its outcome is anyone’s guess, but the process promises to be interesting.