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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

WEEKLY ROUNDUP Hryvnia for President or Your Greenbacks or Your Life!

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Last week saw new presidential candidates nominated. After there were about a dozen names on the list I wanted to know what made them all sign up for this troublesome venture. I consulted the law on the presidential elections and found nothing attractive about the post, except the possibility to receive 100,000 karbovantsi from the budget for the campaign (which would be just one hryvnia ...before the devaluation began). The crisis must be very bad if people are ready to take the risk even for token money.

In fact, studying laws turned out very useful. Among other things, it made it possible to expose the villainous Socialist-Hromada conspiracy – I mean their planned referendum to see how much confidence the people have in their President. Considering all the legally prescribed time-limits and adding time for the unavoidable red tape, I was horrified to realize that both the treacherous parties are actually planning to topple not this but the next President, whoever the poor devil will be! The intricacies of the plot remain to be ascertained, but of one thing I am sure: neither Oleksandr Moroz nor Pavlo Lazarenko will let themselves be elected.

The Cabinet's lot became clearer last week, too. The President must have realized the inevitability of its retirement, so he is trying to steer a middle course by “rotating” certain ministers. And the Speaker has actually accepted the scheme. Mr. Kuchma's critical remarks indicate that he is prepared to sacrifice the “economic bloc" (primarily Finance Minister Mitiukov who should have long been placed in front of a firing squad, considering the charges pressed). Word has spread that Serhiy Tyhypko is also listed for "rotation." But the only difference between “rotation" and resignation is the extent of the headache which a given ranking bureaucrat gives the Verkhovna Rada. If “rotation" be the case, ministers would be replaced quickly and painlessly. If retired, we will end up having the same Cabinet after long political battles. The reason is quite simple, even banal: there is no majority in Parliament, so the Chief Executive can always maneuver the right person to the right Cabinet seat.

Honestly, in last week's political and economic hustle and bustle the Premier's taking another batch of managers hostage looked as pathetically unconvincing as Jaws-2. It is generally agreed that, if our managers put up with such treatment, it's their funeral. As for the moral aspect, it seems to concern three and a half loony journalists in Ukraine. Of much more interest was Ukraine's number one banker Viktor Yushchenko's “feeling" that the hryvnia was getting close to stabilization. Finally I guessed what he meant and asked an MP passing by, “So that's it?" He said yes, because the NBU had refused to wage any hard currency interventions to support the hryvnia.

 

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