Day of symbols

It is symbolical that the parliament considered “the Tymoshenko question” on that day. For some people November 7 still remains a holiday, a “red calendar day.” MPs from the Communist Party did not turn out. They missed a working day. During the session they were laying flowers to the Lenin Monument in Kyiv, together with their supporters.

For others (by coincidence) it is the birthday of their leader, Oleh Tiahnybok. Svoboda members, who support prohibition of the Communist ideology, interrupted the parliamentary session for several minutes to sing “We wish you many years of life,” while Tiahnybok was accepting the greetings of his party members and colleagues in the opposition. So, while the Communists were paying tribute to their leader, Svoboda members were greeting theirs. Incidentally, at the rostrum Tiahnybok noted humorously: “God, it’s so pleasant that there are no Communists in parliament. I can breathe easier.”

Simultaneously the most important question was being resolved – this time in the Presidential Administration. Cox and Kwasniewski, whose mission is on its 25th visit in Ukraine, were having a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych. Lately the EU guests arrived at the parliament to meet with Speaker Volodymyr Rybak. The same atmosphere in the Verkhovna Rada proved that everything depended on the Presidential Administration. This is a problem of Ukrainian parliamentarianism. Currently the Verkhovna Rada is fulfilling the role of executor and implementer of legal mechanisms. While the pro-governmental faction was waiting for a signal from Viktor Yanukovych, the opposition factions – from Cox and Kwasniewski.

“In the morning we decided to vote for the law on prosecutor’s office, the law on elections, and the law on creation of a working group to develop a bill on Tymoshenko which would be agreed by all the factions, so that we could bring to parliament the text which we created together and did not lose time for a second reading,” MP from the Party of Regions Inna Bohoslovska commented to The Day before the evening voting. “Maybe something has changed after the negotiations with Cox-Kwasniewski and a decision was made to support some of the existing draft laws, but they all need to be amended.”

“It is most likely that a working group that will try to achieve a final version will be created. It remains a question so far whether this version will be acceptable for all sides. I don’t see that the Party of Regions is really determined to move towards the EU integration,” member of Batkivshchyna faction Viacheslav Kyrylenko told The Day. “We will vote for the law on prosecutor’s office, submitted by the power, but agreed by the Venice Commission. We will reach a compromise as for the law on elections. But Tymoshenko’s treatment abroad is the key question. If it isn’t unblocked, even the approved bills will fall by the wayside. We started to gather signatures to make the next week plenary. The Party of Regions has not filed any official objection, so it is highly possible that we will hold a session. The question is whether the president’s words will be accepted by the Party of Regions, or it is simple bluff, which is aimed for Europeans and is a red herring for us.”

Will November 7 become a symbolical date for Tymoshenko and her supporters? Cox and Kwasniewski’s meeting with Volodymyr Rybak ran over time. In fact, these intrigues and backstage agreements do not look European, although the negotiations are led by representatives of the European Union, among others. Some people (European side and Ukrainian opposition) insist on Labunska’s draft law, whereas others (Ukrainian government) are more inclined to Mishchenko’s bill. In a sense, dependence of the country on a single question (one person) is driving both sides, both European and Ukrainian politicians, into a dead end. And the country is losing.