Socialists Side With the Majority And Communists

Contrary to the skepticism of most observers, on February 3 Verkhovna Rada met in an extraordinary session that opened at 11 a.m. and lasted less than an hour. The lawmakers voted to amend Bill No. 4105 previously approved in the first reading, in particular to remove from the bill the clauses envisioning the election of the president by the parliament as well as lifelong tenure for judges voted into their posts by the parliament. The changes were supported by 304 out of the 322 deputies registered. Aside from the majority and Communists ayes came from the Socialists, which proved yet again that it is possible to make deals with the Socialists just like with the Communists. The extraordinary session was necessary to bring the previously approved Bill No. 4105 into line with the demands of some of the political forces so as not to postpone the final vote on the political reform until another session. Some 150 signatures of the lawmakers were collected early that day in support of the extraordinary session. To prevent the resolution of the conflict, the Our Ukraine faction and Tymoshenko Bloc in turn resorted to their traditional tactics of besieging the rostrum, snatching Speaker Lytvyn’s microphone, shouting, and showering the speaker with whatever came in hand, in particular broken flowers that had been prepared for the opening of the session. But nothing helped: aside from amending Bill No. 4105 the extraordinary session endorsed the decision to begin the fifth legislative session that opened at 4 p.m. the same day.

Thus, after the February 3 vote the political reform has a Constitutional majority of supporters numbering 304 lawmakers. After the sides agreed not to change the standing method of electing the president, the opposition forces have split into supporters of the political reform, the Communists and Socialists, and its critics, Our Ukraine and the Tymoshenko Bloc. Simultaneously, the decision reached does not provide an answer to the question as to how one is to ensure normal work in the parliament. Judging by their initial response, Our Ukraine and the Tymoshenko Bloc are not satisfied with how events are unfolding and thus far are unwilling to steer a middle course. The resulting situation was discussed at the general meeting of lawmakers that was held in the recess between the extraordinary session and the opening of the fifth legislative session. Speaker Lytvyn urged his colleagues to decide: “We either work or continue to obstruct work.” As he put it, working with a besieged rostrum has become routine in Verkhovna Rada.

COMMENTARY

Oleksandr ZADOROZHNIY, permanent presidential representative in Verkhovna Rada, member of the Narodovladdia (People’s power) deputy group:

“Rejection of the method of electing the president by the parliament was the most important achievement, and we have fulfilled the agreement reached during the meeting of fraction and group leaders with the participation of the president. Today’s 304 ayes in support of amending Bill No. 4105 are evidence that the process of Constitutional reform has not stopped, has a future, and in its final wording the Constitutional amendments bill will get over 300 votes. Under the agreement reached, before the final vote we must approve the proportional elections bill. Several more sleepless nights and we will get a proportional elections bill that will have every chance of receiving at least 226 ayes. Now we are considering fourteen models for this bill, and we will necessarily choose the one that will satisfy a majority of lawmakers.”

Leonid HRACH, Communist faction:

“No matter what concessions are made to Our Ukraine, it will not leave the path of confrontation it has chosen, upholding the method of presidential elections that suits it best. Yet this is no cynicism, but inflexible pragmatism. How has Zhirinovsky managed to keep his seat for a decade without any serious party structure or ideology? Zhirinovsky relies on his specific electorate, who like his behavior. Apparently, Our Ukraine is also betting on a specific electorate.”

Oleksandr VOLKOV, unaligned deputy:

“The extraordinary session vote has shown that the opposition has split completely. The majority and Communists have been joined by the Socialists, which resulted in the 305 ayes. This means the Constitutional amendments and the political reform in Ukraine have been given the green light. I think it was right to remove Article 103. I have long insisted on this, because one must leave the people their Constitutional right to elect their president. The next step is the ruling by the Constitutional Court on the bill with two new amendments. If the ruling is positive, we will begin negotiations with the majority to convince them to support the proportional elections bill. As for the actions of the opposition, it wasn’t a pleasant sight to watch people’s deputies shower the speaker and representatives of the press with flowers and documents. What for? The speaker raised an issue that has been supported by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers.”

Stepan HAVRYSH, parliamentary majority coordinator:

“Addressing yesterday’s roundtable, which was crucial for the beginning of the political process in the spring of 2004, the president said that he does not intend to run for a third term in office, adding that the process of electing the president has been always clear for him, that is, [it should be] nationwide. This has in fact made it possible to reach a compromise taking into account the demand of the Socialists and Our Ukraine regarding amendments to Bill No. 4105. On Monday we discussed these compromises until late at night and agreed to call an extraordinary session without discussing its legal aspects. We agreed that this session was to solve the issue of nationwide elections of the president for a five- year term in 2004 and that we will not initiate changes to the tenure of judges, on which we in fact voted today. I hope that the vote of 305 ayes proves that there is serious potential in the parliamentary coalition required for implementing the political reform. Thus, our opponents must change the political style of relations in the session hall. The majority is ready to make concessions except for one thing — the system of power must change.”

Nestor SHUFRYCH, SDPU(o) faction:

“Today we saw that Our Ukraine representatives reject all compromises and demand for themselves the power of absolute dictatorship. Despite the fact that the majority agreed to the demand of Yushchenko and Moroz to call an extraordinary session and remove Article 103 so as to rule out any speculations about the method of electing the president, it was only a maneuver on the part of Our Ukraine and not a sincere desire to support the reform. I want to stress the principled stand of the Socialist faction that participated in today’s vote after the proposed Constitutional amendments under Article 103 have been removed. Thus, today there are roughly 325 ayes to support the Constitutional reform, and I’m convinced it will be implemented. We have a real chance of creating an executive power for which the parliament will be responsible.”

Taras STETSKIV, Our Ukraine:

“Our stand is absolutely clear: the December 24 vote was illegitimate, and we will not recognize it. The only legal way to solve the problem is to vote again on the proposed Constitutional amendments in the first reading during this session, which is something PACE insists on. I absolutely disagree with the statement that the majority has agreed to all the demands of the opposition. Nothing of the kind happened. We are talking not only about removing Article 103 that envisions the election of the president by the parliament, but also about the general supervision rights for the Prosecutor’s Office, judges’ lifelong tenure, and binding mandates. That is, we have several demands. Thus, I consider the vote to reject the method of electing the president by the parliament as an attempt to legitimize the illegal December 24 resolution. I regret that the Socialists allowed them [the majority] to vote. In my view, Moroz has broken his word. The document that calls the December 24 vote illegitimate was signed by the three opposition leaders. And by voting today to amend the illegal Bill No. 4105 the leader of the Socialists has in fact violated the agreement we had.”