GOVERNMENT IS NOT DISMISSED. But it does not belong to the President any more

By Iryna POHORELOVA, Political Chronicles, specially for The Day

On February 11, Verkhovna Rada declined two draft resolutions on the immediate dismissal of the government. It refrained from calling a vote of no confidence in the government on the formal pretext that constitutional procedure should be observed scrupulously, so that the decision would not be reversed by the Constitutional Court. In terms of politics, the Cabinet was backed by... the Communists. The dismissal of the Cabinet before the election would expose the country to the danger of direct presidential government, said Hryhory Naida, Communist representative in the affair. The Communists propose holding a referendum on confidence in President Kuchma simultaneously with the election.

Speaker Moroz told Hromada (Community) representatives: if tomorrow they put forth an initiative to call a vote of no confidence to the Cabinet and get it signed by 150 deputies, the issue would automatically be put on the agenda and considered in five to ten days. The agenda indicates that if ex-Premier Lazarenko supporters are active enough, the matter could be settled in March.

The only issue is whether Hromada will be so active. The warm-up on February 11 provided the "adamant opposition" with food for thought concerning the availability or lack of support.

To be sure, most interesting was the attitude assumed by Speaker Moroz. The first thing he tried to do was, no doubt, to deny the growing suspicions of his alliance with Lazarenko. Without exploiting too much his role of the "father and patron of Ukrainian governments," which becomes ever more obvious. By the way, the current Cabinet has not been entrusted with the development of the draft law on an economic emergency situation. Not yet?

Photo by Leonid Bakka, The Day
Who's running out of time? The Prime Minister, President, or Deputy Premier for the economy?