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Yushchenko Official Party Leader
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was officially named chairman of the Our Ukraine Party (moving up from honorary chairman) at a party congress in Kiev on Saturday attended by 1043 delegates. The congress was the first one held by that party to be closed to the public and press. Deputy leader of the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense faction Roman Zvarych stated an hour before the beginning of the congress that party chairman Vyacheslav Kirillenko would retain his post. Kirillenko himself assured Kommersant of that last Thursday.
Delegates report that the party also decided to refuse to cooperate with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of the Regions in the Supreme Rada. Last week, Tymoshenko gave the Ukrainian president until December 1 to form a coalition with her bloc, or she promised to “look for a union with other factions.” Our Ukraine Party analysts expect the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of the Regions to announce a coalition this week. Early parliamentary elections are still possible, however. Yushchenko’s decision to take the helm of the pro-presidential party was intended as a reminder of that possibility.
Yushchenko’s step looks desperate. Observers note that there are possible problems with constitutional law, since article 103 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that “The president of Ukraine cannot have any other representative mandate or occupy a position in organs of executive power or associations of citizens.” The law “On Associations of Citizens” defines political parties as an association of citizens.
It is clear from the party congress that the president will take an anti-Russian position in the next election campaign. “Tymoshenko and Yanukovich are fighting for the affection of the Kremlin, but we are fighting for Ukraine, led by the president,” Kirillenko stated after the congress. The final statement from the congress reads in part that “Russia’s desire to control the post-Soviet space, the corresponding statements by Russian officials, anti-Ukrainian provocations inspired by the Kremlin and the invasion of sovereign Georgia by Russian forces are evidence of a threat.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 01, 2008
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