Yuschenko threatens Ukraine parliament with dissolution By Stefan Korshak

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday March 29, 2007

By Stefan Korshak,
Kiev- President Viktor Yushchenko upped the ante Thursday
in Ukraine's long-running political deadlock by threatening to
dissolve the opposition-led parliament - a move that would plunge the
former Soviet republic into a full-fledged constitutional crisis.
"Parliament must finally become responsible for its actions," a
grim-faced Yushchenko declared at a press conference in the eastern
city of Luhansk. "If they do not ... my way is clear: I must defend
the constitution."

It was the first time Yushchenko openly and clearly threatened to
dissolve parliament in the political crisis now running 13 months.

At issue, on the surface, are calls this week by leaders of the
ruling majority in the national legislature to redistribute committee
positions in the Rada. Leaders also handed ministries in parliament
to politicians loyal to their pro-Russia faction.

If put into effect, the shuffle would increase the size of the
ruling coalition, potentially giving enough parliament seats to allow
the majority MPs to amend the constitution, without putting the
changes to a national referendum.

Pro-Russia MPs have spoken in favour of rewriting the constitution
as a means of repealing market and legal reform legislation put into
effect after Ukraine's 2004-5 Orange Revolution, and more
specifically to strip the Presidential office of power, reducing
Yushchenko to a figurehead.

"I will not let this happen, it is forbidden by the constitution,"
Yushchenko said in remarks reported by the Interfax news agency.

The Presidential threat was made even clearer by Viktor Baloga,
Yushchenko's legal secretary, who in a rare public statement on
Thursday afternoon helpfully informed the general public "If the
President asks us for the text for an order to dissolve parliament,
we are prepared to accommodate him immediately," according to a
Korrespondent news magazine article.

Ukraine's often-amended constitution was changed last year to
allow the president to dissolve parliament, but the clause has never
been invoked.

Viktor Yanukovich, Prime Minister and leader of the faction
opposing Yushchenko's market economy politics, was quick to downplay
the President's threat, saying "I don't think he (Yushchenko) will go
through with dissolving parliament ... and if he does the Supreme
Court will not allow it."

Yet Yushchenko in recent weeks has seemed increasingly determined
to raise Yanukovich in a tense game of political poker, on Wednesday
openly meeting with Supreme Court justices "for consultations ... on
critical issues facing the nation," according to a statement from
Yushchenko's office.

"I will invite all major faction leaders in for talks. Cooler
heads must prevail ... or else," Yushchenko said.

A formal Presidential announcement on the political situation
could come as early as Monday, Channel Five television reported.

In the meantime, the Yanukovich wing of the country's political
power brokers has asserted control over most of the government's
ministries - and in the process systematically locked Yushchenko
appointees out.

Among the plums captured by the anti-NATO wing of Ukrainian
politics include the ministries responsible for foreign affairs,
economics, emergency response, construction, and community services.

The underlying reason for the conflict, as is usually the case in
Ukrainian politics, comes down to which part of the country's
political elite will be able to control the valuable portions of the
economy, and what compromises the losers will accept to allow that to
happen.

Control of the Ministry of Construction, for instance, is hugely
valuable to the political group placing its man in charge, as the
agency effectively decides where new building will take place, by
which private company, at a time of rocketing Ukrainian real estate
prices.

Yanukovich's ruling coalition is a sometimes unwieldy alliance of
pro-farmer Socialists, anti-capitalist Communists, and the Regions
Ukraine party - a bloc devoted to protecting the interests of ethnic
Russians in east Ukraine, and the industrial tycoons that employ
them.

Disagreement over how much power over the executive branch of
government the president and prime minister should have, has stalled
the Ukrainian government since March elections.

The confrontation has been most visible in Ukraine's erratic
position on NATO, with repeated instances of Yushchenko travelling
abroad to declare Ukraine's firm intention to join the alliance, only
to be followed by Yanukovich announcing, at another foreign location,
that Ukraine has no intention of entering the security group any time
soon.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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