|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
 Enviado - 20 noviembre 2006 : 22:58:12
|
BLUE-ORANGE RIFT REEMERGES IN UKRAINE
By Jan Maksymiuk
Following a heated debate, the Verkhovna Rada on November 15 opted to postpone a decision on the fates of Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk and Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko. The two presidential appointees were grilled during the parliamentary session by lawmakers from the ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions. They were accused of poor performance and negligence in office, but were spared the indignity of a vote on their dismissal -- at least for two weeks. In the meantime, observers are left to debate whether parliament has the right to dismiss ministers nominated to the cabinet by the president. Foreign Minister Tarasyuk, for one, believes that it cannot, since the constitution does not say anything about such a situation.
"The constitution, which was amended hastily [in 2004], does not stipulate how these ministers [appointed by the president] can be dismissed," he said. "There is a legal collision here, whether the Verkhovna Rada can dismiss the two ministers without a presidential request. I don't think it can, because there is the notion of analogy in law: if the dismissal procedure is not defined while the appointment procedure is, legal analogy must apply and the same procedure should be used."
The debate on the two presidential ministers was just the latest clash in the short but uneasy cohabitation of Yanukovych and President Viktor Yushchenko -- two longtime political rivals who have reinvented their relationship since Yanukovych became prime minister in early August. Cracks began to show in September, when Yanukovych said in Brussels that Ukraine would slow its pace toward NATO membership due to public opposition. Yushchenko rebuked Yanukovych for impinging on the president's constitutional right to shape the country's foreign policy. Simultaneously, Yushchenko reminded Yanukovych that just one month earlier both of them signed the so-called declaration of national unity, in which they pledged to seek NATO membership as one of Ukraine's key foreign-policy priorities.
Yanukovych, however, continued to assert his constitutionally reinforced position by claiming more executive prerogatives. In particular, he refused to implement several presidential decrees, arguing that he did not co-sign them. Yanukovych also questioned in the Constitutional Court the president's right to appoint regional governors without consulting the government.
In October, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party switched to the opposition, constraining its four ministers in Yanukovych's cabinet to tender their resignations. Then, at a congress last week, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party adopted a resolution obliging its lawmakers to contest the validity of the 2004 constitutional reform. The decision to question the reform before the Constitutional Court has the potential to spark a serious constitutional crisis.
Ukrainian political analyst Oles Doniy, the head of the Kyiv-based Center for Studies of Political Values, believes that Our Ukraine's move was dictated by the party's intention to save itself from political demise following its withdrawal from the government. "I think this is a graphic example of how Our Ukraine is putting its narrow, party interests above those of national and state ones," Doniy says. "It considers a change of Ukraine's political system depending on whether it is in power or not, thus threatening Ukraine's future in general."
According to Doniy, the potential reversal of the constitutional reform could have a disastrous impact on the stability of the political system as a whole. Since the constitutional reform was adopted as a political compromise to end a presidential-election standoff between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, Doniy argues that questioning the constitutional reform is tantamount to questioning Yushchenko's legitimacy as president. "If we question the amendments to the constitution made in that period, we will analogically have to question all the other things that took place at that time," Doniy says. "No Ukrainian law provides for the third round of a presidential election, but it did take place."
But Ihor Zhdanov, deputy head of Our Ukraine's Executive Committee, says his party does not see any link between the constitutional reform and Yushchenko's election. "The vote for the political reform and the presidential vote in December 2004 were in no way interconnected, since [the third presidential-election round] was legitimized by a ruling of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which passed it proceeding from the evidence of a mass election fraud in the second round," he says.
Zhdanov argues that in adopting the constitutional reform, the Verkhovna Rada grossly violated the procedure for constitutional amendments by approving a version of the reform bill that was essentially different from the one reviewed and endorsed by the Constitutional Court. So, if now the Constitutional Court heeds Our Ukraine's arguments and rules that the constitutional reform was adopted unlawfully, would this signal that Yushchenko will enjoy the same extensive powers as his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma?
Doniy says that might not necessarily be the case. "There is a collision here. Even if the authorities managed to pressure the Constitutional Court into canceling the political reform, the Constitutional Court's ruling would not automatically mean a change of the constitution," he says. "It would be necessary to vote on constitutional amendments again. At least, this is the opinion of those lawyers who are not prone to official pressure." But it also seems that apart from a headache for lawyers, the controversy over the constitutional reform, if continued, might provoke a major and protracted political upheaval in Ukraine.
Yanukovych said earlier last week that a reversal of the reform would be illegal. Lawmaker Raisa Bohatyryova of the ruling Party of Regions warned Our Ukraine against pursuing its intention of reversing the reform, saying, "Do not stir bees in the hive if you don't know how to gather honey." It is telling that Yushchenko, who in 2005 repeatedly vowed to seek a referendum to reverse the constitutional reform, has recently refrained from asking for more powers and now talks about "improving" the constitutional reform rather than annulling it.
Perhaps Yushchenko has realized that revoking the reform, which in theory made Ukraine's political system more balanced and similar to European-type democracies, would eliminate the only long-term achievement of the Orange Revolution, on which millions of Ukrainians pinned so many hopes and which they became disillusioned with so soon afterward.
(RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service contributed to this report.)
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 10, No. 214, Part II, 20 November 2006.
Copyright (c) 2006 RFE/RL, Inc. |
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 22 diciembre 2006 : 17:42:43
|
La Revue nouvelle
nº 10 - Octobre 2006
Boulevard Général-Jacques 126
B-1050 Bruxelles
Aquest número de la revista mensual belga La Revue nouvelle està dedicat fonamentalment a la situació a Ucraïna dos anys després de la "revolució taronja": bloqueig, continuïtat i ruptures internes, relacions amb Rússia, perspectives europees i el trist record de la "gran fam" de 1932-1933.
Este número de la revista mensual belga La Revue nouvelle está dedicado fundamentalmente a la situación en Ucrania dos años después de la "revolución naranja": bloqueo, continuidad y rupturas internas, relaciones con Rusia, perspectivas europeas y el triste recuerdo de la "gran hambruna" de 1932-1933.
+ info: http://revuenouvelle.ibelgique.com/ |
 |
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 21 marzo 2007 : 23:31:01
|
El Parlamento ucraniano pone fin al 'impasse' político con el nombramiento de un nuevo ministro de Exteriores
EUROPA PRESS
KIEV, 21 Marzo 2007. (EP/AP)
El Parlamento ucraniano aprobó hoy por aplastante mayoría a Arseniy Yatsenyuk como nuevo ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, lo que pone fin al 'impasse' político de dos meses de duración existente entre el presidente, Viktor Yushchenko, y el primer ministro, Viktor Yanukovych, cuya mayoría en el Parlamento ha rechazado en varias ocasiones las propuestas de Yushchenko.
Yatsenyuk, de 32 años de edad y antiguo ministro de Economía, se hizo con la cartera al recibir 426 votos a favor de los 450 diputados del Parlamento. El nuevo ministro, estrecho aliado de Yushchenko, declaró después de saberse el resultado de la votación que uno de sus principales objetivos sería la inclusión de Ucrania en la UE.
"Ucrania no debe ser preguntada, debe ser invitada", declaró Yatsenyuk ante los periodistas, quien añadió que "Europa no es el objetivo en sí mismo, sino que lo son los valores europeos".
Yushchenko ha convertido la integración ucraniana en Europa en un objetivo fundamental de su política. Sin embargo, esta antigua república soviética no ha podido realizar muchos de los puntos necesarios para su ingreso en la UE, organismo que ha instado al Gobierno ucraniano a que continúe realizando reformas internas que procuren su futuro ingreso.
La investidura de Yatsenyuk se produce un día después de que el Parlamento rechazara aprobar el nombramiento del candidato propuesto por el presidente del país, Viktor Yushchenko. Esta era la segunda vez que el Parlamento, dominado por los aliados del primer ministro, Viktor Yanukovych, boicoteaba la iniciativa de Yushchenko. El diplomático Volodymyr Ohryzko recibió ayer sólo 195 votos de los 226 que necesitaba para hacerse con el cargo.
(http://www.europapress.es/noticia.aspx?cod=20070321135948&ch=69) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 30 marzo 2007 : 23:03:57
|
"Restauration" rampante de l'ancien régime à Kiev
LAURE MANDEVILLE
Le Figaro, Paris, le 29 mars 2007
Le pays est paralysé par une crise politique opposant ce qu'il reste de l'ancien camp « orange » au gouvernement.
Il y a comme un brouillard sur la scène politique d'Ukraine. Un an après les législatives qui ont finalement permis au « parti des régions » de l'ancien régime de revenir au gouvernement, le pays bruisse de rumeurs d'élections anticipées, censées en finir avec l'affrontement entre le président « orange », Viktor Iouchtchenko, et le gouvernement prorusse de Viktor Ianoukovitch.
Ce dernier n'a cessé de défier et d'humilier la présidence, lui contestant les prérogatives qu'il conserve en matière de politique étrangère et de sécurité. Chaque jour, ce corps à corps menace de dégénérer en affrontement. Une sorte de nihilisme juridique s'est emparé des différents centres de pouvoir, qui outrepassent leurs fonctions, dans l'espoir de grignoter du terrain. Un jour, c'est un groupe de députés qui décide de couper l'électricité au Parlement pour empêcher la tenue d'une session. Le lendemain, c'est un tribunal de quartier qui condamne une décision présidentielle... « La situation est glissante, juge un diplomate. On pourrait très vite se retrouver dans la rue, comme pendant la»révolution orange.* »
Jugeant cette situation de « guerre institutionnelle » « insupportable », l'ancienne pasionaria de l'hiver 2004, Ioulia Timochenko, aujourd'hui à la tête de la plus puissante force d'opposition démocratique de la Rada, le Parlement, réclame des élections législatives, susceptibles de voir le camp « orange » faire la paix dans ses rangs et revenir aux affaires. Jusqu'ici, le président Iouchtchenko a hésité, par peur de se retrouver sous la coupe de la tumultueuse Ioulia, avec laquelle ses relations se sont beaucoup dégradées. « Il n'a pas envie de devenir le frère cadet de Timochenko, explique le politologue Vadim Karassev. Pour lui, la meilleure solution serait de rester au-dessus de la mêlée. » Il ajoute : « Cette bipolarité est aussi une garantie de pluralisme politique. Elle oblige au consensus et permet d'empêcher la confiscation du pouvoir par un clan, comme c'est le cas chez Poutine. »
Pourtant, mis dos au mur par son premier ministre, le président ukrainien serait, dit-on, tenté par la dissolution. Alors tout le monde retient son souffle... « C'est tellement confus, ici : un jour, on se met d'accord, le lendemain, on se sépare. C'est l'anarchie ukrainienne version 2007, une situation qui ressemble un peu au système italien », commente un observateur averti.
« Pressions politiques »
Cette situation de blocage laisse en tout cas les mains libres au camp gouvernemental, qui en profite pour opérer des changements de cap, en privilégiant le rapport économique et politique à la Russie, qui a repris la main dans le secteur gazier ukrainien. Surtout, l'équipe Ianoukovitch ressuscite peu à peu les réseaux et les pratiques de l'ère Koutchma, faisant craindre une restauration autoritaire rampante. Exemple : l'acharnement du gouvernement contre l'ancien ministre de l'Intérieur « orange », Iouri Loutsenko, limogé avant Noël. Profitant de sa popularité, ce géant aux fines lunettes et au parler direct a créé un nouveau mouvement démocratique, Samooborona, censé remobiliser les déçus de la « révolution orange ». Sillonnant le pays, il avait rassemblé des foules de plusieurs milliers de personnes dans les provinces et appelait à une marche populaire sur Kiev fin avril. Alors, soudain, il y a une semaine, des policiers ont débarqué chez lui à l'aube, comme au bon vieux temps koutchmiste, pour fouiller son appartement. Une vieille enquête sur lui a été réactivée au parquet. Assigné à domicile, il a dû geler ses meetings en province... « Ces pressions politiques, note Ioulia Timochenko, montrent que nous ne pouvons pas être sûrs que nos libertés et notre souveraineté ne seront plus jamais remises en cause. La société civile doit rester vigilante. » La « restauration » serait en cours dans les administrations, où les membres du clan de Donetsk installent leurs hommes aux commandes. Selon le journal Pokievsky, d'anciens cadres de la police auraient été remis à des postes clés, comme l'ancien chef de la police de Lviv, Oleh Salo, nommé à la tête de la police de la région de Transcarpathie. La « revanche » touche aussi les médias, dont la liberté restait le principal acquis de la « révolution orange ». Deux émissions politiques de premier plan ont été supprimées à la télévision. Pourtant, les experts tempèrent la portée du danger. « Vous savez, quand Napoléon est revenu, cela a duré seulement cent jours », dit Vadim Karassev.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070329.FIG000000242_restaurationrampante_de_l_ancien_regime_a_kiev.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 01 abril 2007 : 13:39:06
|
Más de 70.000 manifestantes piden en Kiev la disolución del Parlamento
Simpatizantes del partido de la oposición piden la dimisión del primer ministro ucraniano
LA VANGUARDIA
Barcelona, 1.4.2007
31/03/2007 | Actualizada a las 21:37h
Kiev. (EP/AP).- Más de 70.000 manifestantes recorrieron hoy las calles del centro de Kiev para pedir al presidente de Ucrania, Viktor Yushchenko, del pro-occidental partido Nuestra Ucrania, la disolución del Parlamento y la convocatoria de nuevas elecciones legislativas. Estas protestas alejan más las posturas de Yushchenko y el primer ministro, Viktor Yanukovich, del Partido de las Regiones, más afín a Rusia.
Los manifestantes mostraron su descontento con respecto a los intentos de Yanukovich de ampliar su poder con la lealtad de parlamentarios tránsfugas elegidos en las listas de los partidos afines a Yushchenko.
Hoy mismo, el propio Yushchenko acusó a Yanukovich de romper sus compromisos del acuerdo por el que compartirían el poder y de intentar amasar más poder robando parlamentarios a los grupos que le apoyan. El presidente también mostró su preocupación por el hecho de que Yanukovich fortalezca su mayoría hasta los 300 parlamentarios en un parlamento de 450 escaños, lo que le permitiría anular los vetos presidenciales y realizar cambios constitucionales.
Yushchenko amenazó con disolver el Parlamento si esta situación no cambia. "Si el trabajo de la mayoría no es renovado sobre la base de la Constitución, firmaré el decreto de disolución del Parlamento", afirmó el presidente en rueda de prensa.
Sus partidarios marcharon por la tarde por la Plaza de la Independencia de Kiev para animarle a que cumpla su amenaza. Esta plaza fue el epicentro de la 'Revolución Naranja' que llevó a Yushchenko al poder.
Los manifestantes acusaron a Yanukovich de intentar modificar los resultados de las legislativas del año pasado. La disolución del Parlamento "no es un derecho del presidente, sino su obligación", afirmó Yulia Timoshenko, líder del Bloque Yulia Timoshenko, aliado de Yushchenko, ante los manifestantes. La multitud respondió con gritos de 'Juntos ganaremos'.
Mientras, unos 20.000 simpatizantes de Yanukovich realizaron una contramanifestación muy cerca de la primera. La Policía, vestida con la equipación antidisturbios y chalecos antibala, levantó barricadas para separar ambas marchas y impidió a la gente que pasaba de una a otra pasar con pancartas ni bufandas políticas.
(http://www.lavanguardia.es/gen/20070331/51320693622/noticias/mas-de-70.000-manifestantes-piden-en-kiev-la-disolucion-del-parlamento-
revolucion-naranja-viktor-yanukovich-yulia-timoshenko-independencia-ucrania.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 02 abril 2007 : 23:12:38
|
El presidente de Ucrania disuelve el Parlamento y convoca elecciones anticipadas
La coalición gobernante del primer ministro, rival político de Víktor Yúshenko, cuenta con mayoría en la Rada Suprema
EL PAÍS.com
AGENCIAS - Kiev - 02/04/2007
El presidente de Ucrania, Víktor Yúshenko, ha disuelto este lunes el Parlamento y ha convocado elecciones legislativas extraordinarias, que se celebrarán el próximo 27 de mayo. Alexandr Moroz, presidente del Parlamento, donde tiene mayoría la coalición gobernante del primer ministro, Víktor Yanukóvich, rival político de Yúshenko, ha advertido de que no acatará la disolución, que ha calificado de ilegal y anticonstitucional.
Yúshenko ha anunciado la disolución de la Rada Suprema o Parlamento en un mensaje a la nación, transmitido por la televisión y la radio de Ucrania. "El cumplimiento del decreto (sobre la disolución del Parlamento) es obligatorio en todo el territorio nacional", ha declarado Yúshenko. El presidente ha subrayado que "quienes intenten alterar el orden, serán castigados" y ha ordenado a Seguridad, Interior y Defensa "garantizar el orden público y la seguridad de los ciudadanos". "Avanzamos por un camino complicado, pero democrático", ha resaltado.
El presidente ucranio acusa a Yanukóvich de intentar usurpar el poder recurriendo a métodos ilegales para ampliar su mayoría en la Cámara y de aprobar leyes anticonstitucionales.
En la Rada se han congregado en sesión extraordinaria al menos 255 de los 450 diputados, entre ellos los líderes de la coalición gobernante, como el primer ministro, Víktor Yanukóvich, y el presidente del Legislativo, según las agencias ucranias. Nada más conocerse la decisión de Yúshenko, los diputados han aprobado por unanimidad una ley, según la cual los legisladores "no deben acatar el decreto del presidente", sino sólo cumplir las resoluciones del Gobierno (formado por ellos) y de la propia Rada, en la que tienen mayoría. Además, el Parlamento ha prohibido a los medios de comunicación difundir el decreto presidencial y ha alertado a los organismos estatales y locales sobre la responsabilidad de "impartir y acatar órdenes ilegales".
El Gobierno se reúne con urgencia
El domingo, los ex aliados de Yúshenko en la llamada Revolución Naranja se manifestaron en Kiev para reclamar la disolución del Parlamento. La última disputa entre Yúshenko, pro-occidental, y Yanukóvich, pro-ruso, se produjo después de que once diputados aliados del presidente abandonaran la coalición que encabeza Yanukóvich el mes pasado, violando una nueva ley que obliga a los diputados a permanecer en el partido al que pertenecían cuando se celebraron las elecciones.
El Gobierno de Yanukóvich se dispone a reunirse con carácter extraordinario esta noche y su ministro de Justicia, Alexandr Lavrinóvich, ya ha adelantado que el presidente "ha rebasado las normas de la Constitución y violado toda una serie de artículos de la Carta Magna". "La fuente de inestabilidad es hoy el presidente de Ucrania", ha sentenciado.
Una vez más, los destinos de Ucrania se decidirán en las calles, pues, al igual que en diciembre de 2004, en Kiev aparecen como hongos las carpas bajo las banderas naranjas de los partidarios de Yúschenko y las azules de los seguidores de Yanukóvich.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/presidente/Ucrania/disuelve/Parlamento/convoca/elecciones/anticipadas/elpepuint/20070402elpepuint_7/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 03 abril 2007 : 17:25:33
|
El primer ministro ucranio pide al Parlamento que desoiga al presidente y siga trabajando
La orden de disolución decretada por el presidente Yushenko ha entrado en vigor esta mañana al ser publicada en la gaceta oficial
EL PAIS.com
AGENCIAS - Kiev - 03/04/2007
Viktor Yanukóvich, el primer ministro ucranio prorruso, ha declarado que el Parlamento tiene que seguir trabajando a pesar de la disolución decretada por el presidente Yushenko, que ha entrado en vigor esta mañana al ser publicada en la gaceta oficial. El Parlamento o Rada Suprema de Ucrania ya había rechazado por la noche la orden del presidente de disolver la Cámara y convocar elecciones anticipadas el 27 de mayo.
El enfrentamiento entre el presidente prooccidental y el Gobierno prorruso, que goza de mayoría en el Parlamento, ha llegado a un punto irreconciliable. La coalición gubernamental ha tildado la orden de Yushenko de "intento de golpe de estado". Por su parte, el presidente ha justificado su decisión acusando al Gobierno de intentar hacerse con la mayoría del Parlamento por métodos ilegales e inconstitucionales.
El primer ministro Viktor Yanukóvich, rival de Yushenko desde hace mucho tiempo, ha pedido al presidente que retire el decreto que, en su opinión, hundiría el país en el caos. También ha dicho estar esperando que el Tribunal Constitucional repare el "error".
Yushenko ha anunciado la disolución de la Rada Suprema o Parlamento en un mensaje a la nación, transmitido por la televisión y la radio de Ucrania. "El cumplimiento del decreto (sobre la disolución del Parlamento) es obligatorio en todo el territorio nacional", ha declarado Yúshenko. El presidente ha subrayado que "quienes intenten alterar el orden, serán castigados" y ha ordenado a Seguridad, Interior y Defensa "garantizar el orden público y la seguridad de los ciudadanos". "Avanzamos por un camino complicado, pero democrático", ha resaltado.
El presidente ucranio acusa a Yanukóvich de intentar usurpar el poder recurriendo a métodos ilegales para ampliar su mayoría en la Cámara y de aprobar leyes anticonstitucionales. El ministro de Defensa, Anatoly Grytsenko, ya ha dicho que obedecerá a Yúshenko que, según la Constitución, ostenta el cargo de comandante jefe del Ejército ucranio. "Las fuerzas armadas ucranias ejecutarán las órdenes de su comandante jefe", ha declarado Grytsenko, uno de los pocos ministros prooccidentales que forma parte del Gobierno de clara vocación prorrusa.
Dudas sobre la legalidad de la orden
En la Rada se han congregado en sesión extraordinaria al menos 255 de los 450 diputados, entre ellos los líderes de la coalición gobernante, como el primer ministro, Víktor Yanukóvich, y el presidente del Legislativo, según las agencias ucranias. Nada más conocerse la decisión de Yushenko, los diputados han aprobado por unanimidad una ley, según la cual los legisladores "no deben acatar el decreto del presidente", sino sólo cumplir las resoluciones del Gobierno (formado por ellos) y de la propia Rada, en la que tienen mayoría.
El Parlamento ha prohibido a los medios de comunicación difundir el decreto presidencial y ha alertado a los organismos estatales y locales sobre la responsabilidad de "impartir y acatar órdenes ilegales". También ha aprobado con 262 votos a favor pedir a la Corte Constitucional de Ucrania que se pronuncie sobre la legalidad de la orden del presidente. La Corte debería tener listo el informe antes de cinco días, informa la agencia Interfax que también ha señalado que la petición aún no se ha redactado. Diputados de la coalición prorrusa han decidido pasar la noche en el Parlamento, según la misma fuente.
El Gobierno se reúne con urgencia
El domingo, los ex aliados de Yúshenko en la llamada Revolución Naranja se manifestaron en Kiev para reclamar la disolución del Parlamento. La última disputa entre Yúshenko, pro-occidental, y Yanukóvich, prorruso, se produjo después de que 11 diputados aliados del presidente abandonaran la coalición que encabeza Yanukóvich el mes pasado, violando una nueva ley que obliga a los diputados a permanecer en el partido al que pertenecían cuando se celebraron las elecciones.
El Gobierno de Yanukóvich se dispone a reunirse hoy con carácter extraordinario y su ministro de Justicia, Alexandr Lavrinóvich, ya ha adelantado que el presidente "ha rebasado las normas de la Constitución y violado toda una serie de artículos de la Carta Magna". "La fuente de inestabilidad es hoy el presidente de Ucrania", ha sentenciado. Una vez más, los destinos de Ucrania se decidirán en las calles, pues, al igual que en diciembre de 2004, en Kiev aparecen como hongos las carpas bajo las banderas naranjas de los partidarios de Yúschenko y las azules de los seguidores de Yanukóvich.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/
primer/ministro/ucranio/pide/Parlamento/desoiga/presidente/siga/trabajando/elpepuint/20070403elpepuint_2/Tes) |
Editado por - alazaro a las 03 abril 2007 17:26:27 |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 05 abril 2007 : 00:46:53
|
VÍKTOR YÚSHENKO, Presidente de Ucrania
"No recurriré a la fuerza para disolver el Parlamento"
PILAR BONET (ENVIADA ESPECIAL) - Kiev
ELPAIS.com, 04/04/2007
¿Puede asegurar el presidente Víktor Yúshenko, con la mano en el corazón, que no recurrirá a la fuerza para disolver el Parlamento de Ucrania como hizo Borís Yeltsin en 1993 en Rusia? Sigue un silencio, una mirada escrutadora y una risita nerviosa, y Yúshenko exclama: "No voy a hacer algo así".
El presidente daba una respuesta tranquilizadora a la pregunta formulada invocando la condición de ciudadana de un país que ha vivido la guerra civil. En una dependencia de la administración presidencial en Kiev, el líder ucranio explicaba a cinco corresponsales de la Unión Europea los argumentos que le han guiado a disolver la Rada Suprema, que no ha aceptado su decisión.
Yúshenko está dispuesto a esperar el dictamen del Tribunal Constitucional, pero tiene poca fe en esta institución que "no ha tomado ni una sola decisión desde que comenzó a funcionar en agosto pasado". Afirma además que todavía queda margen de diálogo y compromiso con el primer ministro, Víktor Yanukóvich y la mayoría gubernamental. "El componente diplomático y político de las conversaciones no está agotado" es su conclusión de una reunión de varias horas el martes con su antiguo rival, que dirige un Gobierno de coalición formado por el partido Regiones, socialistas y comunistas. "Si ellos aprovechan esta oportunidad, muy bien, y si no la aprovechan, entonces se pondrán en marcha otros métodos", señalaba, sin explicar cuáles.
En la calle, cerca de la administración presidencial, columnas de manifestantes mayoritariamente favorables a Yanukóvich, enarbolaban banderas donde el color amarillo de Ucrania era más visible que en el pasado. Los manifestantes circulaban de una parte a otra como si no supieran muy bien a donde ir. En el Maidán, la plaza de la independencia, la música ligera difundida por altavoces martilleaba los cerebros. En el edificio de la Rada Suprema, los diputados de la coalición gubernamental seguían sesionando. El presidente del Tribunal Constitucional, Iván Dombróvski, amenazaba con dimitir si le presionaban para tratar el tema de inmediato y los magistrados se dedicaban a aclarar las obligaciones y derechos de los parlamentarios que se pasan de bando. Esta cuestión, planteada por Yulia Timoshenko antes de la crisis que se ha originado por el decreto de disolución del Parlamento, ayudaría a aclarar el problema que preocupa a Yúshenko.
El presidente insiste en que un Parlamento formado por sistema proporcional, como el que existe actualmente en Ucrania, no es compatible, con la fuga de los diputados que abandonan la oposición para unirse a titulo individual a la coalición del Gobierno, una práctica del pasado que se mantiene en la actualidad. "La coalición gubernamental se basa en grupos parlamentarios", dice Yúshenko, y ese es un principio básico. Antes, el sistema parlamentario ucranio era mixto, ya que la mitad de los diputados eran por circunscripciones electorales y la otra mitad, por listas de partidos.
Yúshenko no cree en la posibilidad de guerra civil en Ucrania. Lo importante, según él, es "sacar lecciones de la situación", ya que la coalición gubernamental ha propiciado "desarrollos tan peligrosos para los valores de la democracia como los hechos de la historia que usted menciona", dice refiriéndose a la guerra civil española y a la disolución Parlamento ruso, en 1993. Subraya que no utilizará la fuerza y asegura haberse dirigido a los órganos de orden público para que la crisis pueda resolverse sin "participación de estructuras militares, soldados o fuerzas de seguridad". "He dado orden al ministro del Interior para que en Kiev no aparezca ni un solo hombre armado de las fuerzas de su departamento, para que den a los políticos la posibilidad de encontrar una solución política". "Me dirigí a las fuerzas en conflicto, a Nuestra Ucrania y al partido de Yulia Timoshenko, para que no saquen los próximos días a los electores a los mítines, para que nos den algunos días a los políticos para dialogar".
En las manos, Yúshenko sostiene un ejemplar de trabajo de la Constitución, donde están marcados con trazos fosforescentes los párrafos que él considera fundamentales. El presidente lee los artículos en los que se ampara y se empeña en seguir adelante con las elecciones anticipadas y con su decreto. Su decisión, explica, no ha sido tomada por la fuga de sus diputados a las filas del Gobierno, "sino porque es anticonstitucional que la mayoría se forme con diputados individuales", por ser ésta "una coalición de grupos parlamentarios y no una coalición de diputados".
"El problema no es que dos o tres diputados se cambien de bando, sino un proceso que lleva a la usurpación del poder". "El único camino para cumplir con la Constitución es disolver el Parlamento y convocar nuevas elecciones", señala. "La corrupción política del pasado se mantiene", opina. "No tengo intención de aceptar esto porque es el problema básico de la inestabilidad política en el país. La gente tiene que saber por quién votó y no ver su posición traicionada. Con esto hay que acabar".
El presidente hace afirmaciones que parecen contradictorias. Habla de resolver la crisis política con "métodos exclusivamente políticos", pero acusa a la coalición gubernamental de "corrupción política", "chantaje", y de "pagar con cargos" los servicios prestados. Asegura que va a "respetar la decisión del Tribunal Constitucional", pero deja claro que es escéptico ante esta institución, formada por tres tercios, en representación del presidente, del Parlamento y del colegio de jueces. Si el tribunal no se deja influir como ha sido la norma en los últimos años, "se podrá contar con una decisión sabia, correcta y justa", señala.
Yúshenko y Timoshenko no pudieron reconstruir la coalición naranja que lideraron en 2004 para formar gobierno en 2006. ¿Qué le hace pensar que será posible constituirla ahora? Yúshenko dice ver dos posibilidades de formar una coalición afín (tras las hipotéticas elecciones del 27 de mayo), una con las fuerzas de centro-derecha, centro y centro-izquierda que incluiría el partido de Timoshenko, y otra coalición sin Timoshenko. Cuando se le pregunta qué le hace pensar que hoy será más fácil ponerse de acuerdo con la dama de la revolución naranja que en el pasado, responde de forma vaga. "Ahora, todos están interesados en esta coalición". "Es mejor consolidarse en un bloque de centro derecha que estar dividido y salir en diferentes comitivas".
Vago se muestra también cuando se le habla del peligro de escisión entre las dos Ucranias, siendo una de ellas la zona industrial del este y del sur de habla rusa, y la otra, la del oeste, considerada la cuna del proyecto nacional ucranio, tal como es entendido por la élite prooccidental del país.
"La situación actual es un episodio, no una tragedia", puntualiza Yúshenko, quien concede que la solución jurídica no lo es todo, porque existen en Ucrania "contradicciones de carácter institucional debidas a los cambios que se introdujeron en la Constitución. En agosto Yúshenko y Yanukóvich firmaron un acuerdo amplio que debía ser el catecismo de la cohabitación. Ahora Yúshenko afirma que de los acuerdos de entonces "no se ha cumplido ni un solo punto". En el ámbito económico, el presidente dice ver pocas diferencias con Yanukóvich y los suyos y más diferencias en lo que se refiere al orden público y al poder judicial.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/recurrire/fuerza/disolver/Parlamento/elpepuint/20070404elpepuint_14/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 05 abril 2007 : 20:15:59
|
El primer ministro Yanukóvich apela a la mediación internacional para evitar "la guerra civil" en Ucrania
El enfrentamiento entre el presidente Yúshenko y la coalición de Gobierno liderada por Yanukóvich tiene sumida a Ucrania en una incertidumbre política y social
ELPAIS.com
EFE - Kiev - 05/04/2007
El primer ministro de Ucrania, el pro ruso Víctor Yanukóvich, ha reclamado hoy la mediación internacional en la crisis política que vive Ucrania tras la disolución del Parlamento y la convocatoria de elecciones anticipadas por el presidente, el pro europeo Víktor Yúshenko. "He decidido traer prestigiosos mediadores internacionales para no permitir una escalada del conflicto, impedir que degenere en un enfrentamiento civil, evitar un solución por la fuerza y devolver la situación a un terreno jurídico constructivo", ha proclamado Yanukóvich.
En una rueda de prensa, el jefe del Gobierno ha anunciado que ya ha pedido la mediación del canciller austríaco, Alfred Gusenbauer, al tiempo que ha solicitado a los principales expertos en leyes de Europa que den una valoración jurídica de la situación que vive Ucrania.
El presidente ucranio disolvió por decreto el pasado lunes la Rada Suprema (El Legislativo, de 450 escaños) y convocó comicios anticipados para el 27 de mayo, después de acusar a la mayoría parlamentaria que forma Gobierno (un Ejecutivo de coalición formado por el partido Regiones que lidera Yanukóvich, socialistas y comunistas) de aplicar una política ilegal de transfuguismo para acumular mayoría constitucional y arrebatar más poder al jefe de Estado. La Rada y el Gobierno de Yanukóvich declararon anticonstitucional el decreto presidencial y se negaron a cumplirlo hasta que su legalidad no sea confirmada por el Tribunal Constitucional (TC), cuyo veredicto ambos bandos se comprometieron a obedecer.
El primer ministro, antiguo antagonista y rival de Yúschenko y apoyado en esta crisis por la clase política rusa, ha dicho que, de aceptar el presidente la mediación internacional, él también pediría terciar en el arreglo a "países vecinos, como Rusia y Polonia". Durante la llamada revolución naranja, como se conoce al movimiento de protesta contra el fraude electoral de finales de 2004, que catapultó a Yúschenko al poder, la crisis política se resolvió con la mediación de Lituania, Polonia, la Unión Europea y también Rusia, a pesar de que oficialmente el Kremlin había apoyado a Yanukóvich.
Yanukóvich fue nombrado primer ministro en agosto pasado después de meses de bloqueo político tras las elecciones celebradas en marzo de 2006.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/primer/ministro/Yanukovich/apela/mediacion/internacional/evitar/guerra/civil/Ucrania/elpepuint/20070405elpepuint_9/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 09 abril 2007 : 14:22:43
|
Ukraine: Weak Institutions At The Root Of Political Crisis
By Brian Whitmore
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Kyiv, 03 Apr. 2007
April 3, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Here we go again. The streets of Kyiv are filling up with opposing demonstrators clad in orange and blue. Just another crisis in the new democratic Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has disbanded parliament in the name of the constitution. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych -- citing the very same constitution -- has declared the move illegal and vowed to resist.
But why exactly do political disputes in the former Soviet Union tend to spill out on to the streets?
Alexander Rahr of the German Council on Foreign Relations says the problem -- in Ukraine and elsewhere in the region -- lies in the lack of democratic traditions.
"The problem, even 15 years after the demise of the Soviet Union, is to bring the leading politicians into a situation where they obey the rules of the game, which they obviously don't do," Rahr says. "And second, the problem is the mentality of the elites and the broader population, which also favor leaders and not law."
Personality And Politics
Following the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukraine tried to move away from the powerful executives that have been prevalent in the former Soviet Union and build a true parliamentary system. The presidency's powers were trimmed and parliament's were strengthened.
At the time, many observers hailed the changes as the revolution's most important legacy.
But Yushchenko's decision to dissolve parliament represents the end of this experiment.
"Ukraine is shifting away from the idea of a parliamentary republic," Rahr explains. "Ukraine has failed to build -- the first country in the post-Soviet space -- a democratic system based on parliamentary leadership and not on the leadership of one single person, namely the president."
Rahr says that when faced with difficulties, politicians in the former Soviet Union tend to fall back on what they know best -- attempting to rule with a strong hand.
"If politicians recognize that it is easier for them to try to come to power and rule the country through authoritarian means and not through compromises and democratic choices, then they choose the easiest way, the authoritarian way," Rahr explains.
Looking Around The Region
Ukraine is not the only country in the region struggling with the checks, balances, and competing institutions that characterize Western democracies.
n Kyrgyzstan, months of stalemate led to the prime minister's resignation on March 29.
So far, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev -- elected after an uprising in 2005 ousted President Askar Akaev -- has tried to placate the opposition and work with parliament. Some opposition groups are nevertheless demanding that Bakiev step down.
Georgia -- which in 2003 ushered in a new wave of democratic revolutions in the former Soviet Union -- has so far escaped such unrest.
But analysts say Georgia's institutions have not yet been truly tested.
President Mikheil Saakashvilli, who was elected after the 2003 Rose Revolution, enjoys an overwhelming majority in parliament -- and Georgia remains largely a presidential republic with a strong executive.
Saakashvilli repeatedly says that he intends to give up some of his presidential power in favor of a stronger parliament -- but has made no moves toward actually doing so.
"I don't think we have a parliamentary republic in Georgia," Rahr says. "We have seen a presidential [system] replaced by a new strong leader, Saakashvili, which he still is. Georgia is not moving toward a genuine democratic system like Ukraine was after the Orange Revolution. Kyrgyzstan is also difficult because there you have local clans and a kind of split in the country [between] the north and the south."
Russia's Influence
Part of the problem lies in the neighborhood these countries are forced to live in -- one dominated by an increasingly authoritarian Russia with strong interests in its neighbors' affairs.
"There is a challenge in their region from countries like Russia, which are backsliding in terms of democracy," says Nadia Diuk, senior director for Europe and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy, a nonprofit organization that receives support from the U.S. Congress. "It's not easy for a country like Kyrgyzstan that is surrounded by authoritarian dictatorships."
Russia, of course, had its own showdown between the president and parliamentary opposition back in 1993. At that time, Russia's pro-Western President Boris Yeltsin solved the crisis by shelling what many saw as a reactionary opposition into submission.
At the time, many in the West cheered Yeltsin on and called the move a victory for democratic forces.
Today, many view those events as the end of Russia's democratic experiment and the beginning of the overbearing executive that now rules the Kremlin.
(http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/04/08ad9468-0e10-4ffe-88f4-8e7256cc567c.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 09 abril 2007 : 14:27:15
|
RUSSIA OFFERS UKRAINE 'ASSISTANCE'
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on April 3 in Yerevan, Armenia, that Russia "wants a resolution to be found [for the Ukrainian political crisis] within the framework of Ukrainian law and the Ukrainian Constitution, through a dialogue among all political forces on this legal basis," news agencies reported. He added that "as for the possibility of Russia, or the CIS, or other countries getting involved in helping resolve this crisis, I believe it is up to the Ukrainian side, first and foremost. If Ukraine asks for assistance, let me assure you that Russia will not hesitate to provide such help." He did not specify what this "assistance" might entail. In Moscow, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said that "the power struggle in Ukraine is turning from rivalry between [political] parties into confrontation between the sides that is taking place on the streets, which has already become standard practice, and that is fraught with violence and possible unrest. This is what we would like our Ukrainian colleagues and friends to stay away from." In Kyiv, a spokesman for President Viktor Yushchenko said that the president hopes to pay a working visit to Russia soon, Interfax reported. The spokesman added that "we will not [further] delay [the trip], because we need to finalize all issues pertaining to the plan for our relations for 2007-08." Also on April 3, the Russian daily "Trud" quoted Boris Nemtsov, who is a former adviser to the Ukrainian president, as saying that the political balance of forces in Ukraine is likely to remain the same whatever the outcome of the current crisis. Some other commentators told the daily, however, that the situation is delicate and could lead to violence or to a realignment of the political balance. PM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 63, Part I, 4 April 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 09 abril 2007 : 20:38:59
|
Dejar en paz a Ucrania
EL PAIS - Editorial
09/04/2007
El prolongado forcejeo que sostienen los dos Víktor de Ucrania, el presidente, Víktor Yúshenko, y el primer ministro, Víktor Yanukóvich, entró la semana pasada en una fase de enfrentamiento agudo, aunque por ahora únicamente político. El presidente, que sólo tiene ojos para la UE, disolvió el lunes pasado el Parlamento, convocando elecciones anticipadas para el próximo 27 de mayo. El primer ministro, muy acomodado a Rusia, aunque dice no temer a las urnas, se opone a la decisión presidencial, contra la que ha recurrido al Tribunal Constitucional.
La pugna de fondo consiste en determinar qué clase de república ha de ser Ucrania: parlamentaria, como quiere Yanukóvich, o presidencialista, como defiende el jefe del Estado; y esas elecciones, si se celebran, podrían verse como un referéndum popular en favor de una u otra posición. La negativa de Yúshenko, ayer domingo, de retirar su decreto de disolución endurecía el clima político, que puede ir a peor cuanto más tarde el tribunal, que tiene un mes a partir de hoy, en dar a conocer su dictamen.
El conflicto es reflejo de la inmadurez, impaciencia y miopía de la primera generación de dirigentes pos-soviéticos convertidos a la democracia, lo que vale tanto para el presidente y su ex aliada Yulia Timoshenko, que también presiona para que haya nuevas elecciones, como para el primer ministro. Y otro tanto cabe decir de muchos diputados de la Rada Suprema (el Parlamento), que se cambian de bando según soplen los vientos del poder y del dinero. Yúshenko malgastó la confianza popular tras las elecciones de marzo de 2006, al no haber sabido formar Gobierno con el partido de Timoshenko, que ya había sido su primera ministra en 2004, al triunfo de la llamada revolución naranja; y Yanukóvich aprovecha su mayoría en la Cámara para minar los poderes del presidente, ya restringidos por la reforma constitucional, según el compromiso de diciembre de 2004.
La crisis no tiene por qué convertirse en un problema internacional, y sería precipitado que la UE, Rusia o EE UU trataran de mediar en un conflicto en el que no se da la inquietante contraposición Este-Oeste. El riesgo reside, en cambio, en que los políticos de Kiev, enfrentados, pierdan el control de las regiones y que éstas queden a merced de las élites locales, divididas entre un Este prorruso y un Oeste próximo a Europa. Podría hablarse entonces de proceso de disgregación del país. Pero hoy lo mejor es dejar en paz a Ucrania.
(© Diario EL PAÍS S.L. - http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/Dejar/paz/Ucrania/elpporopi/20070409elpepiopi_2/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 09 abril 2007 : 23:14:02
|
Behind Ukraine's power struggle
The president's call to dissolve parliament has brought the greatest turmoil since the 2004 revolution
By Robert Marquand
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the April 6, 2007 edition
PARIS - Ukraine sits on the sensitive geopolitical border between East and West, and two years ago its "Orange Revolution" set off a dynamic toward greater democracy and independence from old ties to Moscow.
Yet a major political impasse has emerged amid a call for new elections in Ukraine on May 27 and an effort to dissolve parliament by embattled President Viktor Yushchenko, the guiding spirit of the Orange movement.
Mr. Yushchenko is locked in a power struggle with Moscow-leaning Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, creating a crisis of authority between the military and the interior ministry, and a battle over constitutional interpretations – all of which could awaken ethnic and regional divides, though no one expects tanks or troops in the streets.
While political tensions in Ukraine are often portrayed as the result of competing pulls from Moscow and the West, this crisis is seen more as a standoff between internal competitors and institutions. The underlying trouble, say some analysts, is that the same post-Orange Revolution reforms that brought multiparty democracy, separation of powers, and a free press to Ukraine also allowed for such loose, competing power centers between the parliament and the president that resolving disagreements between them has become the subject of intense disagreement.
"Many issues have not been regulated and this leaves lots of holes, which each side can interpret as it prefers," argues Alexander Sushko of the Independent Institute of Euro-Atlantic Integration in Kiev. "When it comes to a conflict, it is rather tough because Ukraine has no traditions to solve such a crisis."
Mr. Yanukovich, who controls the interior ministry and a majority in the parliament, the Rada, is dead set against new elections. He's thrown the question to a constitutional court, which is now in such a hot seat that on Wednesday, its chief, Ivan Dombrovsky, tried to resign. Yushchenko, who has the military on his side, says the elections will move ahead even if the court rules against it.
In the two years since mass protests in fall of 2004 led to an overturning of a rigged election that had placed a Moscow-friendly leader in charge, the Orange coalition of Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko has been steadily losing support in the parliament. Yushchenko may have felt he had no choice but to ask for fresh elections, some sources say. Tymoshenko is a popular candidate who could well benefit from a new vote – though the opposition denies this.
Ukrainians, meanwhile, have been disillusioned by the high cost of living and by the perceived ineptitude of politicians charged with ushering in reforms, which have stalled. Yushchenko's decision to call elections followed a defection on March 23 of 11 of Ms. Tymoshenko's party members to the opposition – giving them 260 members of parliament. Only 300 are needed to create a different political culture, to reverse some of the checks and balances in power wrought by the Orange Revolution.
Politicians in Ukraine have been "pressed to change factions by promises or money or even threats," says Alexandr Chekmyshov, deputy director of the Institute of Journalism and chairman of The Equal Access Committee in Kiev. "It was a struggle for power ... [and] gave reason for the president to say that the balance of forces in parliament didn't correspond to the voters' will expressed during the election [of 2004.]"
Vera Nanivska, president of the Academy of State Management in Ukraine, says that the current political standoff is a manifestation of democratic growing pains. "It is a "serious crisis but it ... means that democracy is being developed, even if it is 'groping along.'"
However, others say this isn't democracy at all. "The Orange Revolution didn't bring democracy to Ukraine," says Kirill Frolov of the Institute of CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] Studies in Moscow. "The state interferes in the affairs of church and even dictates to the citizens what language they have to speak. This is no democracy."
Yet in Mr. Frolov's view, the success of the Orange forces in a new election would be troubling. "If nationalists – I mean Yushchenko and Tymoshenko – win ... it will bring destabilization of the situation in Eastern Europe and confrontation with Russia."
• Olga Podolskaya contributed reporting from Moscow.
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0406/p07s01-woeu.html?page=1) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 15 abril 2007 : 20:52:19
|
Viktor Ianoukovitch : "Un compromis politique est possible"
Seules des élections anticipées – parlementaires et présidentielle – «simultanées» seraient acceptables, explique au Figaro le premier ministre ukrainien
Propos recueillis à Kiev par FABRICE NODÉ-LANGLOIS
Le Figaro, Paris, 12 avril 2007
LE FIGARO. – Vous avez rencontré le président Iouchtchenko avant-hier. Une solution à la crise politique est-elle en vue ?
Viktor IANOUKOVITCH. – Dès la publication de l’oukase du président, nous avons eu des consultations régulières, presque tous les jours. Dès le début, j’ai proposé au président de suspendre cet oukase, douteux selon moi, jusqu’à ce que la Cour constitutionnelle se prononce. Aucune des trois conditions prévues par la Constitution pour dissoudre n’était remplie. Des conclusions du ministère de la Justice, d’instituts nationaux de droit, de sociétés juridiques du monde entier montrent que l’oukase ne correspond pas aux normes juridiques. Le président et l’opposition cherchent des possibilités d’organiser tous les jours des élections à leur avantage. Si le résultat des élections n’arrange pas le président, il peut se permettre de signer des oukases sans reconnaître le choix du peuple ukrainien. Si nous choisissons cette voie, nous aurons des élections en permanence.
Quelle issue est possible ?
Avant tout, le retour dans le champ légal, avec l’annulation du décret du président. Il faut se mettre à la table des négociations, en recherchant le compromis.
Des juges de la Cour constitutionnelle se sont plaints, mardi, de pressions venant de votre camp.
Tous les juges qui ont fait cette conférence de presse ont été nommés par le président ou sont élus par le parti Notre Ukraine (du président, NDLR). C’est donc un moyen que le président engage pour remettre la décision, car il sait que les juges reconnaîtront l’inconstitutionnalité de son oukase.
S’il y avait des élections anticipées, quels enjeux mettriez-vous en avant ?
La possibilité d’élections dans le cadre constitutionnel n’existe pas. Cependant, un compromis politique est possible. Des élections anticipées, parlementaires et présidentielle simultanées, sont possibles.
Seriez-vous candidat à une présidentielle anticipée ?
Certainement.
En cas d’élections, quels seraient vos thèmes de campagne ?
Le gouvernement que j’ai dirigé en 2003-2004 (sous la présidence Koutchma, avant la «révolution orange», NDLR) a permis un très haut niveau de développement économique. La croissance était supérieure à 13 % par an. En 2005-2006, elle a brusquement chuté à 3,5 à 4 %. Au second semestre 2006 et depuis le début de 2007, mon gouvernement a réussi à remonter la croissance à 8,5 % par mois en moyenne. En 2007, nous avons annoncé la hausse des salaires et des retraites trois fois par an. Les gens ressentent l’amélioration du niveau de vie. Nous savons quoi faire, et comment, pour développer l’économie. Nous sommes prêts à commencer des réformes et avons une stratégie de développement jusqu’en 2011.
Les médias internationaux vous qualifient de «prorusse» par opposition au camp «pro-occidental» du président. Vous reconnaissez-vous dans cette définition ?
Si correspondre aux principes occidentaux c’est travailler en dehors de la légalité, alors le président est pro-occidental. Si être prorusse c’est respecter la Constitution et la suprématie de la loi, alors Ianoukovitch est prorusse.
Pourquoi vous opposez-vous à l’adhésion de l’Ukraine à l’Otan ?
Les études d’opinion démontrent que l’adhésion n’est soutenue que par 15 à 20 % de la population ukrainienne. Avec un soutien si faible, ce n’est pas correct de soulever cette question, d’autant que la loi prévoit qu’elle doit être approuvée par référendum.
Vous êtes en revanche favorable à l’adhésion à l’Union européenne.
Nous avons le soutien du peuple ukrainien sur cette question qui figurait parmi les priorités du programme de mon parti aux législatives de mars 2006. Nous devons nous développer en relation avec l’UE, pour avoir à long terme la possibilité d’adhérer.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070412.WWW000000477_viktor_ianoukovitch_un_compromis_politique_est_possible.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 22 abril 2007 : 14:21:00
|
Ukraine's latest revolt hews 'Blue'
Protesters have hit the streets this week amid a constitutional crisis that has caused political gridlock
By Fred Weir
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the April 17, 2007 edition
MOSCOW
The demonstrators camped out this week on Kiev's Independence Square are far fewer than the throngs of 2004's Orange Revolution – the two-week-long mass protest that overturned a rigged election, allowed the movement's leader, Viktor Yushchenko, to become president, and seemed to secure a democratic future for Ukraine.
This time, the tent city on Kiev's main street is festooned with the blue banners of the Orange Revolution's opponents, and the nightly rallies are filled with ringing denunciations of Mr. Yushchenko's "undemocratic" and "power-grubbing" behavior.
Despite the relative paucity of demonstrators compared with 2004, experts say this is Ukraine's most serious crisis yet. Even though the general population remains largely uninvolved, the threat of a national breakup looks increasingly real.
"This is a fight between the leaders and their most active supporters, but it has already gone too far," says Oleksandr Shushko, an expert with the independent Institute for Euro-Atlantic Integration in Kiev. "It's becoming clear that our current constitutional model is not workable at all."
Opinion polls suggest that two years of constitutional gridlock have left most Ukrainians exhausted and disillusioned with political leaders of every stripe who never seem to do anything but squabble. Yushchenko's early-April decree ordering the Blue-dominated parliament, the Supreme Rada, to disband and face new elections on May 27, is opposed by nearly 60 percent of Ukrainians, according to a recent survey by the independent Sofia Social Studies Center in Kiev. Yet that poll does not appear to reflect support for the Blue forces, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, who have hunkered down in the Rada and refused to obey the president. Several polls released last week suggest that Mr. Yanukovich's Party of Regions, based in the Russified east, enjoys the backing of no more than 35 percent of voters – the same percentage with which it won in parliamentary polls a year ago.
Before the crisis erupted in early April, Yanukovich had been fortifying his parliamentary majority by inducing deputies from the two pro-democracy Orange parties to cross the floor. Yanukovich had bragged that by summer his coalition would have 300 members in the 450-seat Rada – the magic number required to override presidential vetoes. Yushchenko reacted to his depleting ranks on April 2, when he accused the Blue parties of bribing Orange lawmakers, dispersed the Rada, and ordered fresh elections.
"The key issue here is that the only democratic way of getting out of this deep crisis ... lies in new elections," Yushchenko said on Wednesday in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
The Constitutional Court has agreed to begin hearings on April 17, but that is also the legal deadline for all parties to register for the snap elections, meaning the immediate crisis is likely to go unresolved.
"For us, there is no way out but through the cancellation of the president's unconstitutional decree," says Vasyl Khara, head of the Party of Regions caucus in the embattled Rada. Otherwise, he says, the Blue coalition may refuse to take part in the May 27 polls.
In the past week, five judges of the 18-member Constitutional Court abruptly resigned, citing unspecified "threats" and "political pressure." Three more judges were checked into the hospital over the weekend with unspecified medical complaints. Experts say the court can continue to operate with a 10-member quorum, but that the episode raises worries that Ukraine's fledgling institutions may not be able to contain the escalating dispute.
"It will be very unfortunate if, after all this turmoil, we don't develop better checks and balances in our system," says Vira Nanivska, president of the official National Academy for Public Administration in Kiev.
At a Kiev rally last week, Yanukovich said that he would vacate the Rada only if Yushchenko agrees to face the voters, too. "If we hold early elections, they must be parliamentary and presidential, and held within the framework of current legislation," he said. That solution might also appeal to the ambitious Yulia Tymoshenko, who leads the Orange-hued All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland party and who has made little secret of her impatience with Yushchenko, her cautious ex-ally.
For his part, Yushchenko said in a speech last Thursday that he's not wedded to the May 27 date for new parliamentary polls and that he would allow deputies to reconvene in the Rada to decide on a fresh date.
But polls suggest that a new election may only reproduce the current stalemate. Experts warn that failure to find a compromise will lead to a permanent crisis and, in the worst case, even Ukraine's breakup. Deep divisions between the country's heavily industrialized, Russified east and its agricultural, Ukrainian-speaking, and pro-European west, seem certain to continue generating conflict over flash point issues like NATO membership, economic cooperation with Russia, and official status for the Russian language. Until Ukraine's Constitutional Court renders a decision or one of the antagonists blinks, the country's worst political crisis since the collapse of the USSR is likely to go rolling on.
"Our political competition is not between right and left, but between east and west, and this is a potential disaster," says Ms. Nanivska.
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0417/p07s01-woeu.html?s=hns) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 02 mayo 2007 : 17:22:43
|
UKRAINIAN SPEAKER OFFERS PLAN TO RESOLVE POLITICAL CRISIS
Verkhovna Rada head Oleksandr Moroz told journalists in Kyiv on April 23 that he is going to offer President Viktor Yushchenko a plan to settle the ongoing political crisis in the country, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Moroz proposes to cancel simultaneously the presidential decree dissolving the parliament and the resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada that were passed in response to the decree. If the Constitutional Court recognizes the presidential decree as constitutional, Moroz proposes to postpone the date of the early elections to the Verkhovna Rada until this coming summer or autumn. If the Constitutional Court rules the presidential decree void, Moroz proposes that the Verkhovna Rada introduce a number of amendments in electoral legislation, the rules of procedure in the Verkhovna Rada, the constitution, the law on the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as introduce a number of other bills. On April 24, Moroz called on deputies from the opposition Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) and Our Ukraine to return to work in the legislature.
Oleksandr Turchynov from the BYuT responded that lawmakers from his party will return to parliament only following early parliamentary elections. Lawmakers from the BYuT and Our Ukraine gave up their parliamentary seats last week.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 75, Part II, 24 April 2007.)
|
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 06 mayo 2007 : 01:37:32
|
UKRAINE REAPS HARVEST OF PRESIDENTIAL INDECISION
By Jan Maksymiuk
Following the tumultuous Orange Revolution in 2004, Ukraine is facing its second serious crisis in just less than three years.
President Viktor Yushchenko on April 2 issued a decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada and calling for early elections in May, but both the government and parliament refused to obey it. On April 26 Yushchenko signed another decree, rescheduling the early elections for June.
Yushchenko's new decree on early parliamentary elections effectively annuls his decree of April 2, which has been undergoing examination for its compliance with the constitution by the Constitutional Court since April 17. It is expected that the Constitutional Court, in accordance with its rules of procedure, will soon end consideration of this decree now that it is no longer valid.
Many Ukrainian legal experts and political commentators have opined that Yushchenko's April 2 decision to disband the Verkhovna Rada was poorly justified, predicting that the Constitutional Court would invalidate it. According to them, by issuing another decree Yushchenko obviates such an unfavorable turn of events.
In his first decree, Yushchenko quoted Article 83 of the constitution, which stipulates that a government majority in parliament be formed by deputy factions. Since the ruling coalition had expanded its parliamentary representation with some 40 lawmakers from other factions in March, Yushchenko argued the coalition violated the constitution, thus providing him with the right to disband the legislature in order to put the political process in the country back on a constitutional path.
However, the moot point for Yushchenko's opponents from the ruling coalition of the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party is that the reasons for early parliamentary elections are specified in Article 90 of the constitution.
This article stipulates the president may call early elections if the Verkhovna Rada fails to form a majority in accordance with Article 83 within 30 days after its first sitting; fails to approve a new cabinet within 60 days after the dismissal or resignation of the previous one; or fails to gather for a sitting within 30 days during an ongoing parliamentary session. None of these reasons was explicitly mentioned in Yushchenko's April 2 decree.
Yushchenko's new decree refers to Point 1 of Article 90 as a reason for the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada. It remains to be seen whether, as Yushchenko implies, the defection of more than 30 opposition deputies to the ruling coalition in March may be considered the formation of a new majority. But at any rate, as one legal expert recently told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, the new decree at least provides the Constitutional Court with substance for discussion.
Apart from causing headaches for Constitutional Court judges, the current constitutional crisis poses the disturbing question of whether democracy, which was so joyfully celebrated on Independence Square in Kyiv during the 2004 Orange Revolution, has a chance to survive in Ukraine.
Despite ongoing street protests by both supporters and opponents of the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada, the situation in Kyiv and in the provinces has so far been under the government's control. But it is evident Ukraine is slowly edging toward political and legal chaos, which may culminate in a violent scenario if the president, the prime minister, and parliament fail to find a solution quickly.
Could the current confrontation between the key institutions of Ukraine's political system -- the president and the Verkhovna Rada -- have been averted?
The seeds of a potential institutional conflict in Ukraine were sown during the 2004 Orange Revolution in a hurriedly passed constitutional reform that enabled all political players at that time to find a way out of an electoral impasse and paved the way for Yushchenko's victory over Yanukovych in the third round of the presidential election.
The 2004 political-reform package included many vague formulations and loopholes that both Yushchenko and Yanukovych have subsequently tried to use to their advantage. Yanukovych eventually took the upper hand by passing in January 2007 a law on the cabinet of ministers. This law expanded the prime minister's powers at the expense of the president even more than the constitution amended in 2004, which essentially transformed Ukraine from a presidential republic into a parliamentary-presidential one.
However, this law was not enough for Yanukovych, who launched a campaign to lure away lawmakers from opposition caucuses in order to build a majority of at least 300 votes that would enable him to override presidential vetoes, amend the constitution, or even abolish the presidency in Ukraine altogether. Had it not been for Yushchenko's decree on early parliamentary polls, Yanukovych might have succeeded in this plan.
But it would be totally wrong to put the blame for the current crisis only on Yanukovych's appetite for power. Yushchenko should also take a measure of responsibility, because on many occasions he indicated he would like to abolish the 2004 political reform and regain the executive prerogatives enjoyed by his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma.
In short, both Yanukovych and Yushchenko showed disrespect for the constitution amended in 2004 and the checks and balances that were included in it to shift the country's authoritarian political system toward a more European model. Both Yanukovych and Yushchenko have failed to pass a test of political responsibility and moderation and have shown they are true representatives of the post-Soviet mentality, for which a "strongman" is still the ideal of a political leader.
Yushchenko's decision to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada should have been made in July 2006, when Our Ukraine, the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialist Party buried all chances to recreate their post-Orange Revolution ruling coalition, and the Verkhovna Rada clearly overstepped the constitutional time frame for forming a majority. At that time Yushchenko could have recaptured the political initiative and presented himself as a decisive leader of the nation. What we see now is the direct consequence of his indecision in 2006.
The current political crisis seems to have been cunningly provoked by his enthusiastic ally in the Orange Revolution, Yuliya Tymoshenko, who helped Yanukovych overcome Yushchenko's veto on the law on the cabinet of ministers and thus goaded Yushchenko into action against Yanukovych. Tymoshenko, for whom there has been no government role following the March 2006 elections, is the actor who most wants early elections and a new political opening.
Sociological surveys indicate that Yanukovych's Party of Regions and Tymoshenko's eponymous bloc are poised to win a new poll and effectively inaugurate a two-party system in Ukraine. For any other country in transition such a situation could be a blessing. For Ukraine -- with Yanukovych's electorate entrenched in the east and the south and Tymoshenko's supporters grouped in the west -- such an election outcome could turn into a nightmare.
For Yushchenko, any resolution of the current standoff does not bode well. If he fails to enforce early elections, he will suffer the humiliation of being marginalized in Ukraine's political arena. If early elections take place and, as generally expected, the results reinforce the Party of Regions and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc at the expense of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, his political stature will hardly improve. The time when Yushchenko could impose his will on Ukraine appears to have been lost.
(From RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 79, Part II, 30 April 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 06 mayo 2007 : 15:48:43
|
Accord sur des législatives anticipées à Kiev
STÉPHANE KOVACS (avec AFP, AP, Reuter).
Le Figaro, Paris, le 05 mai 2007
Le président Iouchtchenko et son adversaire, le premier ministre Ianoukovitch, ont annoncé hier la tenue d'un scrutin avant 60 jours.
C'EST UN PREMIER pas vers le règlement de la crise qui secoue le pays depuis un mois. Le président ukrainien Viktor Iouchtchenko a arraché hier à son adversaire politique, le premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch, un accord pour organiser des législatives anticipées.
« Nous avons trouvé un accord de principe sur l'organisation d'élections anticipées et sur ce qu'il faut faire pour que ces élections se déroulent de manière honnête et démocratique », a déclaré Viktor Iouchtchenko après une rencontre avec son premier ministre. Viktor Ianoukovitch a confirmé peu après avoir accepté l'idée d'élections anticipées, assurant que son parti allait les « gagner ». « Nous sommes arrivés à la même conclusion qu'il n'y a pas d'autre voie pour régler cette crise que l'organisation d'élections démocratiques et honnêtes », a expliqué le chef du gouvernement.
Cet accord entre les deux Viktor, adversaires réguliers depuis plus de deux ans, à partir de la présidentielle de 2004, suivie de la « révolution orange », puis par des batailles législatives, devrait mettre un terme à la crise politique qui agite le pays depuis le 2 avril. Ce jour-là, le chef de l'État avait prononcé la dissolution du Parlement et annoncé des élections anticipées, s'en prenant aux défections de certains de ses députés passés dans la coalition gouvernementale prorusse de Ianoukovitch.
Cette dernière avait adopté des lois privant le chef de l'État d'une bonne partie de ses pouvoirs et espérait réunir en mai une majorité constitutionnelle au Parlement, ce qui lui aurait permis de modifier la Constitution à son gré. Après l'annonce de la dissolution, les députés prorusses avaient saisi la Cour constitutionnelle pour contester sa validité.
La recherche d'un soutien populaire
Alors que les juges s'apprêtaient à rendre leur verdict plutôt défavorable au chef de l'État selon des analystes, ce dernier a pris au dépourvu ses adversaires en signant le 26 avril un second décret de dissolution pour repousser d'un mois, au 24 juin, la date du scrutin. Finalement, les élections auront vraisemblablement lieu « dans un délai d'environ 60 jours après l'adoption par le Parlement des textes nécessaires », a précisé hier le chef de l'État. Ce qui donnerait un scrutin au début du mois de juillet.
Viktor Ianoukovitch avait plusieurs fois répété qu'il n'accepterait pas d'élections anticipées si un scrutin présidentiel n'était pas tenu en même temps. Hier, toutefois, il n'en était plus question. Le premier ministre a même souligné que les législatives permettraient de constater quel camp bénéficiait du soutien le plus important. « Ceux qui aiment les élections, qui les ont organisées, a-t-il lancé sous les applaudissements de ses supporteurs, rassemblés place de l'Indépendance, recevront une réponse de votre part, à propos de qui doit maintenant gouverner l'Ukraine. »
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070505.FIG000000919_accord_sur_des_legislatives_anticipees_a_kiev.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 08 mayo 2007 : 22:53:32
|
Ukraine: vers la sortie de crise
Le Premier ministre a accepté la tenue de législatives anticipées
Par Hélène DESPIC-POPOVIC
QUOTIDIEN, Libération, Paris, mardi 8 mai 2007
Après plusieurs semaines de manifestations et contre-manifestations, l'Ukraine est sur le point de trouver une solution à sa crise de cohabitation. Le Premier ministre prorusse, Viktor Ianoukovitch, qui s'opposait à la décision de son éternel rival, le président pro-occidental Viktor Iouchtchenko, de dissoudre le Parlement a finalement accepté, à la surprise générale, le principe de tenir des élections législatives anticipées. Pâle imitation de la révolution orange qui avait porté Iouchtchenko au pouvoir en 2004, les tentes, cette fois dressées par les partisans des deux camps au centre de Kiev, ont disparu aussi rapidement qu'elles avaient été montées.
Ordre dispersé. Ce nouveau scrutin a peu de chances de changer la donne dans un pays divisé par l'histoire et la langue (ukrainophones à l'Ouest et au Centre et russophones à l'Est et au Sud). Selon un sondage de l'institut FOM, cité hier par l'agence Interfax, le Parti des régions de Ianoukovitch pourrait emporter 30 % des voix dans un scrutin anticipé, soit autant que tous les anciens alliés de la révolution orange. Ces derniers se présenteront, comme en 2006, en ordre dispersé. L'ex-Premier ministre, Ioulia Timochenko, l'égérie de la révolution orange, a fait savoir que les partis qui soutiennent Iouchtchenko constitueront des listes séparées. Les deux Viktor, en conflit depuis la présidentielle de 2004, avaient dû s'allier à l'automne 2006 alors que des législatives s'étaient achevées, quelques mois plus tôt, sans majorité.
Il ne reste plus qu'à déterminer la date et les modalités de ces futures élections. Dans sa partie de bras de fer avec son rival qu'il accusait de limiter ses prérogatives et de débaucher ses députés, le président Iouchtchenko avait dissous le Parlement le 2 avril et fixé la date des élections au 24 juin. «Cadre légal». Selon Iouchtchenko, l'accord intervenu devrait permettre que la consultation se déroule dans les soixante jours suivant l'adoption par le Parlement de textes nécessaires à l'organisation de la consultation. Le Parlement doit se réunir à ce sujet cette semaine. Viktor Ianoukovitch, qui a renoncé à exiger la tenue d'une élection présidentielle en même temps que les législatives, préfère, lui, un scrutin à l'automne. «Si la décision de tenir des élections anticipées doit être prise, elle doit l'être uniquement dans un cadre légal», a martelé hier le Premier ministre qui avait déjà insisté sur un scrutin «démocratique et honnête».
(http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/252387.FR.php) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 10 mayo 2007 : 15:15:04
|
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PREMIER AGREE ON EARLY PARLIAMENTARY POLLS AND PREMIER CALLS ON PARLIAMENT TO SANCTION EARLY ELECTIONS, WHILE UKRAINIAN SPEAKER PROPOSES NEW COALITION INSTEAD OF SNAP VOTE
President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych told journalists in Kyiv on May 4 that they have agreed to hold early parliamentary elections, Ukrainian media reported. "In order to hold [elections] in a democratic and fair way, we have to go through all pre-election procedures," Yushchenko said. "The whole technological process has to be considered, which includes holding party conventions, registering party lists, setting up district commissions, printing campaign materials, and taking other steps necessary for the preparation of democratic elections. This may take up to 60 days," Yushchenko noted. Yanukovych said, "The main goal of our joint decision is to hold fair and democratic elections. What should be done for that? We will now give instructions to the working group, which will work out an algorithm of actions for members of parliament, actions that will help stabilize the situation in the country." An anticrisis working group established to prepare a "political compromise package" between the president, the prime minister, and parliament is expected to deliver the results of its work on May 7. Yushchenko suggested he may suspend his April 26 decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada for a short time in order to give lawmakers the opportunity to pass legislation needed to start the election campaign.
Prime Minister Yanukovych said in Kyiv on May 7 that the decision to hold early elections should be approved by the Verkhovna Rada, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "It is a political issue, it should be subject to a vote in parliament... It should be approved by all participants in the political process, primarily by political parties," Yanukovych noted. Yanukovych reiterated his earlier stance that President Yushchenko was not justified in dissolving the Verkhovna Rada. The prime minister emphasized that parliament should work "continuously" if early elections are to be held "within the legal framework." Yanukovych said the "algorithm" he proposed to Yushchenko on May 4 to solve the institutional crisis included the preparation of "all necessary laws" for holding new elections and a vote in parliament on the expediency of early polls.
Parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz said in Kyiv on May 7 that instead of organizing new elections, Prime Minister Yanukovych's Party of Regions and the Our Ukraine party of President Yushchenko could create a new coalition government, the "Ukrayinska pravda" website, pravda.com.ua, reported. According to Moroz, fresh elections will produce "almost the same" Verkhovna Rada as those in March 2006.
Moroz said his Socialist Party could quit the current ruling coalition with the Party of Regions and the Communist Party to make such a solution to the political standoff possible. In an apparently sarcastic comment, Moroz asserted that a "blue-orange" coalition could be "cheaper" as well as "more honest and comprehensible to voters" than early polls. "If [the Party of Regions and Our Ukraine] fail to agree straight away, one month after the termination of the [current] coalition the president will obtain the [legal] foundation for holding early elections in accordance with the constitution, without cheating. The head of state will have no need...to say things that are inconsistent with the constitution and rights," Moroz added.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 83, Part II, 7 May 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 15 mayo 2007 : 13:33:18
|
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SACKS YET ANOTHER CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGE AND CALLS FOR RECOGNITION OF WWII NATIONALIST GUERRILLAS
Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree dismissing Constitutional Court Judge Volodymyr Ivashchenko for a "breach of oath," the presidential press service reported on its website, president.gov.ua, on May 10.
Ivashchenko was appointed to the 18-member panel by former President Leonid Kuchma in 2001. In early May, Yushchenko sacked two other Constitutional Court judges, Syuzanna Stanik and Valeriy Pshenichnyy, also charging that they violated their oaths. Meanwhile, Constitutional Court spokesman Ivan Avramov told the "Ukrayinska pravda" website, pravda.com.ua, on May 10 that the court continues to examine the constitutionality of Yushchenko's April 2 decree that dissolved the Verkhovna Rada and scheduled early elections for May 27. According to Avramov, the court has not yet begun an examination of Yuschenko's decree of April 26, in which he rescheduled early polls for June 24.
Speaking at a wreath-laying ceremony in Kyiv on May 9 to mark Victory Day, President Yushchenko called for the recognition of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) veterans as combatants of World War II, Ukrainian media reported. The UPA, established by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1942, fought both Soviet and Polish guerrillas as well as German troops in Nazi-occupied Ukraine, pursuing the ideal of an independent Ukraine. UPA fighters also fought against Soviet and Polish troops after the end of World War II. UPA commander Roman Shukhevych was killed in a skirmish in western Ukraine in 1950, while OUN leader Stepan Bander was poisoned by a Soviet KGB agent in Germany in 1959. "The time has come to tell each other in an honest and brotherly manner that everyone who has fought for Ukraine deserves eternal respect and thankfulness.
Therefore I believe the endeavour to settle the legal status of those who fought for Ukraine and its independence in 1917-24, 1928-39 and 1941-56 will at last be completed and embodied in life," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Yushchenko as saying on May 9.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 85, Part II, 10 May 2007.)
|
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 20 mayo 2007 : 20:52:23
|
Ukraine: Politicians' Actions Toward Media Reveal Their Divergent Values
By Marta Dyczok
RFE/RL
Friday, May 18, 2007
May 18, 2007 - A look at Ukraine’s mass media provides interesting insight into the ongoing political standoff in Ukraine. Because the country finally has a relatively free media, the behavior of the various political actors is reasonably visible. Their actions toward media, in turn, reveal the divergence in political values which are at the heart of the crisis.
The current situation is very much a continuation of the political struggle from 2004. One of the slogans of the Orange Revolution was "No More Lies!" (Ni Brekhni!), and since coming to power Yushchenko has started to deliver on this promise.
However, after the Party of Regions of Yushchenko's rival, Viktor Yanukovych, won at the parliamentary polls in spring of 2006, they and their coalition partners have been enacting a creeping coup, slowly moving back into positions of power and reintroducing the old way of doing things. Nowhere is this more visible than in the media.
Divergent Political Values
So the real question is: what kind of relationship does the government have with the media? Yushchenko and Yanukovych appear to have very different ideas about the relationship between media and the state.
Since becoming president, Yushchenko has adopted a liberal approach to media policy, with minimal state intervention beyond general regulatory measures and overseeing a slow process of removing the state from media ownership. He has allowed media to write, print, broadcast, and post whatever they wish, and this has allowed freedom of speech to flourish for the first time in the country’s recent history.
Despite facing constant criticism from the media, Yushchenko has not taken any steps to reintroduce state-sponsored censorship, and this is the behavior of a democratic leader. Where Yushchenko falls short, as with so many other issues, is in doing little to introduce or facilitate structural changes which would help consolidate these gains.
Prime Minister Yanukovych and his coalition partners are taking advantage of this and gradually moving to reestablish control -- the creeping coup. Their behavior toward media suggests that their political culture remains stuck in pre-2004 semi-authoritarianism.
A telling incident occurred shortly after the Party of Regions began their political comeback. On July 12, 2006, only a few months after the elections, Party of Regions lawmaker Oleh Kalashnikov attacked two journalists just outside parliament. Oleksandr Moroz has sued one website six times (epa)
The journalists, Marharyta Sytnyk and Volodymyr Novosad from STB television, had the audacity to film him near the Verkhovna Rada. Despite a major outcry from journalists, Kalashnikov faced no consequences -- he continues to sit in parliament and make statements about the importance of constitutional government and the rule of law.
Since the Kalashnikov incident, attacks on the media, some physical, have increased. A recent example took place on March 30, 2007, when Crimean journalists Olena Mekhanyk and Oleksandr Khomenko from the Chornomorka TV station were attacked as they filmed coalition supporters boarding trains headed for Kyiv.
Kuchma-era tactics such as legal actions, harassment, and other forms of intimidation have been on the rise. The pioneering "Ukrayinska pravda” website has been sued six times over the last six months by Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz.
Renat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man and an influential member of the Party of Regions, recently launched legal action against the popular website "Obozrevatel," after its reporter Tetyana Chornovil found some old neighbors from his home town of Oktyabrskoye and published a series of stories about his youth.
The newspaper "2000" ran what turned out to be a fabricated story, which falsely quoted Renate Wohlwend, rapporteur with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), as saying Yushchenko's April 2 decree dissolving parliament was unconstitutional and he should resign.
Equally troubling was a remark to the press by Vadym Dolhanov, the husband of Constitutional Court judge Syuzanna Stanik, who was dismissed from her post by Yushchenko as the court was considering the legality of the president's April 2 decree. Responding to a question from a female journalist about the couple's property holdings, Dolhanov responded by asking the journalist what kind of underwear she was wearing.
The Yanukovych team has also slowly been trying to reestablish a structural control over the media. After the 2006 parliamentary elections, the majority coalition (the Communists, Socialists, and Party of Regions) appointed their own loyalists, Eduard Prutnyk and Ihor Chaban, to head the State Committee for TV and Radio Broadcasting.
On 20 March 2007, the state-controlled Ukrainian National Television Channel 1 canceled its only political debate program, "Toloka." This came one day after Yulia Tymoshenko and Our Ukraine leader Vyacheslav Kyrylenko were guests on the show and had positive comments from 80 percent of callers.
There was also a coup attempt in the parliamentary freedom of speech committee, which is led by Tymoshenko ally and lawmaker Andriy Shevchenko. Part of the committee met without him and elected Party of Regions lawmaker Olena Bondarenko acting head on April 26.
Journalists - Still A Mixed Picture
What has been the reaction of journalists to all of this? At best, their behavior can be described as mixed. Although a truly independent media does not exist anywhere, Ukraine’s media has longer than some to go toward this ideal. Despite the improvement in working conditions with the end of state-sponsored censorship, overall the professionalism of many journalists remains woefully low.
The basic elements of professionalism, autonomy, distinct professional norms and a public service orientation are largely missing. Only one media outlet, maidan.org.ua, bothered to check the source of the Strasbourg disinformation story -- most simply reprinted what was fed to them.
Many journalists still lack a clear understanding of the role media plays in a democratic society, and despite improvements, the media is still not achieving its main purpose of providing clear, balanced and in-depth information and analysis of major events. Those who work for coalition-controlled media outlets continue to print and broadcast what they are told. Ukraina TV's unflinching adherence to the Party of Regions party line is one demonstration of the extent of this problem.
A new tendency -- noted by Olha Herasymyuk, a former TV personality and current Our Ukraine lawmaker -- is that journalists are increasingly avoiding difficult topics relating to the coalition.
“I am noticing that journalists are refraining from critical tones when reporting on the coalition or government activities,” she said during a recent interview. “It's clear that they are becoming increasingly frightened.” Given the renewed pressures they are facing, this return to self-censorship is hardly surprising.
There is, nonetheless, some good news and reason for optimism. Great strides have been made in developing investigative journalism, a genre practically nonexistent in the era of former President Leonid Kuchma. Channel 5, the website "Obozrevatel" and STB TV all conducted independent investigations into allegations of corruption among Constitutional Court judges when this latest crisis broke.
Analytical programs have also improved, with two shows really standing out: "Ya Tak Dumayu" (This is What I Think) hosted by Anna Bezulyk on Studio 1+1 and "Five Kopeks" (best translated as Your Two Cents) with Roman Chayka on Channel 5.
To some degree, innovation is also on the rise. On April 13, a group of national and regional TV stations staged a so-called “Day Without Politicians on TV," where they deliberately avoided inviting the usual talking heads and provided their viewers with an alternative perspective on the news. It seems that the political culture and professionalism of journalists is changing, but to a large degree continues to reflect the major political divisions in society.
Western Reflections
Two final points concern the international dimension. Yanukovych and his coalition partners are appealing to Western public opinion, despite renewing pressures on media at home. Socialist leader and presidential opponent Oleksandr Moroz published his thoughts on the crisis on the pages of the "International Herald Tribune," not "Izvestiya" -- a huge change from 2004, when their focus was on Moscow.
The tone of Western reporting on Yanukovych and the coalition has changed, too. On April 22, a "Daily Telegraph" article described the Ukrainian prime minister as “a former weight lifter and onetime racing driver,” who speaks "in the soft baritone that accompanies his deceptively mild manner” when he explains that "'the Ukrainian people have an old democratic tradition.'” No mention was made of his criminal record, the well-reported falsification of the 2004 election, or the creeping coup d’etat which precipitated the current crisis.
The struggle between these two political blocs, and their very different political cultures, is likely to be ongoing. The degree and nature of state intervention into the work of the media will remain an important indicator of just how far democratic consolidation has progressed in Ukraine.
(Marta Dyczok is an associate professor in history and political science at the University of Western Ontario. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.)
(http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/05/6810c41e-4b8f-4edf-8101-1177409d3ff2.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 25 mayo 2007 : 01:13:47
|
Nueva crisis institucuional en Ucrania tras la destitución del fiscal general
Sviastoslav Piskún ha rechazado la decisión y permanece atrincherado en su oficina. - Yúschenko ya lo destituyó en 2005 debido por su inoperancia en la investigación de su envenenamiento con dioxina
EFE - Kiev - 24/05/2007
La decisión del presidente de Ucrania, Víctor Yúschenko, de destituir al fiscal general ha agravado el caos constitucional en el que se encuentra sumido este país desde principios de abril y amenaza con desembocar en un enfrentamiento entre su partidarios y los del primer ministro, Víctor Yanukóvich.
Miembros de una unidad especial de los fuerzas de seguridad ucranianas (Berkut) han irrumpido hoy por la fuerza en la sede de la Fiscalía General en Kiev con el fin de defender a su titular, Sviastoslav Piskún, que se había negado a acatar el decreto presidencial. En un primer momento, Piskún abandonó el edificio, pero retornó poco después acompañado del ministro del Interior, Vasili Tsuschkó, y de un grupo de diputados leales al Ejecutivo y se ha atrincherado en su oficina. Piskún, al que Yúschenko ya destituyó en 2005 debido a su inoperancia en la investigación de su envenenamiento con dioxina, ha declarado a la prensa que no tiene intención de abandonar el edificio.
Por su parte, el ministro del Interior ha explicado que fue la Fiscalía General la que le había pedido por escrito que "el ministerio del Interior asumiera la seguridad de su sede". "A día de hoy, yo reconozco como fiscal general a Piskún", ha recalcado.
Horas antes tras reunirse con la plana mayor del Ejército, Yúschenko había descrito en rueda de prensa la acción de Piskún y Tsushkó como un "golpe de estado pacífico". "Es necesario saber quién dio esa orden criminal. El ministro del Interior no puede discutir un decreto presidencial. Lo que ha hecho Tsushkó es un delito", dijo.
Asalto al Tribunal Supremo
El presidente, que subió al poder tras la incruenta Revolución Naranja (2004), también ha exhortado a las estructuras de fuerza a "mantenerse al margen y no inmiscuirse en las decisiones políticas". Debido al agravamiento de la crisis, Yúschenko ha decidido cancelar su viaje previsto para este viernes, a la República Checa para participar en una cumbre de jefes de Estado de Europa Central.
El fiscal general interino, Víctor Shemchuk, hasta ahora procurador de la región de Crimea, ha incoado un expediente penal por intento de revertir el orden constitucional y toma del poder en relación con la actuación de su antecesor en el cargo y el titular de Interior. Por su parte, Yanukóvich ha denunciado que un grupo de individuos armados y ataviados con ropa de camuflaje han asaltarado esta noche la sede en Kiev del Tribunal Constitucional (TC), cuya legitimidad fue puesta ayer en duda por Yúschenko.
Por esta razón, los diputados leales al Gobierno que se habían reunido en la Rada Suprema en sesión extraordinaria abandonaron el Parlamento y se dirigieron a la sede del TC, según informó la agencia ucraniana UNIAN.
En un mensaje televisado dirigido a la nación, el jefe del Gobierno ha asegurado que no permitiría que el país se vea abocado a la "anarquía" o a la "guerra civil" debido al agravamiento de la crisis institucional en Ucrania. "No se pueden alentar acciones legales por parte de las Fuerzas Armadas. Eso puede conducirnos a la catástrofe. Nuestro deber es proteger al pueblo del caos", ha declarado. Yanukóvich, en el poder desde agosto de 2006, ha tachado de "provocación", "irresponsable" e "ilegal" a decisión de destituir a Piskún.
Reunión urgente del Gobierno
El primer ministro, que había viajado anoche a Donetsk, ha regresado hoy a la capital y ha convocado una reunión urgente del gabinete de ministros para estudiar la situación creada tras la destitución del fiscal.
Por si fuera poco, un Tribunal de Kiev ha revocado hoy la decisión del presidente de destituir a tres jueces del TC, que aún no ha fallado sobre la legitimidad del decreto presidencial de disolución del Parlamento y convocatoria de elecciones parlamentarias anticipadas. Ese decreto de Yúschenko, emitido el pasado 2 de abril después de que varios tránsfugas de la oposición se pasaran a la coalición oficialista, ha sido el detonante de la actual crisis.
Yanukóvich, que junto al Gobierno y la mayoría parlamentaria se ha rebelado contra ese decreto presidencial, ha mantenido en las últimas semanas numerosos encuentros con el presidente para encontrar una salida a la crisis y determinar la fecha de la votación. Ambos dirigentes mantuvieron ayer, miércoles, una nueva reunión, tras lo que parecía que habían acordado la fecha de los comicios, pero el presidente ha decidido hoy destituir al Fiscal General, lo que ha enervado los ánimos de los partidarios del Gobierno.
Nombrado fiscal por Yúschenko, hace menos de un mes, Piskún ha replicado que apelará su destitución porque el pasado 14 de mayo ya había notificado al parlamento que renunciaba a su escaño en el Legislativo . "A lo mejor hice algo que no le gustó al presidente", ha declarado Piskún en alusión a que la Fiscalía declaró ilegales los decretos de Yúschenko sobre la destitución de tres magistrados del TC.
Yúschenko convocó elecciones anticipadas para el próximo 24 de junio y se ha mostrado dispuesto a aplazarlas hasta julio, a más tardar, mientras Yanukóvich es partidario de celebrar las elecciones en octubre.
(De ELPAIS.com. - http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Nueva/crisis/institucuional/Ucrania/destitucion/fiscal/general/elpepuint/20070524elpepuint_26/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 25 mayo 2007 : 22:13:11
|
Viktor Iouchtchenko prend le contrôle des troupes de l'Intérieur
La décision du président ukrainien a été jugée anticonstitutionnelle par le premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch et son ministre de l’Intérieur
lefigaro.fr (Avec AFP et AP).
Publié le 25 mai 2007
Actualisé le 25 mai 2007 : 15h09
La crise politique en Ukraine s’aggrave. Le président Viktor Iouchtchenko a pris vendredi, par décret, le contrôle des forces armées dépendant du ministère de l'Intérieur. Une décision liée à l'intervention des forces de l’ordre, jeudi, dans les bureaux du procureur général, limogé par Iouchtchenko.
L’intervention policière avait été décidée par le ministre de l’Intérieur, Vassil Tsouchko, et dénoncée par Iouchtchenko. Ce dernier accusant le ministre d’avoir enfreint la loi. Les forces spéciales ont en effet forcé les portes de l'immeuble et se sont frottées au service de protection des personnalités relevant de la présidence dont elles sont venues à bout. Plus tard dans la journée, le premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch, comme le ministère de l’Intérieur, ont rejeté comme anticonstitutionnel le décret présidentiel.
Selon une tradition héritée de l'URSS, préservée en Russie et dans plusieurs républiques ex-soviétiques, le ministre de l'Intérieur a à sa disposition des unités militaires destinées à assurer la sécurité à l'intérieur du pays.
La Russie préoccupée
Vendredi, entre 2.000 et 3.000 partisans du premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch ont manifesté devant le Parquet, à côté de plusieurs centaines de supporters du président Iouchtchenko.
Le nouveau procureur général par intérim Viktor Chemtchouk, nommé par le président, a pour sa part annoncé l'ouverture d'une enquête criminelle contre le ministre de l'Intérieur pour "abus de pouvoir" ce que ce dernier a démenti.
De son côté, la Russie, par la voix de son premier ministre, Mikhaïl Fradkov, s’est dite préoccupée par la "montée de la tension" chez son voisin. Il appelé les autorités ukrainiennes à "assurer l'ordre public, le respect des lois et avant tout (de) la Constitution ukrainienne".
Le décret du président ukrainien traduit l’aggravation de la crise politique en Ukraine. Début avril, le président avait prononcé la dissolution du Parlement, après des mois de conflits avec la coalition gouvernementale, qui a contesté la validité de cette décision.
Le conflit a semblé s'apaiser fin avril, lorsque le premier ministre s'est résigné à la dissolution, avant de rebondir de nouveau, les deux camps n'arrivant pas à se mettre d'accord sur la date de nouvelles élections.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070525.WWW000000489_viktor_iouchtchenko_prend_le_controle_des_troupes_de_l_interieur.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 26 mayo 2007 : 01:09:41
|
Ukrainian State in Meltdown
Vladimir Solovyev
KOMMERSANT, Moscow
May 25, 2007
The first clashes of law-enforcement bodies loyal to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and those loyal to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich took place yesterday in Kiev. The conflict arose after Yushchenko dismissed Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun. Interior Minister sent special forces troops to seize the Prosecutor General's headquarters, overcoming resistance by the State Protection Department. State authority has broken down into presidential and government camps.
Recklessness
The extended conflict among the Political elite of Ukraine has turned into open opposition, provoked by an ordering issued by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko yesterday firing Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun, whom Yushchenko himself appointed on April 26. The president explained that Piskun had not resigned from his seat in the Supreme Rada as a member of the Party of the Regions faction, and was illegally holding those two positions. In the same order, Yushchenko appointed Prosecutor General of the Crimea Viktor Shemchuk to replace Piskun.
The president's actions led to a fierce battle for control of the prosecutor's office. Piskun, indignant over the ignominious end to his prosecutorial career, stated that his dismissal could only be legal if the Supreme Rada agreed to it. “Let the president apply to the Rada, and then fire me,” he said. Piskun then tried to enter his office, accompanied by several MPs from the Party of the Regions. Members of the State Protection Department stepped in to prevent them from doing so, with chief of the department Valery Geletei at their head. A scuffle broke out that was soon joined by Interior Minister Vasily Tsushko, leading a unit of Berkut troops. They were followed by Communist leader Petr Simonenko and supporters of the Party of the Regions. All of them came to defend Piskun.
“With his order dismissing Piskun, the president has taken the path of forcible seizure of power,” Simonenko stated. While politicians criticized the president on the street, the special forces energetically broke through the gates in front the Prosecutor General's Office headquarters and the doors to the building and forced the State Protection Department representatives out of the Prosecutor General's reception area.
Having taken the Prosecutor General's building from Yushchenko's supporters, Tsushko called the president's decision to remove the head of that agency a “coup d'etat.” He also announced that the Interior Ministry would take over security at the building to guarantee the safety of those inside it. Berkut troops surrounded the building's grounds.
Events at the Prosecutor General's office sent shock waves through the Ukrainian state. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich returned from a summit of CIS heads of government in Yalta and called an emergency meeting of the government. At the same time, Yushchenko called an urgent meeting of law enforcement agencies. Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko was forced to cut short to trip to Poltava to attend. Arriving in Kiev, Gritsenko stated that e was prepared to call in the Army to solve the crisis as soon as the head of state gave the order. “If events develop in a dangerous way, the president, as commander-in-chief, has the right to employ those divisions within the law that can be employed for the solution of such problems,” he said.
After consulting with the loyal law enforcement representatives, Yushchenko decided not to call in the military. He stated that the actions of the interior ministry were criminal and an attempt at a coup d'etat. The president charged with Ukrainian Security Service and Prosecutor General's Office with handling the incident.
Judiciousness
The dismissal of Piskun is being linked in Kiev to his unwillingness to support the president in his standoff against the Constitutional Court. The court is now considering a petition filed by MPs from the Party of the Regions to have the president's decision to dissolve the Rada and call early elections declared illegal. To insure against an undesirable outcome in the case, Yushchenko dismissed three Constitutional Court judges in an April 30 order. The three judges, Valery Pshenichny, Suzanna Stanik and Vladimir Ivashchenko, were accused of “violating their oath.”
The three judges, who were clearly sympathetic to the Party of the Regions, which opposes early elections, refused to step down. They were restored to their positions as they appealed the president's order in regional courts.
The judges' suit had a snowball effect. On May 21, Yushchenko filed a suit in Goloseev District Court in Kiev to have the actions of Judges Pshenichny, Stanik and Ivashchenko declared illegal. That court declined to hear the suit, however, saying that the conflict was not within the competence of administrative legal proceedings. The offended president instructed Piskun to handle the judges, but he decided to close the criminal case against the Constitutional Court judges for appropriation of authority. “It seems to me that the question was decided in Goloseev Court and judges' have a decision in hand. The Supreme Justice Council is now studying its legality.”
Then Yushchenko's supporters from the pro-presidential Our Ukraine Party appealed the restoration of the Constitutional Court judges to their positions in Shevchenkovsky Court in Kiev. That court was more loyal to the head of state than Goloseev Court and ruled on May 23 to ban Pshenichny, Stanik and Ivashchenko from serving as judges in the Constitutional Court. Pshenichny, Stanik and Ivashchenko not only refused to adhere to the court's decision, they struck back. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court deprived the president of the right to appoint judges to administrative positions (which includes the posts of court representative and deputy court representative), finding that that privilege was unconstitutional. Stanik cast the decisive vote in that decision.
That was the last straw for Yushchenko, who turned to extreme measures. Late Wednesday evening, he addressed the Ukrainian public on live television. “The court is paralyzed and demoralized,” he said. “The sole organ of constitutional jurisdiction has issued an unconstitutional decision on the appointment of judges to administrative positions. The Constitutional Court is losing its constitutional legitimacy and is unable to perform the function of preserving the primacy of the basic law. I am instructing the Prosecutor General's Office to make an immediate legal assessment of the situation that has arisen in the Constitutional Court with the violation of the Constitution and national legislation.” Obviously, it had already been decided that Shemchuk, and not Piskun, would carry out that order.
Condemnation
The court wars and battle for the Prosecutor General's office has mobilized both the supporters and opponents of early elections. The Yulia Timoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine and Party of the Regions all issued statements accusing each other of trying to overthrow the government. Our Ukraine spoke first, stating that the interior minister used an armed formation to resist the president's order to dismiss the prosecutor general. The actions of Berkut were characterized as “an anti-state coup with the participation of representatives of the ruling coalition [consisting of the Communists, Socialists and Party of the Regions].” Timoshenko picked up from there, saying, “I cannot recall when in Ukrainian history a subordinate organ seized those that control it. The Socialists' brains, and Tsushko belongs to the Socialist Party, have shriveled out of fear that they will have to answer for themselves at early elections. That is the real, full clinical picture.”
The Party of the Regions was no less expressive. “The president uses the rhetoric of a democrat and a liberal, but he has shown himself to be a typical powermonger, very much like Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet,” a statement by Yanukovich reads. “Yushchenko's democracy is the philosophy of the dictate: punish those who get in the way, destroy rights, violate the law and rule single-handedly. By that logic, we are not far from mass arrests of dissidents and their public execution in stadiums. In short, democracy in Ukraine is in danger.”
With such a mood reigning over the opposing political forces, there can be no question of negotiations over the date for the early elections that Yushchenko and Yanukovich agreed on on May 4. Yushchenko acknowledged that the date of the elections had been agreed on between him and Yanukovich, but said that the latest events show that the majority in the government only wanted to draw it out. “Behind the back of the president and negotiators, charlatanry is going on to show that the crisis cannot be settled by democratic processes,” Yushchenko said yesterday. He announced that negotiations had reached a dead end and urged opposition forces in the Rada to resign, to deprive the Rada of a quorum and prevent it from functioning.
Speaker of the Rada Alexander Moroz, who had hurried back from Slovakia, called an emergency night meeting of the Rada when he heard that and the Regionals, Socialists and Communists began plotting counter-intrigues.
(http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=768566) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 26 mayo 2007 : 12:59:01
|
Varios miles de guardias de élite ucranios marchan sobre Kiev
El Presidente Yúshenko mantiene un pulso con su primer ministro, Yanukóvich.
La UE y Rusia han expresado su preocupación
AFP / ELPAIS.com - Kiev / Madrid
26/05/2007
Tropas del Ministerio del Interior se dirigen a Kiev en medio del enfrentamiento abierto entre el presidente, Víctor Yúschenko, y el Gobierno y el Parlamento, ha denunciado hoy el Ministerio en un comunicado. La nota, que cifra en miles los efectivos movilizados en varias regiones ucranias, señala que la decisión fue tomada por el comandante en jefe de las tropas de Interior, el general Alexandr Kijtenko, según ha informado la agencia ucrania UNIAN.
Esta decisión contradice las órdenes impartidas por el titular de la cartera, Vasili Tsushkó, que se negó ayer a acatar el decreto presidencial por el que Yúschenko tomaba el mando directo de las tropas del Interior, añade el comunicado oficial. El Partido de las Regiones, que encabeza el primer ministro, Víctor Yanukóvich, denunció también que 600 efectivos del Interior en la región oriental de Donetsk habían sido movilizados con destino a Kiev para cumplir misiones especiales. La sucursal de esa formación política, que lidera la coalición mayoritaria en el Parlamento, tachó de "decreto criminal" la movilización de las tropas.
La Rada Suprema (Legislativo) adoptó ayer una disposición legal por la que revocaba los decretos de Yúschenko, mientras el Gobierno ordenó a Tsushkó que impidiera la movilización de las tropas sin su consentimiento. Las tropas de Interior son leales a Yúschenko y están dispuestas a cumplir cualquier orden del jefe del Estado, incluido operaciones antiterroristas, "para garantizar la tranquilidad, el orden y la concordia en Kiev", aseguró Víctor Bóndar, portavoz adjunto de la Presidencia. Al tiempo que asumía el control directo de todos los efectivos de las estructuras de fuerza ucranianas, Yúschenko ha descartado una "solución de fuerza" para la grave crisis en la que está sumido el país desde principios de abril.
Yúschenko asumió el control de las tropas del Interior, hasta ahora subordinadas al Gobierno, después de que el fiscal general, Sviastoslav Piskún, leal al primer ministro, se negará ayer acatar su destitución, decretada por Yúschenko. Con ayuda de una unidad especial del Ministerio del Interior y varios centenares de partidarios del partido oficialista de Yanukóvich, Piskún se atrincheró durante la noche en la sede de la Fiscalía General en el centro de Kiev. La actual crisis política estalló el pasado 2 de abril cuando Yúschenko disolvió el Legislativo y convocó comicios anticipados, decreto contra el que se rebelaron tanto el Gobierno como la Rada.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Varios/miles/guardias/elite/ucranios/marchan/Kiev/elpepuint/20070526elpepuint_8/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 27 mayo 2007 : 00:07:31
|
La policía impide la entrada en Kiev de los 3.500 soldados enviados por Yúshenko
Aumenta la tensión en Ucrania después de que no registrarse avances en una reunión entre el presidente prooccidental Yúshenko y el primer ministro, el prorruso Yanukóvich
AGENCIAS - Kiev - 26/05/2007
La policía ucrania mantiene bloqueados a unos 3.500 soldados y reservistas del ministerio del Interior que se dirigían a Kiev, capital del país, adonde fueron movilizados por orden del presidente, el prooccidental Víctor Yúschenko, en un claro desafío a la autoridad del primer ministro, el prorruso Víctor Yanukóvich. Precisamente ambos líderes, enfrentados por el poder desde hace meses, han mantenido esta tarde una reunión en la que no se ha avanzado un ápice para salir de la actual situación de bloqueo político e institucional.
Los efectivos, que debían garantizar el orden público en Kiev y custodiar las sedes de la Fiscalía General y el Tribunal Constitucional, no han podido continuar, ha explicado el subcomandante en jefe de las tropas de Interior, según la agencia UNIAN. El encontronazo entre ambos cuerpos -policía y ejército- ha vivido momentos de tensión con un conato de enfrentamiento entre los agentes y algunos reservistas, según el canal 5 de la televisión ucrania.
Yúschenko había ordenado la víspera a Alexandr Kijtenko, comandante en jefe de las tropas de Interior, que garantizara la seguridad de los edificios públicos en medio del enfrentamiento con el primer ministro, Víctor Yanukóvich, y el Parlamento. El presidente tomó esa decisión después de que el fiscal general, Sviastoslav Piskún, se rebelara el jueves contra su destitución y se atrincherara en la sede de la Fiscalía General en Kiev.
Al tiempo que asumió el control directo de los más de 30.000 efectivos de Interior, Yúschenko, a la sazón jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas, ha descartado una "solución de fuerza" para la grave crisis en la que se encuentra sumido el país desde principios de abril. El presidente inició poco después de las 22:00 hora local una nueva ronda consultas con el primer ministro, el jefe del Parlamento, Alexandr Moroz, y la líder de la oposición, Yulia Timoshenko.
Según los analistas, la única forma de que Presidente, Gobierno y Parlamento encuentren una salida política a la actual crisis es un acuerdo sobre la fecha de los comicios. Yúschenko se ha mostrado dispuesto a convocar elecciones en julio, a más tardar, mientras Yanukóvich es partidario de celebrar las elecciones en octubre.
El partido Nuestra Ucrania de Yúschenko y el Bloque Timoshenko han advertido que renunciarán a su escaño parlamentario en caso de que no se acuerde una fecha para las elecciones, lo que arrebataría el quórum al Parlamento para la toma de decisiones. La actual crisis política estalló el pasado 2 de abril cuando Yúschenko disolvió el Legislativo y convocó comicios anticipados, decreto contra el que se rebelaron tanto el Gobierno como la Rada (Parlamento).
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/policia/impide/entrada/Kiev/3500/soldados/enviados/Yushenko/elpepuint/20070526elpepuint_8/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 09 junio 2007 : 15:36:30
|
FOR UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT, EVEN TWO DAYS TOGETHER IS TOO MUCH
By Jan Maksymiuk
The political standoff between Ukraine's president and parliament appears to be subsiding -- but not without problems.
Ukrainian lawmakers from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine returned on May 29 to the Verkhovna Rada after a nearly two-month hiatus to vote on legislation needed to hold early parliamentary elections.
The lawmakers had avoided the Rada since President Viktor Yushchenko's April 2 decree dissolving parliament. But a May 27 deal between Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, and parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz paved the way for their return.The political crisis apparently reached its peak on May 26.
That was when President Yushchenko reportedly summoned to Kyiv some units of the Interior Ministry riot police, after issuing a decree the previous day placing them under his control. Police troops loyal to Interior Minister Vasyl Tsushko then blocked local highways to prevent the Yushchenko-led riot units from entering the capital.
With bloodshed a possible outcome of the standoff, Yushchenko called for urgent talks with not only Prime Minister Yanukovych -- with whom he has met regularly during the troubled past two months -- but also parliament speaker Moroz, whom he had publicly ignored since the impasse began.
In the early hours of May 27, Ukrainian television showed Yushchenko shaking hands with Yanukovych and Moroz and announcing that "the crisis is over." The three officials signed a deal setting preterm polls for September 30. This means that Yushchenko will have to issue a third decree on early elections, thus nullifying his April 27 decree that scheduled them for June 24.
According to the May 27 deal, parliament will be legally dissolved after the voluntary resignation of the pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB). The two groups jointly control some 170 seats in the 450-seat Rada; their withdrawal would take parliament below the 300-seat minimum it needs to legally function.
This differs from Yushchenko's two April decrees, which based the disbanding of parliament on accusations the ruling coalition (the Party of Regions, the Socialists, and the Communists) had illegally poached opposition deputies to expand the ruling majority to 300 votes.
The coalition does not want to take the blame for the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada. Asking the opposition to resign instead seems to be the most significant concession Yushchenko had to make in order to strike a deal on new elections.
It remains to be seen, however, if Our Ukraine and YTB leaders can persuade their lawmakers to give up their parliamentary mandates -- something that is meant to happen as soon as the Verkhovna Rada adopts all the legislation necessary to hold the September 30 snap elections.
On the morning of May 29, Yushchenko suspended his April 26 decree dissolving parliament. The suspension was for two days -- just long enough to give legislators time to vote on early-election legislation.
Deputies -- including those from the opposition who have steadfastly avoided parliamentary debates during the past two months -- gathered for a session that afternoon. They made some swift and promising steps toward fulfilling the election deal between Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and Moroz.
First, in a conciliatory move, the Verkhovna Rada rescinded previous resolutions by the ruling coalition lambasting Yushchenko for his dissolution decrees. Second, lawmakers held fresh votes on the more than 50 bills the Rada had passed during the oppositions' two-month absence.
In the third and most important move of the day, lawmakers adopted a bill on reforming the Central Election Commission. This was a major concern for politicians on both sides of the conflict. The bill allows the Verkhovna Rada to change the composition of the election commission following a formal request by the president.
Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and Moroz reportedly agreed that the commission will comprise 15 members. Seven will be proposed by the ruling coalition, seven by the opposition, and one -- most likely, the head of the commission, will be proposed jointly by the president and the prime minister.
It was a constructive day's work -- but one that appeared to exhaust the goodwill and readiness of both sides to continue moving forward. Opposition lawmakers failed to gather for the morning parliamentary session on May 30, presumably because points of agreement between the coalition and the opposition on any further legislation were in short supply.
This legislation was prepared by the anticrisis working group that Yushchenko and Yanukovych set up in early May in an attempt to defuse the crisis. The anticrisis group has reportedly coordinated "90 percent" of the legal foundation for the new polls, but is bogged down in arguments over several important issues.
In particular, the sides reportedly disagree on introducing the so-called "imperative mandate" provision into the law on people's deputies. This would prevent lawmakers from defecting from their caucuses in the Verkhovna Rada, precluding a repeat of the apparent poaching that sparked the crisis two months ago.
There is also no agreement on how to compile a voter registry that could replace the voter lists held by regional administrations. The May 27 deal stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers and the Central Election Commission are obliged to produce such a list before the September 30 polls, but lawmakers reportedly differ on ways of identifying eligible Ukrainian voters.
Yanukovych's Party of Regions is afraid that regional governors -- all of whom were appointed by Yushchenko -- may manipulate the voter lists to the party's disadvantage. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine had similar apprehensions during the 2004 presidential ballot, when the regional governors controlling the voter rolls were allied with Yanukovych.
Another possible stumbling block to reaching a final agreement on the early polls is the fate of Svyatoslav Piskun, whom Yushchenko fired from the post of prosecutor-general on May 24. The ruling coalition wants Piskun reinstated, while Yushchenko, who simultaneously appointed a replacement for him, is not inclined to back off.
To make these elections happen, Yushchenko will need to issue a relevant decree no later than August 2. So there are still two months for Ukrainian politicians to solve the current conflict without setting yet another election date.
If Yushchenko succeeds in holding early elections in the fall, some in Ukraine will surely see this development as a personal victory for him. But even so, it is unlikely to bring him any further political dividend.
The problem is that, according to sociological surveys, the future alignment of forces in the Verkhovna Rada may be very much like the current one. Indeed, given the fully proportional party-list electoral system in Ukraine, it is very likely that the legislature will be predominantly filled with the same faces as now.
For that reason, one should expect not so much a shift in Ukrainian politics in the fall as a continuation of the current state of affairs. And the current state of affairs resembles a permanent institutional crisis, rather than the way to the prosperous and democratic Ukraine that Yushchenko promised during his inauguration in January 2005.
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 99, Part II, 31 May 2007) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 21 junio 2007 : 22:57:38
|
UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CLASS MISSES ITS STATION
By Jan Maksymiuk
Ukrainian politics are becoming more and more impenetrable to logical analysis. Nearly three weeks after the president, the prime minister, and the parliament speaker solemnly agreed to end the political crisis and hold early elections in September, the confrontation between power branches in Ukraine continues to bubble.
Parliament, which is deemed inoperative by the president, keeps on adopting new legislation by votes of the ruling coalition. Some opposition lawmakers, who were expected to resign in order to pave the way for early polls, have apparently changed their minds and want to keep their seats.
President Viktor Yushchenko recently compared parliament to a group of demobilized soldiers who got drunk on a homebound train and missed their station.
On June 5, Yushchenko issued his third decree in just two months calling for early parliamentary elections in the country, this time on September 30. The decree followed the adoption on June 1 of a package of legislation necessary to hold fresh polls, including amendments to the election law and the 2007 budget to provide funds for the election campaign.
Yushchenko's decree is formally based on Article 82 of the Ukrainian Constitution, which stipulates that the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada becomes illegitimate if it shrinks to fewer than 300 deputies.
To meet this precondition -- which was a key provision in the early-election deal struck by Yushchenko, parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz, and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on May 27 -- 169 opposition lawmakers reportedly submitted their resignations on June 1. The following day, these resignations were formally confirmed by conventions of Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.
Both opposition parties simultaneously adopted resolutions to invalidate their complete lists of candidates for the 2006 parliamentary elections, in order to prevent the replacement of those deputies who gave up their mandates with fresh people from lower positions on the lists.
Even as most observers of the Ukrainian political scene were beginning to assess how the major political parties would fare in the polls, Verkhovna Rada head Moroz put in doubt the lawfulness of Yushchenko's third decree on snap elections.
Moroz told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on June 12 that the Verkhovna Rada obtained just 79 reliable resignation statements from opposition lawmakers, meaning that Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc will still need to persuade at least 72 of their deputies to give up their seats in parliament.
Moroz declared that as long as he does not see 151 acceptable resignations, the current legislature remains legitimate and early elections are ruled out. He also stressed the role of the Central Election Commission (TsVK) in terminating the Verkhovna Rada. "I am interested [only] in the situation when the TsVK is unable to send us a single deputy to replace those who resigned, and when there are fewer than 300 deputies in the session hall," Moroz said. "Then we can say that there are preconditions for a presidential decree [on early polls]. So far there have been no such preconditions, and the presidential decree [of June 5] is unconstitutional."
According to the Ukrainian speaker, the conventions held by Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc to annul their 2006 election lists were not sufficient -- the invalidations need to be formally approved by the Central Election Commission. Additionally, Moroz argued that, according to the election law amended on June 1, the president has the right to decree early elections no sooner than 60 days before the election date, that is, on August 1.
Moroz also told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that he does not believe that early elections will improve the political climate in Ukraine. "Ukraine remains in an artificially created political conflict, which discredits all government institutions and poses a colossal threat to its statehood," he said. "If we look at the situation from this point of view, we will have to take adequate measures. Regrettably, the early elections will not neutralize this conflict; quite the opposite, they will deepen it."
Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv on June 13, Yushchenko reiterated his stance that the Verkhovna Rada ceased to be legitimate after the resignation of opposition deputies and the confirmation of this step by Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. "The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has legitimate authority if it has no less than two-thirds of the number of deputies determined by the constitution," Yushchenko said. "Today, it does not have the two-thirds required by the constitution because Paragraph 6 of Article 82 has come into effect, which says that in the event of a people's deputy leaving a [parliamentary] faction, his or her mandate expires before the end of his or her term in parliament, following a decision by the top governing body of his or her political party, effective upon the date that decision was made."
Yushchenko accused Moroz of "manipulation" in order to delay a resolution of the political crisis. Yushchenko also suggested that Moroz's reluctance to terminate the work of the Verkhovna Rada is dictated by the latter's fear that he may not be elected to the next legislature. All sociological surveys held in Ukraine in the past several months indicate that electoral support for Moroz's Socialist Party is well below the 3 percent voting threshold required for parliamentary representation.
Yushchenko assured journalists that early elections will take place on September 30, but he did not elaborate on measures he may take if the ruling coalition refuses to participate in them. He only stressed that resolving the current standoff is a question of honor for the Ukrainian political elite.
"Elections on September 30 are inevitable," he said. "The question is not about that today. The question is whether or not we already have a tradition among top politicians of resolving political crises with dignity, honor, and honesty."
The Ukrainian president is likely to succeed in enforcing his early-election decree. But it is quite apparent that the longer the current crisis lasts, the less political dignity and honor will be in its resolution.
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 110, Part II, 15 June 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 03 julio 2007 : 18:57:09
|
DOSSIER: Ucraïna en un forat negre
Amb el president prooccidental Iúsxenko i el primer ministre prorús Ianukóvitx enfrontats, Ucraïna es prepara per unes eleccions parlamentàries anticipades el setembre. Energia, revolucionaris i el virus de la sida en un país amb un futur incert.
Articles del dossier
Ángel Alonso Arroba - París - 27.6.2007
Anàlisi: La mecànica taronja no funciona
Ucraïna continua dins una cruïlla política. Europa observa amb impaciència els esdeveniments, interessada en l’exrepública soviètica pel seu abastiment energètic.
Oksana Udovyk - Kiev - 27.6.2007
Entrevista: “És la telenovel·la Ianukóvitx-Iúsxenko”
Una de les figures clau del moviment juvenil durant la Revolució Taronja reflexiona, tres anys després, sobre l'últim punt mort al seu país.
Natalie Gryvnyak - Kiev - 27.6.2007
Reportatge: Revolució rosa contra la sida
Més de 200.000 persones van omplir la plaça de la Independència de Kiev, el 16 de juny, per veure Elton John en un concert gratuït de conscienciació contra la sida. S'estima que l'1,4% dels ucraïnesos són portadors del virus.
Podeu llegir tots aquests articles a CAFE'BABEL.com http://www.cafebabel.com/ca/dossier.asp?id=397&utm_source=NL_CA&utm_medium=emai
En castellano: http://www.cafebabel.com/es/Dossier.asp?id=397l |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 20 julio 2007 : 23:33:47
|
UKRAINIAN POPULATION CONTINUES TO SHRINK
Ukraine's State Statistics Committee on July 13 reported that the country's population fell by some 27,000 people in May to 46.5 million. Of the total population, 31.7 million live in urban areas and 14.8 million in the countryside, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Ukraine's population stood at 52.2 million in 1992.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 128, Part II, 16 July 2007.)
|
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 30 julio 2007 : 01:38:31
|
Alerta en Ucrania por una nube tóxica al descarrilar un tren que transportaba fósforo líquido
Las autoridades han evacuado a 800 personas y 20 han ingresado en hospitales
El Periódico
Barcelona, 17.07.2007
EP / AP - KIEV
El descarrilamiento y posterior incendio hoy de un tren de carga que transportaba fósforo amarillo líquido en Ucrania ha provocado una nube tóxica de 90 kilómetros cuadrados que amenaza a 14 pueblos de la región de Lviv, situada en el oeste del país. Las autoridades han evacuado ya a más de 800 personas y otras 20 han tenido que ser hospitalizadas por intoxicación.
El portavoz del Ministerio de Defensa, Ihor Halyavinsky, explicó que las vidas de las personas intoxicadas no corren peligro, y las autoridades indicaron después que seis de ellos habían sido dados de alta. No obstante, algunos medios de comunicación aseguraban que decenas de personas de la misma zona tuvieron que recibir asistencia médica por mareos y vómitos.
El portavoz del Ministerio de Emergencias, Ihor Krol, afirmó que la nueve de gas tóxico se había dispersado "y no existe amenaza para la vida de la población".
Seis vagones incendiados
El tren, que completaba una ruta entre Kazajistán y Polonia, descarriló cerca de la ciudad Lviv, junto a la frontera polaca, y 15 de sus 58 vagones volcaron. Seis de ellos se incendiaron y la nube tóxica se expandió por 90 kilómetros cuadrados.
El fósforo amarillo líquido es una sustancia venenosa muy inflamable que se usa principalmente para fabricar fertilizantes, aunque también se utiliza para producir pesticidas, productos de limpieza y explosivos. Esta sustancia puede incendiarse espontáneamente en contacto con aire a temperaturas superiores a los 40 grados centígrados.
Confinamiento
Tras el descarrilamiento del tren, las autoridades locales indicaron a los residentes, unos 11.000, que permanecieran en sus hogares, que no bebieran agua de los pozos, no comieran hortalizas de sus jardines o tomaran la leche de sus vacas.
(http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=425403&idseccio_PK=1007) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 30 julio 2007 : 01:43:31
|
Casi 200 hospitalizados tras desastre en Ucrania
Prensa Latina
22.7.2007
Kiev, 22 jul (PL) La cifra de hospitalizados por el escape de fósforo amarillo en la región ucraniana de Lvov llegó hoy a 192, de ellos 59 menores, mientras continúan los trabajos de evacuación.
De acuerdo con la Defensa Civil, en esa zona occidental dos socorristas se encuentran aún en cuidados intensivos, después de participar en las labores para sofocar el incendio provocado por el descarrilamiento de seis vagones de un tren, el lunes pasado.
Al lugar de la catástrofe, donde la nube del material tóxico abarcó 14 poblados en un área de 90 kilómetros cuadrados, se trasladaron brigadas de médicos militares y unidades de tropas químicas.
Por lo menos ocho vagones afectados por el accidente fueron evacuados y montados en plataformas de un convoy ferroviario que regresará con esa carga a su lugar de partida, en Kazajstán.
Sin embargo, el canal de televisión Inter indicó que Astaná, aun cuando envió sus especialistas a la zona del desastre, estima que quien debe ocuparse de la carga de fósforo amarillo es una empresa holandesa, la cual compró ese producto.
mv to / PL-21
(http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/Article.asp?ID=%7B4726DA76-07D6-4F68-A3CB-8908C429EA02%7D&language=ES) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 12 agosto 2007 : 14:39:55
|
NEW ELECTIONS FOR OLD CONTENDERS IN UKRAINE
By Jan Maksymiuk
On August 2, Ukraine officially entered its campaign for early parliamentary elections to be held on September 30. The major political parties have already held conventions to approve their manifestos and candidates for the polls.
However, those hoping for a new political opening in Ukraine in the fall may be deeply disappointed. There are hardly any new ideas in election programs and hardly any new names on election lists compared with those during the 2006 elections. And public-opinion surveys in Ukraine suggest that the alignment of forces in a future legislature may be very similar to that in the current one.
The main contenders in this year's preterm elections are the same as those in the regular parliamentary elections in March 2006: the Party of Regions, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party. The only difference is that the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc was just Our Ukraine last year, without the People's Self-Defense component later created by former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.
The Party of Regions led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych -- which held its showy, Western-style election convention in Kyiv on August 4 -- declared that it will focus on economic and social issues in the ongoing campaign, thus hushing up its former concerns about giving the Russian language official status and fostering the electorate's anti-NATO sentiments in Ukraine.
Yanukovych has apparently decided to capitalize on a fairly strong economic performance of his two cabinets, the current one and that in 2002-04. Warding off President Viktor Yushchenko's recent criticism of the economic situation, Yanukovych's press service reminded Ukrainians that the economy grew by 9.6 percent in 2003 and by 12 percent in 2004, adding that in 2005, when the Orange Revolution government took over, economic growth fell to 2.7 percent. Since August 2006, when Yanukovych became prime minister for the second time, average economic growth has stood at 8 percent, the press service stressed.
Moreover, Yanukovych has outstripped Yushchenko in pledges to overcome Ukraine's protracted demographic crisis, in which the number of Ukrainians shrank from 52 million in 1992 to 46.5 million in 2007. In June, Yushchenko promised to increase a state allowance for the second and every subsequent child born to families from the current 8,000 hryvnyas ($1,600) to 15,000 hryvnyas. Yanukovych promised at the August 4 convention that if he wins the elections, his government will increase this payment to 25,000 hryvnyas for the second child and to 50,000 hryvnyas for every additional child.
Yanukovych surprised his adherents and opponents with two more election devices. He used a teleprompter to read his speech at the election convention, a hitherto unheard-of practice in Ukrainian politics. And he referred to God in his concluding words, which was also a first for him: "We are heading straight for the victory with firm steps! The Lord God help us!"
The top 10 candidates of the Party of Regions are exclusively former lawmakers. The Party of Regions election ticket includes five current deputy prime ministers and 11 ministers.
A convention of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc on August 5, even if less pompous and less technologically advanced than that of the Party of Regions, was also eye-catching. The bloc's leader, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, had all delegates to the convention put on white T-shirts with a red heart and the inscription "Yulya" on them. In general, the initial letter of her first name -- the Cyrillic "Yu" -- has seemingly become a new graphic symbol of the bloc, since it was utilized in many slogans and inscriptions visible at the convention, including the phrase "I love Yu." Tymoshenko, who in the past frequently appeared in trendy and costly outfits from Europe's top fashion designers, this time donned a Ukrainian folk-style dress.
The convention adopted an election manifesto called "Ukrainian Breakthrough," which has so far not been revealed to the public, including the bloc's ordinary members and supporters. But Tymoshenko provided a glimpse into the program at the convention when she proposed that corrupt officials be punished with imprisonment for life and that judges be elected by popular vote.
The top 10 candidates of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc are exclusively former legislators.
The Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc held its election convention on August 7. The forum was attended by President Yushchenko, who blessed what he described as the unification of Ukrainian democratic forces into a single bloc for the early polls. And he seemed to indicate a spiritual direction for the bloc when he stated that, "Our ideal is a powerful state, a single people, a single official language, a single Christian Orthodox Church, and a single nation."
The pro-presidential bloc adopted an election manifest titled "For People, Not For Politicians," which calls for abolishing parliamentary immunity, canceling privileges for lawmakers, setting up a national anticorruption bureau, and forming an independent body to vet all judges.
Yuriy Lutsenko, one of the leaders of the bloc, claimed in a passionate speech at the August 7 convention that the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense election list does not include people who "went whoring" in the past or betrayed the 2004 Orange Revolution. He specifically mentioned Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs leader Anatoliy Kinakh and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz in this regard, branding them "Judases" for their alliance with the Party of Regions.
The top 10 candidates of the bloc include only one new name, that of television journalist Volodymyr Aryev. The remaining nine are either former lawmakers or people already known in politics, such as Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko.
The least conspicuous of recent election gatherings in Ukraine was that of the Socialist Party on August 4. According to all opinion surveys, the Socialist Party will be fighting for survival in this election. Its popularity rating is currently well below the 3 percent threshold that qualifies for parliamentary representation.
Moroz on August 4 condemned the upcoming elections as an "adventurous" and "illegitimate" event, claiming that their main objectives are to remove the Socialists from parliament, "draw" Ukraine into NATO, and "cause a quarrel" between Ukraine and Russia.
Public-opinion polls conducted in Ukraine in June and July suggest that the elections will be won by the Party of Regions with 30-33 percent of the vote, while second place will be contested by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (14-17 percent) and Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense (13-15 percent). The Communist Party should gain 3-5 percent of the vote.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has definitely ruled out any postelection coalition with the Party of Regions. Yanukovych at the August 4 convention expressed his preference for a "grand" coalition, but mentioned no specific forces. Lutsenko on August 7 admitted that it is possible for his bloc to cooperate with Yanukovych's people in parliament but excluded any governing alliance with them. In short, the starting political preferences of Ukraine's key political players before the September 2007 elections are almost the same as those before the March 2006 polls.
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 147, Part II, 10 August 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 15 agosto 2007 : 01:10:38
|
CEC Refused to Register BYuT
UKRAYINSKA PRAVDA
12.08.2007
Translated by Yelizaveta Badanova
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has refused to register the BYuT election list.
During the CEC meeting on Friday seven CEC members [from eight necessary for adopting a positive decision] voted for registering the BYuT list, seven abstained whereas Bronislav Raykovsky was absent.
In particular, CEC members from coalition parties demanded that all 450 BYuT candidates should be refused registration in connection with divergence of place of residence mentioned in the list and in the candidate’s autobiography.
The discussion lasted till midnight and the point was voted at 12.02 AM so that the term for the decision adoption had run out.
CEC head Volodymyr Shapoval announced a necessary break in the CEC work as the members ‘faced a difficulty’ adopting a decision. “We will get down to it tomorrow,” he said.
In turn, BYuT representative in the CEC Petro Krupko stated that the bloc’s legal assistants would immediately start to prepare a claim against the CEC omission to act.
“You have witnessed an attempt of a reprisal not to allow us to take part in the elections,” Mr. Krupko says.
He underlined that there were no legal grounds to refuse the BYuT list registration. “These are all artificial political motivations,” he stressed.
He also maintains that there is enough evidence for court to deliver a ruling claiming the CEC action unlawful and binding it to register BYuT.
(Source: Interfax-Ukraine. - http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/8/12/8569.htm)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION BLOC DENIED REGISTRATION FOR PARLIAMENTARY POLLS
The Central Election Commission (TsVK) on August 11 refused to register candidates of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) for the early parliamentary elections due on September 30, Ukrainian media reported. With seven votes in favor, the list was one vote short of the eight votes required for registration. Seven TsVK members nominated by the ruling coalition refused to endorse the list on the grounds that the BYuT had failed to provide the exact addresses of the candidates, a requirement not clearly set by election legislation. "This is a blatant and rather desperate attempt to undermine the electoral process by eliminating a political party that represents one-third of the country's population," Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists, vowing to challenge the registration refusal in court. BYuT supporters on August 12 pitched some 100 tents in front of the TsVK offices in Kyiv to protest the decision. It is widely expected in Kyiv that the BYuT list will be registered following a court ruling.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 148, Part II, 13 August 2007.)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The White Starts and Win?
by Serhiy Leshchenko, Tetyana Nikolayenko, UP
Original article in Ukrainian by Viktor Chyvokunya, Tetyana Nikolaenko, UP
UKRAYINSKA PRAVDA
12.08.2007
Translated by Eugene Ivantsov
Following the Party of Regions, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc set the tone for the upcoming election. The short campaign promises to be pompous and rather fancy.
On Sunday, Yulia Tymoshenko held a congress where she gave her answer to the Party of Regions. Mrs. Tymoshenko prepared her fellow party members for the election fight.
The concept of the congress was fairly provocative. There were several thousand people dressed in white shirts which resembled The Great White Brotherhood.
This analogy is most likely the purpose PR action of the BYuT spin doctors. It is an attempt to bring the game in associations to absurd when you want to expose Yulia Tymoshenko and it turns out she does not conceal anything.
She seems to like this game that is why the BYuT leader calls her MPs with metaphoric names. Just a year ago they were ‘the warriors of light’. Now, they are ‘invincible defenders of justice and independence’.
Besides, Oleksandr Abdulin and Mykola Bahrayev introduced a new creative concept of the congress.
All delegates had to follow the dress code consisting of a scarf, bracelet or a T-shirt where the letter “Y” or the heart is made play: VirYu v Ukrayinu (I believe in Ukraine), KokhaYu (I love), Vyidu zamizh za BYutivtsya (I will marry the BYuT member), Ukraine without Crimea is like a bridegroom without a bride, and Russia, be aware of your place.
A cap with the inscription “The braid is inside” completed the collection.
The delegates heard a new musical theme. Instead of Yulya kosu nusyt’ (Yulia has the braid) by an unnamed girls band it was a rap-style theme Ne hayte chasu – z Yuleyu razom budem my (Don’t waste time, we will be with Yulia anyway).
This entertaining tune was meant to be an alternative to the Party of Regions anthem. However, the delegates listened to it not for long as they were invited to take seats in the hall. Everyone was waiting for Her.
“So, can I go now?” Mrs. Tymoshenko addressed the show director Bahrayev who was giving the last instructions.
“It is not the time, Mrs. Tymoshenko!” said Bahrayev switching on the walkie-talkie. “Max, we are ready!” he murmured.
“Please, can I go now?!” Tymoshenko clenched her small fists. She was too nervous to wait any longer.
“Yes!” answered Bahrayev whose voice was howled down by the roar of the crowd.
“Sorry?” Mrs. Tymoshenko tired to outvoice the audience.
“A Dio!” Bahrayev blessed her.
She turned up from the security cordon accompanied by shouts “Yulia”, camera flashes and applause. The audience turned mad with happiness.
Mrs. Tymoshenko wore a perfect national dress unlike the last year’s Yves Saint Laurent suit.
“We have a national workshop that custom-made this dress for me,” Mrs. Tymoshenko explained changes in her dress.
This, and also the spiritual anthem of Ukraine “Lord Almighty” sang by Nina Matvienko and the national anthem performed by Oleksandr Ponomaryov presented Yulia Tymoshenko’s new image. She turned from the Orange Maidan Princess or the Gas Princess into the modern Lesya Ukrayinka.
Yulia Tymoshenko started with the sad state Ukraine appeared in.
“Our team is the only one capable of saving the nation,” Mrs. Tymoshenko appropriated this exclusive right, making Our Ukraine look for its role in this war itself.
Then, Yulia Tymoshenko compared herself to Suvorov crossing Alps:
“If you think that we have the rear, transport and food supplies you are mistaken. We are alone in this war!”
Taking into account that Mrs. Tymoshenko is going to sweep the election, she already transferred the Party of Regions into the opposition. She is even ready to enlarge its powers.
“Our authority is open. We are ready to let any Yanukovych with his brilliant intellect control our authority. Hopefully, his American spin doctors will write in his speech prompter how it goes,” Mrs. Tymoshenko did not miss the chance to mock at the PM’s latest hi-tech innovations.
She also accused the ‘donetskies’ for their attempts to steal the ‘Orange’ social initiatives of raising maternity aid:
“You all know that we promised to raise maternity aid. I am pleased that creativity of the Party of Regions was limited only to raising this aid.”
Mrs. Tymoshenko could have solved the problem by raising it even more. But she refused to organize an auction:
“I want to ask this. Aren’t we ready to accept these figures? We will accept them so that our Motherland has more children than those who want to lose Ukraine’s independence and join some new post-soviet empire.”
Having felt the whole-hearted support of the audience Mrs. Tymoshenko got carried away as it usually happens to her. He proposed to introduce a special punishment for corrupt officials.
“A life sentence for a corrupt official whose guilt was proved!” Mrs. Tymoshenko declared in a ringing voice. The white brotherhood burst in applause.
One of the BYuT delegates turned out more cynical than the others.
“Well, it depends on how you look at it… Corruption is the only way to fight the red tape,” he addressed his neighbor.
“Aha, while raids are the best way to find the most effective owner,” he replied in the ‘Tymoshenko style’.
Protection of the Ukrainian language by not conferring the Russian language an official status in Ukraine was Mrs. Tymoshenko’s another keypoint.
“If someone wants bilingualism in Ukraine I would suggest that he properly learns Ukrainian,” Yulia Tymoshenko gave an answer to PM Yanukovych who admitted he failed to fulfill this pre-election promise.
To support her statement Mrs. Tymoshenko shared results of the Gallup Poll carried out in grade 7 in one of Kyiv’s schools.
“Indeed, 60% of the interviewed students knew who Taras Shevchenko was. But three of them though it was the President of Ukraine, two students considered him a mathematician while one student ‘employed’ the great Ukrainian poet in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. What kind of cultural education is it?” asked the BYuT leader.
Mrs. Tymoshenko’s speech lasted for two hours. She declared all 12 items of her program ‘Ukrainian breakthrough’ which she is going to implement in the PM’s office.
She set the goal of achieving 39% at election which equals 226 seats in the Verkhovna Rada.
“Can we double the last year’s result? Can we raise it by 1.5 times?” Yulia Tymoshenko addressed the delegates.
“Ye-e-es!” responded the audience and burst in applause again.
If it is impossible to form majority in parliament Tymoshenko has only one potential partner. It is Our Ukraine - People’s Self-defense Bloc.
“I know it will be difficult. But I want to recall two slogans of the sportware companies: “Impossible is nothing” and “Just do it” I am asking you: Just do it!” she encouraged her bloc.
“Looking at this audience and your white T-shirts I recalled Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a novel by Richard Bach. It is a beautiful legend. There lived a flock of seagulls who were born eat and flap wings just a couple of times. They did not need more. But one seagull was practicing aerial acrobatics, reaching top altitudes and risking his life. He came to the flock and said: “I want to show you a new way. I can discover new horizons for you.” But the flock said that it was the peak but not wings that they needed to exercise. And they kicked the seagull away. But the seagull did not stop exercising. He practiced until the entire flock became Jonathan Livingston Seagulls,” she said.
After the literary discourse Mrs. Tymoshenko gave thanks to the audience:
“I am proud of you. I am proud to say that the ‘flying altitude’, inspiration and spirituality is more important for you. Food is secondary…”
Later they all received rewards from Yulia Tymoshenko.
If the Party of Regions invited Russian guests to its congress BYuT had a more important visitor from Europe. It is the leader of the most influential European party –European People’s Party.
This right-wing union can boast of 18 PM of the European countries, including Angela Merkel, and the largest faction in the European Parliament.
Wilfried Martens was sitting besides Hryhoriy Nemyrya who is the main international expert in the BYuT.
Mr. Martens seemed to be so much impressed by Mrs. Tymoshenko’s two-hour speech that he said:
“My hope and political aspiration is that soon you will be an active member of the European People’s Party. Our aspiration for Ukraine, for this great European country, is to become part of the European family, as far as you satisfy all criteria and values. Therefore Ukraine has to move forward, to pursue reforms and their implementation. To achieve this you need a stable government and not a mafia, capable of acting in a fast and efficient way - and committed to protect democracy and the rule of law,” he addressed the audience.
When the interpreter finished the last sentence the audience ‘exploded’. This phrase was not included to Mr. Martens’s speech. Even Yulia Tymoshenko did not expect it. Having heard own verbal expressions she gave a smile and started clapping her hands.
“We welcome your efforts in building a democratic party with European values and principles, which will bring Ukraine a prosperous and peaceful future for all. We hope that the Block of Yulia Tymoshenko together with the Nasha Ukraina Coalition will win the elections and will form a new democratic government to the benefit all citizens and to take important steps for the European future of your country,” he went on and invited Batkivshchyna Party to join the European People’s Party.
“We received an official invitation. Besides, haven’t you noticed that they have the same heart-shaped symbol like the BYuT,” answered Mrs. Tymoshenko.
Yulia Tymoshenko preferred not to say that Batkivshchyna is a left-wing force while the European People’s Party is a right-wing political force.
The congress unanimously supported joining of Batkivshchyna. For example, even Viktor Pynzennyk, who is a leader of another party Reforms and Order, raised his hand thus participating in voting.
Following the short speeches of Mrs. Tymoshenko’s closest allies called ‘Discussion of the leader’s speech’ in the agenda the congress ended with awarding Levko Lukyanenko with the BYuT order. Mr. Lukyanenko refused to run for parliament because of his poor state of health. According to another version, he made such a decision because his step daughter Lyuba Stasiv left the BYuT.
It is known that Lukyanenko has a big influence on Tymoshenko. According to some sources, Yulia Tymoshenko declared herself Lukyanenko’s successor.
Then the BYuT top 10 was presented to the audience. Yosyp Vinsky who now runs the entire organizational structure of the BYuT received the fourth position. Viktor Pynzennyk is on the sixth position. That will make a symbolic pair of duelists with Mykola Azarov who also received the sixth position in the Party of Regions. Vasyl Onopenko’s position was taken by his son-in-law Mr. Korniychuk. As known, Vasyl Onopenko was appointed the Head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Other members of the top ten who came on stage accompanied by an avalanche of applause kept their positions.
Oleksandr Turchynov read out the rest 440 positions on the list which took him ten minutes. Doing it, he clipped the words so much that it was impossible to identify even the passing part of the list.
Although according to the BYuT leaders the list has not been altered since spring, the organizers did not hand out copies of the list among the audience.
The voting was almost unanimous. Only the woman that was running up and down the hall trying to take a picture of with the BYuT leaders voted against the list. In fact, she did not manage to raise her hand in time.
“One vote “against”. It is OK. It is democracy,” joked Mr. Turchynov.
“I am not against!” yelled the woman who did not mind supporting the list where she did not know even one-tenth of candidates.
“There is no problem here. At least we read out the names while it was a blind voting at the Party of Regions congress,” the BYuT spin doctors said after the congress.
The congress ended with awarding those BYuT MPs who did not betray Tymoshenko’s faction with the BYuT orders ‘For Service to Ukraine’ decorated with the artificial ruby. This move had to strengthen the BYuT team. The award ceremony took place behind the closed doors in the small hall.
“The first award goes to my brother,” began Mrs. Tymoshenko and called Oleksandr Turchynov.
The ceremony lasted for two hours and Tymoshenko managed to find the necessary words for everybody. At some moments it looked like a big birthday party where Yulia Tymoshenko had to give a toast for everyone. Mr. Tomenko was trying to ease the atmosphere and cracked jokes about everything he heard.
“Our team can be proud of this man. He did not only build an enterprise but he developed the entire industry sector. I do not know what the Transport Minister does in the Cabinet of Ministers but I know what Tariel Vasadze is doing,” Mrs. Tymoshenko said awarding him with an order. As known, Tariel Vasadze, the owner of Zaporizhya Automobile Company, has headed the BYuT regional campaign headquarters.
Mykola Tomenko could not resist the temptation to joke:
“After Vasadze, should we maybe we take Poroshenko for corrective training?”
Almost all delegates were dressed in T-shirts with the “Y” logo. Buryak brothers with their suits were not fitting n this flashmob. “Well, you see, he is not in such a good shape to put on our T-shirt,” Mrs. Tymoshenko commented on Buryak Senior’s ‘outfit’.
But Yulia Tymoshenko can excuse him this ‘freedom’. “I know Buryak brothers well enough to say that there is no problem they are unable to solve,” said Tymoshenko awarding the two brothers bankers who are responsible for Khmelnitsk region.
“The next person I want to award is fighting for us in Kharkiv region,” Mrs. Tymoshenko addressed head of Khrakiv campaign headquarters Oleksandr Feldman.
The BYuT leader awarded Yevhen Korniychuk who is son-in-law of the Supreme Court Head:
“Zhenya, I am asking you to bail our entire legal system.”
During the ceremony many interesting details came out. For example, one of the BYuT MPs is especially close to Mrs. Tymoshenko. In fact, he is geographically close to her. It is Mykola Kovzel, formerly the head of Intertrans company and presently Mrs. Tymoshenko’s neighbor.
“I have a unique neighbor who has recently moved in. He takes no offence at me even when my dogs run in his property. I want to thank Mykola Kovzel for he is my favorite neighbor,” Mrs. Tymoshenko awarded another MP.
The next award went to Stepan Glus who used to be the director of Nemiroff distillery.
“Raise your hands those who has not tried Nemiroff vodka?” asked Yulia Tymoshenko.
“I haven’t,” said Mr. Turchynov.
“You missed much! This man is a pioneer of vodka known all over the world,” Mrs. Tymoshenko with a laughing smile on her face.
After that, Mrs. Tymoshenko shared some other intimate details.
“I want to tell you whom I spent this night with,” Yulia Tymoshenko intrigued the audience. “It was not the first night with this man. We always planned to do everything on time but there was not a single night that we did not spend together before any BYuT congress. It is Vitaliy Chepynoha,” Mrs. Tymoshenko introduced her speech writer.
The next award could not find its hero. The busy director of this show Mykola Bahrayev was not there.
“Today’s congress, everything from the stage direction to design, is the creative work of Mykola Bahrayev. I remember him going to France to take sketches of Nickola Sarkozy’s congress. We have even a better show now,” she said.
According to the BYuT leader, they finally managed to have air-balloons fall on form the ceiling. Last time the mechanism did not work.
But it was not the end. According to Yulia Tymoshenko, she was stunned by the beauty of the show.
“This congress made my hair stand!” said Mrs. Tymoshenko laughingly.
Then it was Oleksandr Abdullin to receive his order. Mrs. Tymoshenko recalled the year 2002:
“I was told this: “There is one man, Bakay’s ally, in Rivne region running for parliament. We will not yield a single vote to him.” But he won. I believe my people because when they got to know him a little bit closer they understood he was our guy,” she said.
“It is true. They vote either for Abdullin or Lukashenka in the north,” Mr. Tomenko kept joking.
All MPs at the congress received their awards. Those who refused to interrupt their vacations will have a ‘nice pleasant talk’ with Yulia Tymoshenko on coming back to Kyiv. Of course, the last award went to the BYuT leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
“This award with remind me of the present time. This award will become the rarity when we will live in another happy country,” Ms. Tymoshenko said unexpectedly.
(http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/8/13/8582.htm)
You can read this article in Ukrainian: http://pravda.com.ua/news/2007/8/6/62340.htm |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 15 agosto 2007 : 23:34:58
|
La sécheresse met l'agriculture ukrainienne à l'épreuve
Olivier Razemon
LE MONDE, Paris
15.08.07
Vues du train qui parcourt en dix-huit heures les 700 kilomètres de chemin de fer séparant Kiev de Simferopol, en Crimée, les plaines d'Ukraine défilent dans la torpeur estivale. Aux abords des champs, déjà moissonnés à la fin du mois de juillet, les habitants des petites datchas en bois peint vont et viennent, court vêtus.
Le soleil tape, mais l'aridité ne paraît pas exceptionnelle. Une bonne partie de la végétation reste verte, les animaux semblent être en mesure de paître à leur guise. Et les grands cours d'eau, à commencer par le Dniepr, large de plusieurs centaines de mètres, ne présentent aucun signe d'assèchement.
L'Ukraine n'en traverse pas moins, depuis le début de l'année, une période de sécheresse préoccupante. "Dans toutes les régions du pays, à l'exception des Carpates, il n'a pas plu entre janvier et juin", indique Jean-Jacques Hervé, du ministère français des affaires étrangères, conseiller du gouvernement ukrainien pour les questions agricoles. Les systèmes d'irrigation, en état de délabrement avancé depuis la fin de la période soviétique, ne permettent pas de pomper l'eau des fleuves pour alimenter les champs.
La récolte de céréales, qui s'était élevée à 38 millions de tonnes en 2006, ne devrait atteindre que 27 à 28 millions de tonnes cette année, selon des estimations publiées début août. Le gouvernement ne craint cependant pas de répercussion sur l'approvisionnement en pain. Selon Jean-Jacques Hervé, les seules augmentations anormales pourraient résulter "de la spéculation et de l'énorme machine qu'est la corruption".
Le pays a, en revanche, dû se résoudre à limiter ses exportations de fruits et légumes et envisage des mesures équivalentes pour les céréales. L'Ukraine, qui a exporté, en 2006, près de 3 millions de tonnes de blé, maïs et orge espère, à moyen terme, se spécialiser dans la production d'agrocarburants destinés au marché européen.
La sécheresse limite le rendement du tchernoziom, la fameuse terre noire riche en humus qui a longtemps fait de l'Ukraine le "grenier à blé" de l'Union soviétique. La performance de l'agriculture constitue, dans l'imaginaire ukrainien, une fierté que l'on retrouve jusque dans le drapeau national : une bande bleue, qui représente le ciel, surmonte une bande jaune, qui figure les blés.
ENORMES RETENUES D'EAU
Les habitants gardent par ailleurs en mémoire les années 1930, au cours desquelles Staline avait imposé à la région de sévères restrictions provoquant une famine sans précédent et la mort de plusieurs millions de personnes. En 1921 et 1947, des sécheresses exceptionnelles avaient également affaibli l'Ukraine.
Certains spécialistes du climat, à l'instar de Frédéric Denhez dans son Atlas du réchauffement climatique (éditions Autrement), prévoient que la région subira, dans les prochaines années, des périodes de sécheresse de plus en plus importantes, dues au changement climatique. Mais les autorités n'expriment, pour l'heure, pas d'inquiétude particulière. Le pays bénéficie des énormes retenues d'eau construites sur le Dniepr.
"A 15 centimètres de la surface du sol, le tchernoziom demeure humide", remarque en outre Jean-Jacques Hervé. Même si les pluies restent faibles, "les plaines sont tellement vastes que cela finit par constituer une importante quantité d'eau". Aucune restriction n'a pour l'instant été relevée dans le pays et les associations environnementales ne se sont pas manifestées.
(0,1-0@2-3244,36-944340,0.html" target="_blank">http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3244,36-944340,0.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 17 agosto 2007 : 22:57:00
|
Tres cócteles de vino al día contra el estrés
Un clínica ucrania prescribe la "receta del vino" para aliviar enfermedades
como el estrés, la impotencia o las afecciones coronarias
ELPAIS.com - Madrid
17/08/2007
Los científicos ya han argumentado en múltiples ocasiones que el vino tomado con moderación puede resultar beneficioso para la salud. Sin embargo, una clínica ucrania va más lejos todavía. El Sanatorio de las Estrellas de Crimea, en la ciudad de Alushta, receta tres cócteles de vino diarios para aliviar enfermedades como el estrés, la impotencia o las afecciones coronarias, según publica la BBC.
El doctor Alexander Sheludko, creador de la ya popular terapia del vino, asegura que "el vino es un producto vivo que contiene vitaminas y muchos componentes biológicamente activos". Su fórmula es muy sencilla: hierbas secas mezcladas con vinos de Crimea y, en ocasiones, un chorrito de vodka, tres veces al día durante una o dos semanas.
La clínica dispone de una cafetería que recomienda cuál de los siete tipos de cócteles debe tomar el paciente. La bebida mágica, acompañada de un poco de relax, contribuye a mejorar el estado de salud, explica el doctor, quien garantiza que cientos de personas se han sometido con éxito a su tratamiento.
Ucrania, un país con un alto grado de alcoholismo
Expertos ucranios se muestran escépticos ante los beneficios reales de la terapia del vino, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta los altos niveles de alcoholismo que registra el país.
Según la doctora Iryna Lipych, especialista en terapias contra la dependencia del alcohol, los cócteles podrían conducir a los pacientes hacia una futura dependencia de las bebidas alcohólicas. "El alcohol causa a su vez muchos problemas médicos, especialmente en el hígado", añade la doctora, que recuerda que beber con el estómago vacío puede hacer sentirte "contentillo".
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/cocteles/vino/dia/estres/elpepusoc/20070817elpepusoc_3/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 22 agosto 2007 : 14:39:20
|
The reality of Ukraine's revolution
Three years after the Orange revolution, reform is glacially slow and may yet prove too painful
By Lawrence A. Uzzell (Fishersville, Va.)
The Christian Science Monitor
from the August 21, 2007 edition
Americans should look at reality rather than Hollywood-style happy endings when they gauge the progress in Ukraine and other post-Soviet states. Many Americans still prefer the memory of Boris Yeltsin's stirring 1991 speech atop a Moscow tank, but they ignore the aftermath: the suppression of legislators and journalists. More than two years since the electrifying "revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, it is time to reflect on the results.
The reality is disappointing in contrast with the hopes of Ukraine's 2004 "Orange Revolution." The bad news: Ukraine is moving at a glacial pace in reforms. The good news: At least Kiev has avoided any major deterioration. Ukrainians can be grateful that they won secession peacefully in 1991 from hypercentralized Moscow.
According to a draft report published by Washington-based Freedom House, the overall "democracy score" in Ukraine became slightly worse from 2006 to 2007. Ukraine's current performance in economic freedom is declining, as rated in the free-market report published annually by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. In fact, Ukraine's economy is seen as slightly less free than Russia's. The January report stated, "Ukraine is ranked 40th out of 41 countries in the European region, and its overall score is much lower than the regional average."
However, Ukraine's freedom in terms of civil society had improved significantly from the 1990s to 2005. Freedom of the press has clearly improved since the "Orange Revolution." Ukraine has far more religious freedom than Russia.
The Freedom House report concluded that in Ukraine, "nationwide television channels in most cases provided balanced news coverage; representatives of the ruling parties as well as the opposition had equal access to the media." Nevertheless, many local governments still dominate the local news media.
According to a nongovernmental organization specializing in monitoring the media, at least 14 journalists were attacked or intimidated in Ukraine in 2006. Last year a Ukrainian court issued a guilty verdict for five murderers after the 2001 death of a television journalist.
This is in dramatic contrast with post-Soviet Russia, where not one murder of a high-profile journalist has been solved. Nine Russian journalists were killed in 2006 alone. Ukraine's freedom of the press improved significantly from 2004 to 2005, then again from 2005 to 2006 – but failed to improve during the 12 months up to the spring of 2007.
Ukrainians and Russians enjoyed the end of state-enforced atheism in the late 1980s. However, their paths have diverged since the mid-1990s. Russia's 1997 law formally reestablished state control over religious life, brazenly contradicting its own 1993 constitution. In contrast, Ukraine is essentially observing its own constitutional guarantees for rights of conscience. Unlike Russian bureaucrats, both in law and in practice, Ukrainian bureaucrats do not suppress freedom of religious speech – nor do they expel foreign missionaries.
Nevertheless, during the past decade, Ukrainian leaders of all traditional religions have complained about the government's glacial progress in restoring worship buildings confiscated by the Soviet regime – including Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish properties.
Also unsatisfactory has been the continuing record of provincial or municipal bureaucrats harassing religious minorities. For example, the Roman Catholic Church's charitable activities have experienced difficulties with Odessa's city council. Evangelical Protestants have had difficulties trying to buy real estate in order to build new churches.
Observing Ukraine's lack of progress during the past two years, the US State Department's annual reports about religious freedom have concluded, "There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report." (The 2006 report repeated those identical words from the 2005 report.)
Paradoxically, post-Soviet Ukraine's sluggishness in reforms is linked in some ways with Ukraine's lack of Russian-style despotism. Many would-be reformers instinctively assume that strong, centralized presidencies are preferable, while legislatures or provincial governors are nuisances. Washington's Beltway mentality likes the domestic policies of leaders such as Lyndon Johnson, producing huge federal programs and detailed regulations.
During the 1990s, the Beltway usually found excuses for the "excesses" of Moscow's self-proclaimed "reformer" Boris Yeltsin. Washington looked the other way when the Kremlin decided in 1993 to crush the legislature by means of tanks. Fortunately, Ukraine's three post-Soviet presidents have not imitated the Kremlin's most extreme methods, and Kiev's legislature now has genuine powers.
In the real world, the model of "tough-guy" leadership has both advantages and disadvantages. The principle of the rule of law can obstruct radical reforms. Constitutional checks and balances can impede a president. The majority of Ukrainians may decide that reforms seem too painful. With popular elections, antireform opposition candidates may win against pro-reform incumbents. Democracy has real tensions with freedom.
A continuing global temptation has been the myth of "revolution" inherited from 18th-century France. Revolutionaries have often expected their victories to be swift and unambiguous, but they have usually turned out to be wrong. Ukrainians recall all too vividly the past century's experiences of revolutionary Marxism. We should understand that Ukrainians may prefer evolution, not radical upheavals – without Hollywood-style myths.
• Lawrence A. Uzzell is president of International Religious Freedom Watch.
(Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0821/p09s02-coop.html?s=hns)
|
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 22 agosto 2007 : 15:52:37
|
L'Ukraine au bord du précipice
Par Nina Khrouchtcheva, qui enseigne les relations internationales à la New School University de New York
LE FIGARO, Paris
21 août 2007
La campagne des élections législatives du 30 septembre prochain a-t-elle à peine commencé que le premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch - celui qui a essayé de truquer le résultat de la présidentielle de 2004, ce qui a déclenché la « révolution orange » - tente de la manipuler. Ses manoeuvres ont commencé aux alentours de minuit le 11 août, quand la commission électorale centrale (composée en grande partie de ses acolytes) a refusé de certifier le plus grand parti d'opposition, le bloc de l'ancien premier ministre Ioulia Timochenko, pour l'empêcher de participer au scrutin.
En s'accrochant au pouvoir par tous les moyens, Ianoukovitch risque de déclencher une catastrophe. Il ne s'agira pas seulement de désordre et de violence, mais de déclin économique et d'une nouvelle répression. Au bout du compte, cela pourrait entraîner le même genre de grosses manifestations que celles qui ont marqué la « révolution orange » et les tentatives de répression par la violence.
L'histoire récente regorge d'exemples inquiétants de dictateurs et de dictateurs en puissance qui refusent de reconnaître qu'ils ont fait long feu. Les Ukrainiens devront-ils recommencer la « révolution orange » en descendant par millions dans la rue pour faire reculer Ianoukovitch (condamné deux fois pour violence avant qu'il ne se lance dans la politique) ? Quelqu'un pourrait le contraindre à en revenir à des pratiques démocratiques : c'est le président russe Poutine. Il est manifestement de l'intérêt de la Russie d'éviter le chaos chez leur principal voisin.
Mais étant donné la manière dont Poutine considère l'intérêt national russe, ce genre d'intervention est improbable. Le Kremlin apprécie des voisins faibles qu'il peut contrôler. Comme c'est habituel avec cet ancien agent du KGB, Poutine ruse avec l'Ukraine, mais il s'illusionne s'il croit qu'en soutenant Ianoukovitch il arrivera à reprendre le contrôle de ce pays. Le temps de l'empire est révolu, quelle que soit la fortune que la Russie tire du pétrole et du gaz.
D'autres pressions doivent donc s'exercer, avant tout de la part de l'Union européenne et des États-Unis. En 2004, l'UE et les USA n'ont pas fait preuve d'empressement pour élever la voix en faveur des démocrates ukrainiens. Il a fallu le courage de millions d'Ukrainiens réunis au centre de Kiev pour galvaniser l'opinion publique internationale avant que l'UE et les États-Unis ne finissent par demander des élections honnêtes.
Heureusement, les dirigeants des trois plus grands pays européens ne sont pas les mêmes qu'en 2004. Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy et Gordon Brown semblent comprendre clairement les problèmes de sécurité qui se posent à l'est de l'UE. Ils auront peut-être la volonté de réagir énergiquement et, dès à présent, plutôt que de traîner des pieds comme leurs prédécesseurs en 2004, tandis que l'Ukraine s'enfonçait dans la crise. Depuis la « révolution orange », les Ukrainiens ont pour la première fois une conscience aiguë de leurs droits. Cela ne suffit pas à garantir que ces droits seront respectés dans les prochaines semaines, mais il sera bien plus difficile de les bafouer. Une bataille pour la démocratie se prépare.
(Copyright : Project syndicate 2007. - http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/20070821.FIG000000022_l_ukraine_au_bord_du_precipice.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 22 agosto 2007 : 16:45:45
|
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR SUSPENSION OF LARGE-SCALE PRIVATIZATION
AND RULES OUT POTENTIAL ORANGE-BLUE COALITION
President Viktor Yushchenko said at a news conference in Kyiv on August 20 that plans to privatize major enterprises should be suspended until after early parliamentary elections scheduled for September 30, Ukrainian media reported. "I feel extremely suspicious of institutions of powers that are trying to initiate any privatization process today. I am convinced that the current State Property Fund is incapable of unbiased, objective privatization based on competition and law," Yushchenko said.
In particular, Yushchenko objected to the proposed sale of a 99.5 percent stake in the Odesa Portside Plant, a major manufacturer of chemicals. The chairwoman of the State Property Fund, Valentyna Semenyuk, rejected Yushchenko's criticism, saying that "all statements by the president about suspending the privatization of the Odesa Portside Plant are linked to the fact that oligarchs...in his entourage are dissatisfied with the transparent and rigorous conditions of the auction as well as with the extensive social commitments demanded of investors."
President Yushchenko said at a news conference on August 20 that he would not welcome a ruling coalition of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc and the Party of Regions after the September 30 polls, Ukrainian media reported. "I am not a great optimist regarding such a [ruling] configuration," Yushchenko added. He said the Party of Regions made a "mistake" by not observing the Declaration of National Unity, which was signed in August 2006 by Yushchenko and major political forces in Ukraine to defuse the coalition-building crisis that followed the March 2006 parliamentary elections. Yushchenko also warned that a policy of "ignoring the opposition" by any ruling coalition formed after the September 30 elections "will have no prospects" for success.
Asked to comment on the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc's proposal to simultaneously hold a constitutional referendum on election day, Yushchenko suggested that it is impossible to prepare for a legitimate referendum in the short time before the scheduled elections. Yushchenko added that three or four months are needed to plan a referendum.
JM
====================================================================================
UKRAINIAN ELECTION COMMISSION ACCEPTS CANDIDATE LISTS FROM 35 PARTIES
The Central Election Commission (TsVK) on August 20 stopped accepting applications from political parties to register their candidates for the preterm elections on September 30, Interfax-Ukraine reported. TsVK member Mykhaylo Okhendovskyy said the TsVK received applications from 35 parties and blocs, compared to 45 parties and blocs registered for the March 2006 parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, TsVK Chairman Volodymyr Shapoval told President Yushchenko later the same day that the TsVK by August 20 registered nine lists of candidates for the September 30 polls.
JM
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 154, Part II, 21 August 2007.)
|
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 25 agosto 2007 : 15:45:38
|
Quand l'Ukraine se hisse vers l'Europe
Par Viktor Iouchtchenko, président de la République ukrainienne
Le Figaro, Paris
le 24 août 2007
Alors que le peuple ukrainien se prépare à commémorer le jour de son indépendance, il peut regarder sans rougir ses seize années d'indépendance.
Après des siècles marqués par la domination étrangère et la tyrannie, ce peuple a réussi à jeter les bases d'un État souverain, et ce dans un laps de temps extrêmement resserré. Il est parvenu à relever cette gageure en gardant à l'esprit le but de créer une démocratie européenne moderne.
L'Ukraine a su résister aux tentatives d'installer une « démocratie contrôlée », dans laquelle une certaine élite déterminerait tout changement politique. Le peuple a choisi, au contraire, de construire une société où la volonté populaire constitue la véritable force motrice.
D'autres succès doivent être mentionnés. L'unité de notre pays est aujourd'hui un fait établi, bien que certains aient pu en douter, aux premiers temps de notre indépendance.
L'Ukraine revêt désormais un poids politique et géostratégique non négligeable pour la stabilité et la sécurité européennes ; elle est aujourd'hui reconnue comme un partenaire fiable et responsable par ses voisins. Les Ukrainiens abordent la question européenne avec un nouveau réalisme.
Nous nous rapprochons tous les jours davantage des critères de Copenhague, afin de pouvoir un jour devenir membre de l'Union européenne. C'est une aspiration commune à non seulement tous les grands partis politiques de l'Ukraine, mais surtout à une grande majorité des citoyens.
Les réformes engagées ont abouti à une économie de marché florissante, et à la perspective de devenir membre de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce d'ici à la fin de l'année. Dans tous les domaines importants, l'Ukraine s'engage dans la bonne direction.
Naturellement, les progrès de notre pays n'ont pas été exempts de problèmes et de complications. Nous avons même subi plusieurs crises. La dernière en date s'est achevée sur un accord, reposant sur la tenue d'élections parlementaires, ce qui prouve une fois encore la force de notre instinct démocratique.
Ces crises provoquent d'inévitables craintes quant à la direction politique qu'emprunte l'Ukraine. Mais, à chaque fois, la démocratie ukrainienne est sortie renforcée de l'épreuve.
Sous cet aspect, les élections parlementaires qui vont se tenir dans un mois offrent une nouvelle occasion à l'Ukraine de démontrer sa ferme volonté d'achever la métamorphose engagée avec la « révolution orange ». C'est pourquoi je m'engage à assurer un scrutin juste et équitable, conforme aux standards internationaux les plus exigeants.
Refuser cette exigence porterait un grave préjudice à l'Ukraine et donnerait raison à ceux qui prétendent que nous ne sommes pas prêts à assumer pleinement nos responsabilités, comme membre à part entière de la communauté des pays de la zone euro-atlantique. Nous passerons ce test haut la main. Le plus important n'est pas tant la victoire d'un parti politique sur un autre que le respect du processus électoral. Je n'ai pas tant provoqué ces élections pour changer la composition du Parlement que pour empêcher qu'il ne soit modifié par des moyens anticonstitutionnels et antidémocratiques.
Les responsables politiques ont des devoirs envers ceux qui ont voté pour eux et ne doivent pas se sentir autorisés à user de leur pouvoir pour en obtenir un gain personnel.
Une fois que les bulletins seront décomptés, j'attends de tous les leaders ukrainiens qu'ils respectent le verdict des urnes et s'accommodent de leurs mandats.
Une fois le nouveau Parlement en place, des mesures radicales devront êtres prises pour éviter que surviennent de nouvelles crises. Elles doivent notamment comprendre d'importantes réformes constitutionnelles, élaborées pour produire des règles et des institutions solides.
Les pouvoirs attribués aux différentes branches gouvernementales doivent être clarifiés, et leur efficacité doit pouvoir être mesurée.
Par ailleurs, la justice doit être nécessairement réformée pour que la Cour constitutionnelle soit libérée de toute tentative de corruption et qu'elle puisse mener à bien sa tâche et défendre la Constitution sans aucun traitement de faveur. Il nous faut également mettre en place de nouveaux garde-fous pour éviter la corruption du personnel politique. L'actuel système garantissant une immunité parlementaire illimitée est une véritable invitation à la faute et doit être remodelé conformément à ce qui se pratique ailleurs.
Dans une démocratie en bonne santé, ceux qui font les lois ne doivent pas se sentir au-dessus d'elles. Si nous voulons replacer le Parlement au coeur de notre système démocratique, il faut que tous les doutes sur l'intégrité de ses membres soient levés.
Le défi pour l'Ukraine, à l'aube de la dix-septième année de son indépendance, ne doit pas se limiter à satisfaire aux apparences de la démocratie.
Elle doit désormais créer le type de culture nécessaire pour que le système fonctionne réellement selon des principes démocratiques. C'est ce qui distingue les pays qui ont vraiment échappé à l'emprise soviétique de ceux qui sont encore sous tutelle.
Je n'ai aucun doute sur ce que désire le peuple ukrainien : faire partie intégrante de la communauté européenne des nations démocratiques. Mon souhait est que les élections du 30 septembre donnent lieu à un Parlement digne de cette ambition.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/20070824.FIG000000038_quand_l_ukraine_se_hisse_vers_l_europe.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 08 septiembre 2007 : 00:09:52
|
UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT RECONVENES, DESPITE FOUR DISSOLUTION DECREES
By Jan Maksymiuk
The Verkhovna Rada gathered for a session on September 4, despite having been formally disbanded by President Viktor Yushchenko. Parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz said he wants parliament to address the issue of stripping parliamentary deputies and senior government officials of their immunity from prosecution and other privileges before preterm elections on September 30.
Yushchenko called the session illegitimate and politically meaningless, but Moroz assured those present in the session hall that their gathering was fully lawful and constitutional. According to Moroz, the Ukrainian parliament is constitutionally obliged to open its fall session on the first Tuesday in September.
Moroz also cited another constitutional provision requiring that the legislature remains operational until newly elected lawmakers take their oath of office. However, Moroz failed to mention the constitutional provision stipulating that the Verkhovna Rada is a full-fledged legislative body only when it has no fewer than 300 deputies.
It was Moroz himself who, with President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, struck a political deal in May to disband the Verkhovna Rada and hold early elections, following the voluntary resignation of deputies from the pro-presidential Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. The subsequent resignation of pro-presidential lawmakers brought the number of deputies in the 450-seat legislature below 300, allowing Yushchenko to issue two decrees, on June 5 and August 1, scheduling early polls for September 30.
In April, Yushchenko issued two other dissolution decrees, justifying them by what he saw as the ruling coalition's illegal push to revise the results of the 2006 elections by expanding the ruling majority to 300 deputies. The ruling coalition objected vociferously to the decrees, arguing that the constitution does not provide for the dissolution of parliament on such grounds.
There were 269 deputies from the ruling coalition of the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party registered in the session hall on September 4. Moroz's argument that the legislature is fully legitimate apparently does not hold water.
The Verkhovna Rada gathered on September 4 with the declared aim of stripping parliamentarians and senior government officials of their immunity from prosecution and other privileges.
Abolishing parliamentary immunity became a key slogan in a hitherto lackluster election campaign, with Yushchenko, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc as the main proponents of the move. Yushchenko and his 2004 Orange Revolution allies proposed that parliamentary immunity be canceled after the September 30 polls.
In what appears to be a clever public-relations move, the ruling coalition took the opposition up on this idea and proposed to implement it ahead of the polls, at a legislative session in September. Yanukovych went so far as to propose canceling immunity and privileges not only for lawmakers, but also for all senior government officials, including the president, the prime minister, and judges. In other words, the coalition put the opposition's intentions to the test.
As expected, the opposition deputies did not show up at the session. Yushchenko said in a televised address to Ukrainians on September 3 that the session is a provocation intended to derail the early polls, adding that any potential resolutions will have "no practical force of law or political effect."
Despite Yushchenko's statements, the Verkhovna Rada on September 4 endorsed a bill on stripping lawmakers of immunity from prosecution. Since parliamentary immunity is a constitutional provision, its cancellation requires endorsement of the bill by the Constitutional Court and another parliamentary approval by no fewer than 300 votes.
If the session was objectionable from a legal point of view, and without any practical meaning, was it actually worth holding for the ruling coalition? According to Moroz, it was necessary to open the session within the constitutionally prescribed terms. "We cannot disregard the risk of preplanned chaos in governance, in which, following undesirable election results gained by some participants in the election campaign, the newly elected Verkhovna Rada would not be able to become legitimate," Moroz said.
In this somewhat cryptic manner, Moroz appears to have expressed the fear shared by many observers of the Ukrainian political scene that the September 30 election results could be contested in court by any party dissatisfied with its election performance. They warn that it will be easy to cast doubt on the election results due to procedural mistakes and legal irregularities in the electoral process.
Thus, if the elections fail to receive official recognition, Moroz may hope for the continued existence of the current legislature, in which his Socialist Party has more than 30 lawmakers. Current opinion surveys in Ukraine suggest that the September 30 polls may consign the Socialist Party to political oblivion. Its current support is well below the 3 percent threshold required for parliamentary representation.
The Yanukovych-led Party of Regions, currently supported by some 30 percent of Ukrainians, is widely expected to receive the most votes. But according to polls, the combined result of the Orange Revolution camp -- the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense -- may equal that of the Party of Regions, thus replicating the situation after the March 2006 elections.
If that happens, Ukraine will most likely witness another tortuous process of building a ruling coalition. Some surveys suggest that the Bloc of Lytvyn, which is led by former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, can overcome the 3 percent threshold and assume the role of kingmaker in a new parliament, similar to the role performed by Moroz's Socialists in 2006.
It does not seem likely, as Yushchenko has repeatedly suggested, that the early elections will constitute a new political beginning for the country and enable it to make clean break with at least some of its political vices. Instead, Ukrainians must be prepared to see more of the same.
(RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 164, Part II, 5 September 2007.) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 11 septiembre 2007 : 22:46:23
|
Iouchtchenko : "L’Ukraine est unie"
Propos recueillis par Fabrice Nodé-Langlois
LE FIGARO
Paris, le 10 septembre 2007
"Nos divisions sont des contes de fées exploités par des politiciens indécents", martèle le président ukrainien à la veille des législatives. Une interview à paraître mardi dans les colonnes du Figaro. En voici la retranscription intégrale.
LE FIGARO. – Avez-vous encore des doutes sur l’origine russe de l’empoisonnement dont vous avez été victime il y a trois ans ?
Viktor IOUCHTCHENKO. – (long soupir) Trois laboratoires dans le monde produisaient ce type de dioxine. C’est très facile de déterminer l’origine de ce produit. L’expertise doit se conclure. Deux laboratoires ont envoyé des échantillons, pas le laboratoire russe. Cela limite l’enquête. Celle-ci a pratiquement reconstitué le puzzle. Les enquêteurs savent quand, quel repas, où, qui. Il y a des informations sur trois personnes clés qui sont en Russie. L’Ukraine a envoyé une demande d’extradition. J’en ai parlé personnellement au président russe en décembre dernier. Depuis, malheureusement, il n’y a pas eu de réponse. J’ai la forte conviction qu’après l’interrogatoire de ces personnes, les faits seront prouvés.
Y a-t-il une organisation derrière ces trois personnes ?
Ce n’était pas un acte privé.
Ces nouvelles élections du 30 septembre peuvent-elles résoudre les problèmes et les divisions du pays entre l’Est et l’Ouest ?
Ces divisions, ce sont des contes de fées exploités par des politiciens indécents. L’Ukraine est unie. Le président Koutchma (le prédécesseur de Viktor Iouchtchenko, NDLR) a toujours brandi le problème de la langue russe que certains veulent établir comme langue officielle. Cela n’a jamais abouti. Bien sûr, l’est et l’ouest du pays ont appartenu pendant trois cents ans à des empires différents, mais l’héritage et les efforts communs sont très forts. Les gens sont différents, mais ne sont pas des ennemis.
L’adhésion à l’Otan ne divise-t-elle pas votre pays ?
Mais je ne demande pas à mon pays s’il doit être ou non membre de l’Otan. La question est : quelle est la meilleure politique de sécurité et de défense ? Devons-nous adhérer à la politique européenne commune de sécurité et de défense ou mener seuls notre politique ? Si nous essayons seuls, ce sera très compliqué pour nous sur le plan financier et technologique. Il faut procéder par étapes, ce que l’Europe a réalisé depuis cinquante ans. Je suis optimiste, je sais que des dizaines de millions de personnes en Ukraine ont des idées modernes sur l’Europe.
Sur quoi peut déboucher ce nouveau vote, après tant de paralysies et de crises institutionnelles ?
Il y a six mois, des forces politiques ont voulu réécrire les résultats de l’élection de 2006 (en provoquant la défection de députés, NDLR). Cela fonctionnait comme cela, avant. C’était la règle numéro un de la corruption généralisée, qui avait ses racines au Parlement. Cette année, quand cinquante députés ont changé de camp, le Parlement a été dissous. Cela montre que notre nation soutient les principes démocratiques. Dans la prochaine législature, pas un député ne changera de camp. L’un des défis est d’amender la Constitution. La nation est d’accord à 92 % selon les sondages pour priver les députés de leur immunité absolue. Nous nous attaquerons à des privilèges indignes en démocratie, hérités du féodalisme. À travers cette crise, la nation a jeté ses menottes.
Excluez-vous, selon les résultats, de former une coalition avec le Parti des régions de votre rival Ianoukovitch ?
Bien sûr que je préférerais une coalition orange. Mais si une coalition orange est formée comme en 2006 uniquement sur la distribution des portefeuilles, cela ne marchera pas. L’idée n’est pas de former une coalition contre quelqu’un, mais de déterminer les enjeux autour desquels on peut s’unir. C’est ce que Ianoukovitch et le socialiste Moroz avaient signé en 2006, mais ils n’ont rien fait.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070910.WWW000000532
_victor_iouchtchenko_nos_divisions_sont_des_contes_de_fees_exploites_par_des_politiciens_indecents.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 26 septiembre 2007 : 12:58:25
|
Ioulia Timochenko en quête de revanche en Ukraine
Piotr Smolar- TERNOPIL ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL
LE MONDE, Paris, 26.09.07
Un tribun qui prend aux tripes, retourne les indécis et ravit les convaincus. Habile oratrice, Ioulia Timochenko exploite ce talent avec habileté, à quelques jours des élections législatives du 30 septembre. Les résultats s'annoncent serrés ; le Parti des Régions, l'adversaire prorusse, est donné vainqueur devant son parti, le Bloc de Ioulia Timochenko (BIoT). Il faut donc gagner les électeurs les uns après les autres, leurs familles, puis leurs amis, comme dans cette ville de Ternopil, où elle tenait meeting, le 23 septembre.
Située à quelque 130 km de Lviv, la capitale culturelle de l'Ukraine occidentale, Ternopil est déjà tout acquise à sa cause. Et la cause de Mme Timochenko a pour nom l'Ukraine indépendante. L'ancienne "princesse du gaz", surnom qu'on lui avait donné lorsqu'elle dirigeait les lucratifs Systèmes énergétiques unifiés d'Ukraine au milieu des années 1990, a su changer de peau.
Partout en ville, des affiches la font rajeunir de vingt ans grâce aux miracles de l'informatique. En vérité, la tête de liste, âgée de 46 ans, est fatiguée, en cette fin de campagne où elle multiplie les rencontres dans tout le pays. Son éternelle tresse de cheveux blonds, qui enserre sa tête telle une couronne, ne bouge pas d'un pouce lorsqu'elle entre en scène, sous le soleil déclinant, face à plusieurs milliers d'habitants de Ternopil qui portent des drapeaux blancs ornés d'un coeur rouge stylisé, insigne du BIoT.
Quand elle se met à parler, c'est pour une heure, sans interruption, sans notes, presque en apnée. Dramatisant les enjeux, elle met en garde son auditoire contre la dispersion des voix, regrette le manque de ferveur pour l'indépendance nationale - sa matrice politique - et dénonce "les petits arrangements" du président Viktor Iouchtchenko, son ex-allié lors de la "révolution orange" de 2004.
Ioulia Timochenko a été son premier ministre pendant dix mois, en 2005, avant d'être remerciée. Aujourd'hui, elle attend sa revanche. Premier ministre serait pour elle un bon début. L'hypothèse parfois évoquée d'un accord de coalition entre le parti du président, Notre Ukraine, et le Parti des Régions lui permet d'apparaître comme la gardienne de la révolution, de l'intégrité démocratique et de la souveraineté. En réalité, plus personne ne conteste cette souveraineté ; mais la dénonciation des ennemis, réels ou virtuels, permet d'alimenter ses discours.
Plus tôt dans l'après-midi, s'exprimant sur la place centrale de la ville de Tchertkov, à 50 km de Ternopil, elle avait une nouvelle fois dénoncé les manoeuvres russes. "Nous avons de quoi assurer notre indépendance énergétique. Personne ne nous dictera ses conditions, ne nous dira comment nous devons vivre, en utilisant les ressources naturelles comme moyen de pression", lança-t-elle. Pour sortir l'Ukraine de la paralysie de la cohabitation qui la frappe depuis un an, Mme Timochenko sait qu'un bon score le 30 septembre ne suffira pas. Il faudra chercher une alliance. M. Iouchtchenko semble être un partenaire naturel.
Autre condition : un changement constitutionnel, pour briser la neutralisation mutuelle entre le gouvernement dirigé par Viktor Ianoukovitch et le président. "Nous aurons trois à quatre mois après les élections pour adopter une nouvelle Constitution et mettre fin au désordre", dit-elle. Le BIoT annonce qu'il a déjà rassemblé plus de 7 millions de signatures en faveur d'un référendum à ce sujet. Neuf amendements sont proposés, parmi lesquels la suppression de l'immunité pour les magistrats, les hauts responsables de l'Etat et les députés, l'élection des juges au niveau national, et le renforcement de la lutte contre la corruption.
A force de souhaiter une vie meilleure, de dénoncer les pensions trop faibles et les études trop chères, Ioulia Timochenko multiplie les promesses. Deux projets font notamment polémique. Le premier est l'arrêt de la conscription dès le 1er janvier 2008 et l'instauration d'une armée de métier en 2009 ; le second prévoit le dédommagement intégral, en deux ans, des Ukrainiens qui possédaient des économies dans la banque soviétique Oschadbank et qui ont tout perdu après 1992 en raison de l'hyperinflation. Devant son auditoire, elle persiste. Ceux qui critiquent n'ont pas étudié les chiffres, assure-t-elle, les financements seront trouvés. "C'est vous, l'armée qui défend l'Ukraine !", a-t-elle conclu à Tchertkov sous les vivats.
(2-3214,36-959199@51-959120,0.html" target="_blank">http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-959199@51-959120,0.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 27 septiembre 2007 : 23:12:06
|
Ukraine Leader Embraces Ex - PM, Urges "Orange" Vote
By REUTERS
The New York Times
September 27, 2007
KIEV (Reuters) - President Viktor Yushchenko, newly reconciled with "Orange Revolution" heroine Yulia Tymoshenko, embraced her on Thursday and urged liberals to set aside past quarrels and unite to win a weekend parliamentary election.
The early election on Sunday is intended to end months of political deadlock pitting Yushchenko against the rival he defeated in the 2004 upheaval, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.
Yushchenko was shown on television embracing Tymoshenko, the prime minister he sacked from his first "orange" government, and making it plain she could return to office if voters returned an "orange" majority.
"We have only one option and that is forming a democratic coalition. Period. And I mean period," Yushchenko said.
The "orange" camp, he said, had to "agree on an effective and fast policy for people ... so that voters understand that victory would justify all their expectations."
Hoarse and sporting her trademark braid, Tymoshenko looked moved. She said the alliance was a logical step after the 2004 rallies when they stood together in Kiev's Independence Square.
"What we started together in the square was only the beginning," she said. "It is certain the democratic forces will win ... I support your thinking 300 percent."
Sunday's election is certain to produce a close finish and spawn long, difficult negotiations to form a stable majority in the 450-seat assembly able to form a government.
Polls put Yanukovich's Regions Party, its support based in Russian-speaking, eastern Ukraine, in the lead with 30 percent support. His communist allies are also likely to win seats.
ORANGE HORDES
But the combined tally of "orange" groups - Tymoshenko's bloc followed by the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party - is right behind, backed in the nationalist west and the centre.
No other group among 20 on the ballot is likely to clear 3 percent of the popular vote to enter parliament. Some polls give an outside chance to a bloc led by a centrist former parliamentary speaker, Volodymyr Lytvyn.
Yanukovich, blunt in addressing crowds, denounces Tymoshenko as reckless while sparing the president from criticism.
On Wednesday, he told television viewers in eastern Ukraine: "Everything that happened after the Orange Revolution has been a nightmare ... It is clear to us that the orange hordes want once again to use their populism to dupe the Ukrainian people."
Both Yanukovich and Tymoshenko plan mass rallies in central Kiev for Friday, the final day of campaigning.
Yushchenko took office in early 2005 after mass pro-Western "orange" protests helped overturn a rigged presidential poll initially won by Yanukovich, backed at the time by Russia.
He appointed Tymoshenko prime minister and embarked on an ambitious plan to move Ukraine closer to the West. But the two fell out and she was dismissed within eight months.
Yanukovich rebounded to become prime minister after his party took first place in last year's election, leaving advocates of the revolution divided and disillusioned.
Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called the election after accusing Yanukovich of an illegal power grab.
This campaign has removed nearly all distinctions of orientation towards Moscow or the West. Both sides pledge to uphold national interests and boost living standards.
Yanukovich, whose government presided over growth of 7.1 percent in 2006, describes himself as pro-European.
Many analysts, remembering four months of coalition talks after last year's election, suggest Yushchenko may opt for a "broad coalition" between Our Ukraine and the prime minister's party to bridge Ukraine's east-west gap.
Tymoshenko denounces such a pact as "betrayal" and the president backed away from the notion as the campaign closed.
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-ukraine-election.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 28 septiembre 2007 : 13:44:08
|
Les élections législatives ukrainiennes
Les principaux partis pour le scrutin du 30 septembre
LEMONDE.FR
26.09.07
Vingt et une formations politiques participent au scrutin du 30 septembre, contre quarante-cinq en 2006. A la date du 19 septembre, il y avait quatre mille huit cent soixante candidats à la députation. Pour être élu au Parlement, un parti ou un bloc doit recueillir plus de 3 % des voix.
Les principales forces politiques s'opposent sur plusieurs questions :
Notre Ukraine-Autodéfense : le parti du président ukrainien Viktor Iouchtchenko veut ancrer l'Ukraine à l'Europe de l'Ouest, en intégrant le pays à l'Union européenne et à l'OTAN. Il souhaite une plus grande distance avec la Russie. En matière économique, le programme électoral de Notre Ukraine-Autodéfense prévoit une hausse des salaires et des retraites. Le parti du président souhaite aussi la mise sur pied d'une armée professionnelle en 2010.
Parti des régions : mené par le premier ministre Viktor Ianoukovitch, le candidat malheureux à la présidentielle de 2004, qui a débouché sur la "révolution orange". Le Parti des régions ou "des Bleus", premier parti au Parlement, compte dans ses rangs de nombreux riches hommes d'affaires et d'importants membres de l'ancien régime. Viktor Ianoukovitch prône un rétablissement des relations de bon voisinage avec la Russie, la poursuite d'une politique extérieure "équilibrée" entre l'Europe et Moscou, ainsi que le ralentissement du rapprochement avec l'OTAN. Le Parti des régions fait campagne sous le slogan "Stabilité et bien-être". Il propose une augmentation de 25 % des salaires chaque année et une réforme du système des retraites.
Bloc Ioulia Timochenko : ce parti est dirigé par l'ambitieuse égérie de la "révolution orange" Ioulia Timochenko, qui a rompu avec le président Iouchtchenko, après avoir été limogée du poste de premier ministre en septembre 2005. Elle promet de continuer la révision des privatisations réalisées sous l'ancien régime, une position qui inquiète grandement les investisseurs étrangers. Elle souhaite la tenue d'un référendum sur le système de gouvernement de l'Ukraine – présidentiel ou parlementaire – et veut demander aux Ukrainiens s'ils sont favorables à l'élection des juges. Elle s'oppose à la privatisation des terres agricoles et souhaite revoir les accords gaziers conclus en 2006 avec la Russie. Elle souhaite encore transformer le pays dans lequel "trois ou quatre familles possèdent tout et le peuple doit se contenter de restes".
Le Parti communiste : il promet d'empêcher la "dictature". Le leader du parti, Petro Simonenko, affirme que Notre Ukraine - Autodéfense et le Bloc Ioulia Timochenko s'apprêtent à invalider les résultats du scrutin législatif et proclamer un régime présidentiel direct en Ukraine.
Le Parti socialiste : guidé par le président du Parlement Aleksandre Moroz, il affirme son intention de lutter pour l'extension des droits des collectivités locales. M. Moroz clame que ces élections législatives sont illégales et que le chef de l'Etat est une menace pour l'Etat de droit.
(2-3214,49-958989@45-4152,0.html" target="_blank">http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/web/articleinteractif/0,41-0@2-3214,49-958989@45-4152,0.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 02 octubre 2007 : 23:50:20
|
Yanukóvich pugna con Timoshenko para dirigir el Gobierno ucranio
El primer ministro supera en apenas dos puntos a la líder 'naranja' con el 90% escrutado
PILAR BONET - Kiev
El País, Madrid
02/10/2007
Dos fuerzas políticas enfrentadas -el partido Regiones, del jefe del Gobierno, Víctor Yanukóvich- y el bloque de Yulia Timoshenko competían ayer para que el presidente, Víctor Yúshenko, les encargara la formación de un Gobierno de coalición. El escrutinio, que se prolongó a lo largo de todo el día, indicaba, cuando se habían contabilizado ya casi el 90% de los votos, que Regiones se situaba en primer lugar (33,38%), seguido del bloque de Timoshenko (31,34%).
A continuación, se clasificaban Nuestra Ucrania-Autodefensa Social, el bloque de los seguidores de Yúshenko, y una decena de partidos más, con el 14,60%. Tras ellos iba el Partido Comunista, con un 5,3%, y el bloque de Vladímir Litvin, con un 3,99%, mientras el Partido Socialista de Alexandr Moroz, con un 3,02%, se balanceaba en la cuerda floja, ya que se necesita un 3% para conseguir escaños en la Rada Suprema, formada por 450 diputados.
Los ajustados resultados de la elección del domingo, que tardarán varios días en ser definitivos, indicaban la precaridad del nuevo equilibrio político en Ucrania, cualquiera que sea la decisión de Yúshenko. Durante la jornada, la secretaría del presidente dio muestras de nerviosismo por la lentitud de los recuentos en las zonas orientales del país, feudo de Regiones. Algunos temían falsificaciones de última hora, aunque éstas, en caso de darse, sólo podían tener un efecto muy limitado en los porcentajes, según señalaban medios de la campaña electoral.
Al igual que Timoshenko, Yanukóvich reclamó ayer su derecho a formar una coalición y lo hizo desde el Maidán (la plaza de la Independencia) de Kiev, ante sus seguidores, que agitaban banderas azules con la bandera de Ucrania estampada en ellas. El jefe del Gobierno proclamó su victoria, exhortó a la unidad y dijo estar "seguro" de que "otra vez formaremos Gobierno". Estas muestras de confianza no eran compartidas en medios de Regiones, que expresaban dudas sobre la estrategia seguida en función de los consejos de los asesores norteamericanos. Regiones, que ha adoptado un tono moderado, ha aumentado algo su base electoral desde los comicios de 2006, cuando obtuvo algo más del 32%, pero ha perdido parte de su electorado tradicional, que se ha ido a sectores más radicales. La posición más conciliatoria se ha traducido en una menor participación en las zonas donde el primer ministro tiene más apoyo.
La experiencia indica que en la política ucrania todas las alianzas son posibles en determinadas circunstancias. Ayer, la de Yanukóvich y Timoshenko era la más improbable. Cualquiera que sea la opción de Yúshenko, ésta irá acompañada de problemas porque el programa de Nuestra Ucrania y el del bloque de Timoshenko difieren entre sí y algunos temen que la vuelta de la dama del Maidán al Gobierno pueda producir tensiones con Rusia y problemas en el suministro de combustible. Uno de los puntos del programa de la ex primera ministra es acabar con los intermediarios opacos en las exportaciones de gas de Asia Central y Rusia a través de Ucrania. Además, si Yúshenko y Timoshenko llegan a un acuerdo para que ésta sea primera ministra, como desean los partidarios de ambos, está por ver lo que han aprendido tras su experiencia anterior, que acabó en ruptura en 2005.
Por otra parte, la misión de observadores internacionales de la Organización de Cooperación y Seguridad en Europa (OSCE) consideró ayer que los comicios del domingo habían transcurrido "mayoritariamente" de acuerdo con los requisitos y niveles de unas elecciones democráticas.
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Yanukovich/pugna/Timoshenko/dirigir/Gobierno/ucranio/elpepuint/20071002elpepiint_8/Tes) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 04 octubre 2007 : 00:53:24
|
Yúschenko llama a un pacto político de todas las fuerzas parlamentarias
LA VANGUARDIA.es, Barcelona
03/10/2007 | Actualizada a las 20:58h
Kiev. (Efe).- El presidente de Ucrania, Víctor Yúschenko, propuso hoy a todos los partidos, rivales y aliados, concertar un pacto para fijar unas reglas de juego claras y acabar con las crisis políticas.
En condición de jefe de Estado, Yúschenko ordenó a los partidos que entran en la Rada Suprema (Legislativo) tras los comicios anticipados del pasado domingo que "inicien consultas para formar una coalición de mayoría parlamentaria y el gobierno".
La clase política interpretó sus palabras como mera formalidad después de que su aliada, Yulia Timoshenko, anunciara la víspera un acuerdo entre ambos para unir sus partidos en una nueva coalición "naranja" que, según los resultados, podría controlar la Cámara y formar gobierno.
Pero el presidente fue más allá y dijo que para estabilizar y unir al país, dividido en dos por las elecciones y luchas políticas, se necesita un código de conducta entre los principales partidos, el suyo, el de Timoshenko y el del rival político de ambos, el hasta ahora primer ministro Víctor Yanukóvich.
"Quiero destacar que estas tres fuerzas -el Partido de las Regiones (PR, de Yanukóvich), el Bloque de Yulia Timoshenko (BYT) y Nuestra Ucrania-Autodefensa Popular (NUAP, de Yúschenko)- juntas han obtenido en los comicios un apoyo popular del 80 por ciento".
Declaró que "esto demuestra su extraordinaria responsabilidad por la situación en el país", y "lo único que puede traer la verdadera estabilidad política no es el reparto de escaños y carteras, sino un acuerdo político entre estos tres actores políticos clave".
"El mensaje que les dirijo es que inicien negociaciones políticas con el fin de formular los principios, según los cuales se formará la mayoría parlamentaria, el gobierno y las relaciones entre las fuerzas políticas en el poder y en la oposición", dijo.
Además, recordó que el detonante de las últimas crisis fue la reforma política aprobada antes de la Revolución Naranja de 2004, que traspasó al Parlamento parte de las atribuciones presidenciales, pero dejó demasiadas lagunas legales.
"Sin la reforma de la Carta Magna será difícil mantener la estabilidad política. Dedicaremos el año 2008 a un nuevo proceso constitucional y la aprobación de una nueva Carta Magna", puntualizó el presidente antes de partir en una breve visita a Alemania.
El partido de Yanukóvich, que más votos recibió en los comicios, pero a cuya alianza pro-rusa con los comunistas se impone la coalición naranja pro-occidental, se felicitó por el llamamiento de Yúschenko.
El PR vio en ello una invitación para repetir la anterior «amplia coalición» entre ambos bandos, que el presidente se vió obligado a aceptar para superar una de las anteriores crisis y que dio a Yanukóvich el ansiado puesto de jefe del Gobierno.
Sin embargo, Nikolái Onischuk, uno de los dirigentes de NUAP, subrayó que las palabras del presidente "no significan la creación de una 'amplia coalición'" con Yanukóvich.
Explicó que Yúschenko planteó la necesidad de definir los valores y objetivos políticos y económicos comunes y lograr "un nuevo nivel cualitativo de organización del poder, independientemente de qué fuerzas están en el poder y cuáles en la oposición", como se hizo durante la transición española mediante los Pactos de Moncloa.
"El presidente exige a los políticos un diálogo permanente, independientemente de si están en la oposición o en el poder", enfatizó. Ya en Berlín, Yúschenko precisó que los resultados electorales "permiten a las fuerzas democráticas formar mayoría parlamentaria, pero éstas deben cooperar constructivamente con la oposición" y hasta cederle puestos en la Cámara y el Gobierno, según la agencia Interfax-Ucrania.
Agregó que las negociaciones que él plantea deben conducir a »un acuerdo que ponga fin para siempre a la confrontación en la Cámara«, y los partidos ganadores de los comicios deben "guiarse por los intereses nacionales y traer estabilidad a Ucrania".
Timoshenko, quien cree tener asegurada la jefatura del gobierno tras la victoria electoral del bando naranja, descartó que Yúschenko se alíe con Yanukóvich, pero advirtió que en tal caso su partido se quedará en la oposición, como hasta ahora.
Opinó que Yúschenko, al hablar de negociaciones, "se refería a las consultas con el PR como potencial oposición parlamentaria", y precisó que el BYT descarta otro tipo de diálogo con Yanukóvich.
Con el 99,51 por ciento escrutado, el PR obtenía hoy un 34,33 por ciento de los votos; el BYT un 30,74; NUAP un 14,17; y los comunistas un 5,38, seguidos del bloque del antiguo presidente de la Rada Vladímir Litvin, la última fuerza que accede a la Cámara, con un 3,96 por ciento.
Según los resultados preliminares del escrutinio, la coalición naranja se impone a todas luces a la alianza formada por el PR y los comunistas, y esa ventaja ni siquiera la podría alterar Litvin, quien no desvela a quién terminará apoyando.
(http://www.lavanguardia.es/lv24h/20071003/53398859766.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 07 octubre 2007 : 17:01:08
|
Iouchtchenko : "En finir avec les caprices politiques"
Propos recueillis par Laure Mandeville
(L’interview a été réalisée en collaboration avec la chaîne France 24)
LE FIGARO, Paris
5 octobre 2007
LE FIGARO. – Les législatives qui viennent de se tenir vont-elles enfin permettre à l’Ukraine de sortir de l’impasse politique?
Viktor IOUCHTCHENKO. – Nous avons démontré, une fois de plus, que l’Ukraine savait mener des élections démocratiques. Mais ces résultats sont uniques en leur genre. Car, d’un côté, la coalition démocratique a vaincu, le choix européen a vaincu. Mais, d’un autre côté, le Parti des régions garde un tiers des voix au Parlement. Il est donc clair que sans dialogue entre les forces démocratiques et les régions, on ne pourra pas faire travailler ce Parlement. Les trois partis doivent se mettre d’accord.
Mais que veut dire «mener un dialogue» ? Pourquoi, alors que les partis «orange» ont enfin une majorité, avez-vous appelé à une grande coalition avec le parti de votre ancien premier ministre et adversaire Viktor Ianoukovytch ?
La démocratie ukrainienne a vaincu de trois voix. Ce qui veut dire que oui, il y a de quoi former une majorité démocratique. Mais on ne pourra démarrer le travail du Parlement si les députés des régions ou les socialistes boycottent ce dernier. Je ne parle pas de grande coalition, mais du dialogue nécessaire entre les trois forces politiques, lequel dialogue pourrait devenir le feu vert pour commencer les sessions parlementaires. Exemple: les forces «orange» forment une coalition mais le dialogue permet à l’opposition, pour la première fois dans l’histoire de l’Ukraine, d’avoir des portefeuilles ministériels, et aussi des comités et des postes au Parlement. Je propose une coexistence paisible dans un régime constructif.
Pouvez-vous nommer Ioulia Timochenko premier ministre ?
Oui, c’est possible, mais après accord entre la majorité démocratique et l’opposition. Il y aura une transparence dans la formation du gouvernement et du Parlement. C’est une chance unique qui nous est donnée par Dieu de laisser de côté les caprices politiques.
Vous avez été victime d’un mystérieux empoisonnement. Êtes-vous en bonne santé ?
Cela va très bien. Il y a deux ans, j’étais vraiment faible. Il me fallait faire des efforts titanesques, ne serait-ce que pour me lever le matin. Depuis deux ans, j’ai subi 24 interventions chirurgicales. C’est la première fois que je dis cela. Je suis revenu de l’autre monde.
Avez-vous plus d’idées sur le commanditaire ?
Grâce à l’expertise internationale et aux analyses scientifiques réalisées sur moi, de nouvelles informations ont permis aux services spéciaux ukrainiens et au parquet d’étudier toute l’histoire. On sait maintenant, à l’heure près, le moment où cela a eu lieu, dans quelles circonstances et qui m’a servi ce poison. Quant aux participants, ils sont tous en Russie, ce qui ralentit l’enquête. L’origine de la dioxine est l’une des questions. Quatre laboratoires au monde ont travaillé là-dessus. Trois nous ont donné leurs conclusions. Il serait très souhaitable que le quatrième, le laboratoire russe, puisse collaborer. J’ai une conviction absolue concernant les commanditaires. C’est une affaire purement politique.
Redoutez-vous une nouvelle crise du gaz avec Moscou, après les menaces récentes de Gazprom ?
Je ne souhaite pas que la Russie instrumentalise la discussion sur l’énergie. On a besoin de séparer énergie et politique, pour l’Ukraine, pour la Russie et pour toute l’Europe. L’Ukraine n’a eu de cadeau de personne. Notre politique commerciale est honnête. La dernière déclaration de Gazprom est pour moi incompréhensible.
Vous rencontrez le président Sarkozy quelques jours avant son départ pour Moscou. Est-ce un hasard ? Qu’attendez-vous de lui?
C’est une coïncidence. Ce qui est important, c’est de maintenir nos relations stratégiques avec la France. Nous travaillons sur un nouvel accord avec l’UE, dont la finalisation se fera fin 2008 sous présidence française. Il serait aussi très important d’avoir le soutien de la France pour l’entrée de l’Ukraine dans l’OMC.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20071005.WWW000000660_iouchtchenko_en_finir_avec_les_caprices_politiques.html) |
Editado por - alazaro a las 07 octubre 2007 17:03:12 |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 11 octubre 2007 : 12:20:25
|
L'Ukraine et Gazprom ont signé un accord sur le gaz
LEMONDE.FR
09.10.07
C'en est fini du contentieux entre Gazprom et l'Ukraine. Mardi 9 octobre, "un accord a été signé entre les parties concernées sur le règlement de la dette pour le gaz livré en Ukraine cette année", indique Gazprom dans un communiqué. "L'accord [passé entre le patron de Gazprom, Alexeï Miller et le ministre ukrainien de l'énergie, Iouri Boïki] confirme le montant de la dette et définit les voies de remboursement avant le 1er novembre", poursuit-il, sans plus de détail.
L'Ukraine remboursera les premiers 200 millions de dollars (142 millions d'euros) au négociant en gaz russo-ukrainien, RosOukrEnergo, avant le 22 octobre, précise dans un communiqué Constantin Tchioutchenko, administrateur du négociant.
La signature de cet accord intervient alors que le premier ministre ukrainien pro-russe, Viktor Ianoukovitch, est arrivé, mardi, à Moscou, pour y rencontrer son homologue russe, Viktor Zoubkov, et le président Vladimir Poutine. Une semaine plus tôt, Gazprom avait créé la surprise en annonçant brutalement, en pleine incertitude politique du fait des élections législatives ukrainienne, que l'Ukraine n'avait pas honoré sa dette de 1,3 milliard de dollars (920 millions d'euros). Depuis, le groupe s'est toujours défendu des accusations d'ingérence dans la vie politique de l'Ukraine, alors que se poursuivent à Kiev des négociations entre les partis pro-occidentaux et pro-russes pour former une coalition gouvernementale après les législatives du 30 septembre.
Gazprom a assuré à plusieurs reprises que les approvisionnements en gaz russe de l'Europe occidentale, dont la plus grande partie transite par l'Ukraine, ne seraient pas affectés.
(2-3234,36-964990@51-962230,0.html" target="_blank">http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3234,36-964990@51-962230,0.html) |
|
|
|
alazaro
Envíos 10057 |
Enviado - 13 octubre 2007 : 01:45:37
|
What next after the election in Ukraine?
Ivan Presniakov of the International Centre for Policy Studies
BUSINESS NEW EUROPE (BNE)
October 12, 2007
Both international and Ukrainian observers agree that the snap election to the Verkhovna Rada took place fairly, openly and democratically. Moreover, the election campaign itself took place in an atmosphere of relative calm, the government organized the electoral process in a transparent manner and ensured that all participants had an equal chance to access the mass media, to campaign, and to register their candidates.
But the formulation of unspoken rules, such as what can or cannot be done in putting together a coalition, underscored the urgent need for an independent judiciary, including the constitutional court, without which the regulation of any disputes over the constitution will remain impossible.
All of this is key to entrenching democracy in Ukraine.
The Orange camp can now put together a coalition
Based on the results at this time, Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc and Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence bloc can put together a coalition without even including other partners. With only 228 seats in the Rada, however, we think this will not be enough to ensure that the coalition can work steadily. Most likely it will need to invite a third party to join, which could be the Lytvyn bloc, with its 20 seats. In such a situation, the coalition will have 248 votes.
Still, including the Lytvyn Bloc carries a number of risks as well as benefits. For one thing, the two main parties will have to give up their previous agreement to split government and other posts right down the middle, something that is actually written into the latest agreement between Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. For another, there are doubts about where the loyalties of the Lytvyn Bloc lie.
We still consider it unlikely that a broad coalition will be established between Our Ukraine and the Party of the Regions immediately after the election. Our Ukraine will not be a stable coalition party for Regions. Moreover, both part of the Our Ukraine bloc itself, such as Ukrainiska Pravnytsia, Narodna Samooborona and parts of the Nasha Ukraina party have completely distanced themselves from such an option.
It follows that, for the president himself, such a coalition would have the effect of undermining support in the Rada: he would find himself opposed by both the Tymoshenko Bloc and part of his own faction. Moreover, a coalition between Our Ukraine and Regions would still not guarantee the president support from Regions for his initiatives in the Rada.
The formation of a broad coalition will also reduce support for the president among Orange voters. The chances that Regions leader Viktor Yushchenko will make it into the presidential run-off in 2009 will grow even worse.
And finally, a coalition with Regions is no guarantee that it will not nominate its own candidate in the 2009 race.
This means that the most likely coalition immediately after this election will be an Orange one, with Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine, which is what the pro-presidential electorate expects. Some changes in this coalition will be possible only in the medium term, if a change in the political situation provides the main players room for political maneuvering.
The possibility of another political crisis remains
The formation of an Orange coalition should, in the short term, ease some of the antagonism in relations between the president and premier that was characteristic under the recent Yanukovych government. Still, for an end to be made to this crisis, the newly formed coalition will have to engage first of all in entrenching institutions that can guarantee that politicians play by the rules from now on. This firstly means reforming the constitutional court and the judiciary.
Secondly, it means bringing the law on the cabinet of ministers in line with the constitution, adopting the regulation for the cabinet of ministers as a bill of law, and amending the budget code. The cabinet also needs to return the president's constitutional rights, which have been taken from him in this law. In addition, it's extremely important to regulate relations within the Rada itself, as well as to give the opposition proper powers by either passing a separate law or adopting the law on the Verkhovna Rada Regulation.
These measures lay the foundation for the cabinet and the president to act on the basis of a similar interpretation of the constitution and for the legitimacy of any decisions they make to be beyond question.
And this activity should become part of the new coalition's agenda. Otherwise, the impression that the crisis is over will be short-lived. Without institutional change, the crisis will not be healed.
The Orange forces don't have a unified agenda regarding state policy and are not united by common political goals especially in terms of the 2009 presidential election. Views on public administration, the goals of economic policy, and, more important, on who leads, differ in the Orange camp. Moreover, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko make no bones about their ambitions to run in the next presidential race.
This means that, after the emotional euphoria of the joint victory dissipates, the fierce competition within the coalition will continue for the right to make strategic decisions and for leadership.
The president will want the government to carry out his agenda, and Our Ukraine supports him in this, while Tymoshenko will insist on her own goals. If democratic institutions are not strong enough, this cohabitation could end in the break-up of the coalition, and possibly even new elections. In any case, without democratic institutions, the weakness of the coalition will equate the weakness of the state.
Reforms will have to wait
The current situation does not bode well for reforms for a number of reasons. Firstly, reforms cannot be undertaken because they simply have not been planned. Other than constitutional reform and reform of the judiciary, no other reforms were under discussion during the election campaign.
For instance, despite all the promises to increase pensions offered by all political parties across the board, not one party discussed the continuation of pension reform. In addition, none of the reforms of the branches of power can take place without an effective civil service. Its absence is the biggest problem of a democratic society facing Ukraine today.
Yet every last party in Ukraine has kept mum about reforming public administration.
Secondly, the approach of a presidential election means there is a relatively small window of opportunity for the Rada to undertake effective work. The election will take place in December 2009, but the campaign will begin a year earlier.
These are political realities that will remove any desire on the part of politicians to undertake reforms because the benefits are likely to be long term, while voters will feel the impact of unpopular decisions almost immediately.
Thirdly, steady economic growth that looks set to continue for the next several years removes any economic incentive for a government to undertake reforms.
Foreign policy will not change
The results of this election are unlikely to have much of an impact on Ukraine's foreign policy. The coming to office of the Tymoshenko government will not mean that Ukraine turns its back on Russia or swiftly becomes a member of Nato. Despite many demands from her partners in the future coalition, Tymoshenko did not ever outline her position on Nato during the campaign and is unlikely to make any radical changes to foreign policy, especially if this leads to serious confrontation in relations with Russia and sudden changes in the price of gas.
In future, a change of government will have ever less impact on Ukraine's foreign policy.
In the past, the fierce confrontation between Russia and the West in a political debate over Ukraine was driven by the fact that Ukraine was choosing not only its foreign policy vector, but also its model for internal development. With the democratization of its political system, this conflict between Russia and the West in Ukraine's foreign policy has been removed. Today, there is consensus among all the country's main parties about the need for Ukraine to integrate into the EU and to maintain good relations with its northern neighbour. The issue of Nato membership has become much more controversial, but every government that makes this its goal has to deal with public opinion.
(http://www.businessneweurope.eu/storyf.php?s=640) |
|
|
|
|
Actualitat a UCRAÏNA / Actualidad en UCRANIA
