Prez Cuts Key Positions, Curbs Security Council Powers to Please Rada

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko abolished several key positions at his office and lowered powers of the National Security and Defense Council Thursday amid attempts to reshape the way decisions are made in Ukraine.

The changes were part of a compromise with other political groups that had allowed an approval of Yuriy Yekhanurov, his long time ally, as the country's new prime ministers.

The changes replace a system of decision making that had been introduced by Yushchenko shortly after his inauguration to the presidency late January and that had been balancing out rival groups of power.

The system anticipated three important decision making positions, such as the prime minister, the secretary of state and the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

The idea was to give each of these positions significant powers so enable them compete against each other and provide competitive development to select strategically correct decisions.

However, it proved to be a disaster that had led to political crisis earlier this month when the secretary of state, Oleksandr Zinchenko, resigned and accused the secretary of NSDC, Petro Poroshenko, of corruption. Zinchenko's position was later supported by the prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, while Poroshenko had responded accusing both of politically motivated attack.

As a result, Yushchenko sacked all on Sept. 8, arguing the team had failed to come up with an appropriate decision making that had stalled the process and led to the crisis.

Under the new plan, the post of the secretary of state will be eliminated with some of its duties to be transferred to the newly created post of the head of the presidential secretariat, the position that will be taken by Oleh Rybachuk, Yushchenko's close aide.

The secretary of NSDC will have its powers reduced, such as supervision of the process of clearing and appointment of judges and law enforcement officials. These duties will transfer to the presidential secretariat and would remove a conflict that had been so far brewing between the NSDC and the Cabinet of Ministers.

"I made the conclusion that the president begins to act as the leader, as the president," Leonid Kravchuk, a leader of SDPU(O), an opposition group in Parliament, said. "Previously there was more attention given to office bureaucracy that had not always generated transparent policy. But the president can generate such policy."

Yushchenko also abolished the post of the president top aide. The post has been so far occupied by Oleksandr Tretiakov. Tretiakov was suspended on Sept. 8 after the corruption allegations from Zinchenko, but a subsequent investigation had found nothing on him.

Source: Ukrainian Journal