Ukraine’s Yushchenko Faces Flak for Deal with Rival

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was criticised yesterday for forging a pact with his defeated “orange revolution” rival that helped him win backing for a prime minister and manoeuvre out of a political crisis.


Viktor Yanukovich (L) and Viktor Yushchenko (R)
Newspapers and political analysts said the deal with Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Moscow candidate he defeated in last year’s election, would do Yushchenko more harm than good.

But Yushchenko’s chief of staff dismissed the criticism of the deal that swung an additional 50 members of parliament behind Yushchenko’s candidate for prime minister, Yuri Yekhanurov, six months before parliamentary elections.

“What happened has made Yushchenko the president of all Ukrainians,” Oleh Rybachuk, head of the presidential administration, told a news conference.

“The rules of the game are set out publicly for the first time. The key message is we are burying the hatchet. A united Ukraine is going into an election with European standards.”

Yekhanurov was approved on Thursday at the second attempt, winning 289 votes in the 450-seat chamber. Backing from Yanukovich’s party provided a cushion after the 57-year-old technocrat fell three votes short earlier in the week.

Yekhanurov replaced Yulia Tymoshenko, who stood alongside the president during the protests which led to a re-run of the rigged presidential poll, eventually won by Yushchenko.

Tymoshenko was sacked after in-fighting split the administration into two camps, each accusing the other of corruption. Admired by voters for her abrupt, fiery style, she has vowed to challenge Yushchenko’s camp in the election.

Analysts said the president’s deal with his rival could further alienate supporters upset by the split between the revolution’s leaders. The accord guarantees no repression of the opposition and upholds property rights and free media access.

Katya Malofeeva, analyst at Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital, said the accord’s contents posed no difficulty but its political implications “could be significant”.

“The consistency and integrity of the president’s political platform ahead of parliamentary election is likely to come under severe scrutiny.”

Most newspaper editorials were critical.

“Implementing the memorandum will essentially put paid to the authorities’ plans for a radical overhaul of Ukraine’s economy and its politics,” the daily Segodnya said.

Economic growth has slowed to its lowest pace in five years and inflation is on the rise. But most damaging to public morale were the allegations of the corruption Yushchenko had vowed to stamp out after 10 years of scandal-plagued administration under his predecessor Leonid Kuchma.

Analysts said the deal would dent confidence.

“Some people who stood in the square will see this as a betrayal,” said political analyst Volodymyr Polokhalo.

“Every compromise comes at a price. Had the country been under threat of foreign aggression, they might have been united. But a government crisis is too high a price to pay.”

Source: Reuters