Communist Party Vows to Derail WTO Bills

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Communist Party will scramble to prevent debate of bills crucial for Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization by the end of the year, a party member said Monday.

The party, which controls a powerful group in Parliament, has already managed to postpone some bills in July by breaking audio equipment and making it impossible to debate the bills.

“The group is ready for the most radical measures,” Adam Martyniuk, deputy speaker of Parliament and a member of the Communist Party, said Monday. “I assure you we will not join any WTO by the end of the year.”

The comment challenges a key policy initiative of President Viktor Yushchenko of joining the WTO in December, a crucial step needed for a free trade accord with the European Union.

Joining the WTO is expected to help boost by 50% foreign investments and increase exports by 10% each year, helping Ukraine to boost economic growth by extra 1.9% annually.

Yushchenko urged Parliament to debate and to approve a dozen of WTO bills this week, according to Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn. Some of the bills will be debated as soon as Tuesday, Lytvyn said.

Yushchenko, who doesn’t control a majority in Parliament, relies heavily on opposition groups, such as the Regions Party, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, to approve the WTO bills.

Meanwhile, there were some signs that the Regions Party may not be ready to back the bills Tuesday as an important meeting with Yushchenko, originally scheduled on Nov. 10, had been postponed.

The meeting of the Political Council, which includes the president, his top aides and Parliamentary group leaders, is seen as a key tool for pushing the WTO bills through Parliament.

The council was created on Oct. 22, but its first meeting on Oct. 31 had led to a successful vote over two WTO bills Nov. 1, with the Regions Party backing the bills jointly with pro-government groups.

The Regions Party has been bargaining with the president seeking an end to investigations against party loyalists accused of involvement in fraud during presidential election last year and other alleged crimes.

Source: Ukrainian Journal