Tensions revealed in delays forming Ukraine government
Print Edition
The Ukrainian parliament yesterday delayed the formation of a new government, reflecting political tensions and economic challenges after President Viktor Yanukovych went into hiding.
Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchinov, who was named Ukraine’s interim leader after Yanukovych fled the capital, said that a new government should now be in place by tomorrow, instead of yesterday, as he had earlier indicated.
Turchinov is now nominally in charge of this country of 46 million whose ailing economy faces the risk of default and whose loyalties are sharply torn between Europe and longtime ruler Russia.
Law enforcement agencies have issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych over the killing of 82 people, mainly protesters — the bloodiest violence in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history — that precipitated him fleeing the capital last Friday after signing a deal with opposition leaders to end months of violent clashes between protesters and police.
For three months, thousands of people have been protesting against Yanukovych’s decision to ditch an agreement for closer ties with the European Union and turn to Russia instead.
Parliament sacked some of Yanukovych’s lieutenants and named replacements, but it has yet to appoint the new premier and fill all remaining government posts.
Yanukovych’s whereabouts are unknown. He was last reportedly seen in the Crimea, a pro-Russia area.
The European Union’s top foreign policy official urged Ukraine’s new government to work out a reform program so that the West could consider financial aid.
Catherine Ashton spoke yesterday after meeting with the leaders of Ukraine’s interim authorities.
A campaign for May 25 presidential elections was launched yesterday, with Yanukovych’s arch-rival former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko seen as a top contender. She was freed from prison on Saturday, but an aide said that she hasn’t declared whether to run.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion, yesterday declared he would be a candidate.
Turchinov moved to open dialogue with the West, saying at a meeting with Ashton on Monday that the course toward closer integration with Europe and financial help from the EU were “key factors of stable and democratic development of Ukraine.”
Tensions, meanwhile, have been mounting in Crimea in southern Ukraine. Russia maintains a naval base in Sevastopol and pro-Russian protesters gathered at the city hall on Monday chanting “Russia! Russia!”
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