Original published by politrussia.com; translation and analysis by J.Hawk
Verkhovna Rada failed to adopt a resolution of no-confidence in Ukraine’s government. The document which would have led to the dismissal of the Cabinet of Ministers was supported by 194 deputies, while 226 was required.
The next time such a resolution can be brought up for a vote will be during the autumn session which, in accordance with the Rada calendar, will begin on SEptember 6.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s president acknowledged that the Cabinet of Ministers performing unsatisfactorily, following its annual report.
“Heaving heard the Cabinet of Ministers report, the Verkhovna Rada has decided to reject the report,” Rambler News Service cites the Rada’s report.
The annual report was delivered by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Concluding his presentation, he proposed that the resolution of no-confidence be put up for a vote, saying that “we would transfer power to the next prime minister with honor and dignity.” He also emphasized that the current government “is leaving the country with a full treasury, armed military, and regularly paid salaries and pensions.”
Yatsenyuk spoke while a crowd of two thousand was demonstrating outside the Rada demanding his resignation.
Earlier on Tuesday, Poroshenko asked Yatsenyuk to resign “in order to restore faith in the government.”
J.Hawk’s Comment: This amounts to a vote of no-confidence in Poroshenko, and not just by the Rada but also by the West. Poroshenko clearly wanted to impose his will on the Rada and on Ukraine’s Western partners. His speech at the Munich security conference was replete with references to his own personal efforts to rid Ukraine of corruption and all manner of other evils. It was practically a plea to allow him to to perform a purge in Kiev by eliminating opposition to himself. The vote was a message intended to communicate to him that he is not Ukraine’s shot-caller.
Poroshenko’s problem is that at this stage of the game nobody trusts him. He has a nasty habit of backstabbing everyone who has ever collaborated with him in politics, including Russia, EU, and even the United States. It is a virtual guarantee that if Poroshenko gives you assurances, he will take the first opportunity to wiggle out of them. It would appear that the West has grown tired of Poroshenko’s stalling tactics and decided that working through the Rada might be a better way of achieving its objectives.
Implementing Minsk Agreements is one of them. On the one hand, Poroshenko has been making a show of pushing amendments through the Rada, but on the other hand he has done everything possible to sabotage them and to escalate the antagonism with Novorossia and Russia in the hopes of attracting Western support. He has done so in spite of being lectured to his face by such worthies as Joe Biden. So now he is being made to pay the price.
At this stage, the diminished and defeated Poroshenko has but one card to play: dismiss the Rada and hold new elections. That would strengthen his authority considerably, at least in the short term. It would also dramatically destabilize Ukraine’s already crumbling state structure, though that does not seem like something that would deter Poroshenko.