Council for a Community of Democracies

Ukrainian Parliament Passes No Confidence Vote on PM Tymoshenko
March 3, 2010
By: Randi Zung

On March 2, Ukrainian parliament voted against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, forcing the former Orange Revolution leader and her coalition out of the government. According to BBC News, 243 out of 450 members voted against her – including 7 members from her own bloc. Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of bribing supporters to abandon her group. Before she was ousted, Tymoshenko announced that she will now work to hold the newly elected President Yanukovych accountable, stating that she and her supporters will “protect Ukraine from this new calamity that has befallen her.”

After contesting her defeat in the Ukrainian presidential election, Tymoshenko stated that she would not step down from her post as prime minister despite calls for her resignation. Tymoshenko threatened to quit only as a last resort. According to the New York Times, Sergiy Terokhin, a former minister of economy and a member of Ms. Tymoshenko’s political party, said that the resignation of Tymoshenko's government would place a freeze on Yanukovych’s rule.

New president, Viktor Yanukovych, will now have to either assemble a new parliament or hold new parliamentary elections in order to replace its members. The parliament has a 30 day time limit to form a new coalition. Yanukovych's Party of the Regions has named Mykola Azarov as a candidate for prime minister. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azarov called for Tymoshenko to step down, stating that she was compounding the country’s economic crisis. Azarov criticized Tymoshenko's government for squandering the country’s internal resources, taking on huge debt, and for poor economic planning. In response, Tymoshenko said she protected Ukraine’s independence and that Yanukovych acted on “strict anti-Ukrainian policies” that threatened the country’s democracy and autonomy from Russia. Analysts believe that Yanukovych will steer Ukraine back towards Russia, instead of continuing to transition the county to the West, as Tymoshenko promised in her failed campaign.

Sources:

BBC News - Ukraine PM Tymoshenko forced out

New York Times - Ukraine Parliament Seals Prime Minister’s Ouster

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty -Ukraine's Tymoshenko Voted Out, Vows to Lead Opposition

Also See: http://www.ccd21.org/news/europe/ukraine_update.html