Serhiy Tyhipko, former deputy prime minister and leader of the Labor Ukraine bloc, won a slim six-vote majority in the 450-member Verkhovna Rada to replace incumbent Volodymyr Stelmakh, forced out by Kuchma last month. Rada leadership resorted to secret ballots after opposition lawmakers blocked three previous votes, accusing Kuchma of ramming through Tyhipko’s candidacy to ensure that shady bond deals weren’t blocked.
Tyhipko’s approval was seen as a fait accompli despite boisterous scuffles that broke out among lawmakers last week over his nomination.
Viktor Yushchenko, Stelmakh’s predecessor and darling of the West, called the vote “illegitimate” and threatened to challenge the secret ballot vote in court, according to the Ukrainska Pravda news Web site.
“Ukraine has never been so close to an oligarchic system of power,” Yushchenko told Ukrainska Pravda. “We’re witnessing the first stage of a coup d’etat that started inside the walls of parliament.”
Opposition leaders claim Stelmakh’s ouster is politically motivated and threatens to destabilize Ukraine’s economy. Luca Barbone, regional director for the World Bank, spoke out last week against Stelmakh’s dismissal, praising him for sound fiscal management and driving through essential banking reforms.
Tensions have simmered since parliamentary elections in March, in which opposition leaders won the bulk of the popular vote but failed to secure control of parliament.
