— attempts to amend the Constitution which include special status for the Donbas and which threaten further fragmentation and breakup of the country;
— problems with implementing reforms in the country, in particular, failure in the fight against corruption and failure to reform the judicial system, as well as the disastrous economic policy of the government that led to growing destitution of the population;
— the dualism of authorities, with the president’s and prime minister’s teams fighting each other and putting personal ambitions above national interests.
For these reasons the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko has been in opposition to the course of the authorities since Sept. 1, 2015.
We believe that the current political crisis in Ukraine is extremely destructive; it threatens deep political destabilization and has to be overcome as fast as possible. The recent appointment of the new Cabinet of Ministers has not solved the problem.
Failure in resolving the crisis could lead to a political and economic collapse. For this reason, antagonisms in the pro-European political elite have to be overcome and we should ensure political stability for at least 2-3 years. If this doesn’t happen – the reforms could fail. In such a scenario the winner will be Russia.
Early elections are not a way out of the crisis; they might become a way to an abyss. We are strongly against a chaotic war among political parties that would occur during early elections. A war of everyone against everyone could be lethal to Ukraine.
The war with the Russian aggressor is ongoing and destabilization of the domestic political situation would facilitate Putin’s plan for a revanche by the Kremlin’s “fifth column” – pro-Moscow politicians from the Yanukovych gang.
In February and March, we proposed a constructive solution. I appealed to fellow faction leaders to form a new democratic coalition with a new coalition agreement, and a new government with a new course of action.
In a new coalition, the key for us is a course of action that will enable Ukraine to create hope and trust in society, quickly restore the economy and significantly raise the living standards of our citizens. We elaborated our proposals and addressed the President and all the pro-European parliamentary factions.
Need for efficient judicial, institutional and economic reforms
1. In our view, resolving the political crisis is not simply about changing individuals in government, it is primarily about genuine institutional reforms, radical corruption fighting and anti-crisis program for the economic development of the country.
2. The goal of a judicial reform is securing fair and just courts in Ukraine. Everything else, including amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, has to be subservient to this primary goal. The President’s draft amendments to the Constitution on reforming the judicial system fall short of this goal and do not meet the objectives, such as addressing the demand of society to destroy all-reaching corruption in the courts, the establishment of the rule of law and restoration of public confidence in the judicial and law enforcement systems. Furthermore, if the judicial reform is not successful, no other reforms in the country will be.
We demand a full reset of the judicial system and implementation of a mechanism of open, competition-based appointments of new judges in the framework of the constitutional reform. Only a reform that includes a radical clean-up and renewal of the eight thousand corps of Ukrainian judges, as well as the 15 thousand corps of prosecutors, will pave the way to fair and just courts and law enforcement, and gain the trust of our citizens.
We stand for other bold institutional reforms that would ensure effective public administration, radical fight against corruption and restoration of trust of citizens and business in government.
3. Ukraine has plunged into economic depression with a long-term negative dynamic of GDP, loss of investment, increased debt burden on the budget, decline in industrial production, exports, employment, household expenditures, the collapse of the hryvnia exchange rate and inflationary price growth. The country is on the verge of social turmoil as millions of people have fallen below the poverty line. Entrepreneurs and young people increasingly migrate abroad as they see no prospects for a better future.
We believe that the continued policy of market fundamentalism, one-sided focus on deregulation and privatization, “tightening the population’s belts” and excessive fiscal consolidation along with regular foreign borrowing and restrictive monetary policy of the NBU would preserve the unacceptable economic model in which Ukraine, on one hand, exports raw materials, low-tech products with low added value, talented people and income earned in Ukraine, while importing expensive energy, finished products with high added value and international financial aid.
Comparing the situation in the economy with the real potential of Ukraine, we see a huge gap, which to a large extent is due to lack of deliberate targeted economic policy of the government. In our view, the current economic policy should be reviewed in order to address key economic challenges and to open up Ukraine’s potential to the fullest. (See Annex 1 – Economic Development Policy Paper of the RPL)
Recent deepening of political crisis
1. The new Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers have been appointed by a virtual “broad coalition” including former Party of Regions members under the guise of the “Volya Narodu” and “Vidrodzhennya” deputy groups. This means that the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) and “Narodny Front” have joined efforts with those who supported the authoritarian rule of the ousted president Yanukovych.
2. In addition, appointment of the new Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers has been unconstitutional and illegal. According to the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law on the Rules and Procedures of Parliament, the Prime Minister is appointed upon submission of the President of Ukraine, which was not the case. There were also violations in the appointment of the new Cabinet of Ministers. In response to these violations, we filed an administrative lawsuit to the High Administrative Court of Ukraine asking to declare the parliament’s resolutions on appointing Volodymyr Groysman as prime minister and the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers as illegal and to repeal them.
3. We also insist that the new speaker of parliament demonstrates the signatures of the members of parliament who are participating in the newly-formed coalition, as the previous one was officially declared non-existent. We believe these signatures do not exist and the parliamentary coalition is legally null and void. The “coalition” of the PPB and Narodny Front doesn’t have the majority required by the Constitution of Ukraine, which was demonstrated by the low range of 197-207 of their crucial votes.
4. Ukraine is facing a new danger – attempts by Poroshenko to create conditions for establishing a new authoritarian rule in the country. Ukraine is again witnessing gross violations of human rights and the rule of law, attempts to destroy parliamentarism, assaults on the freedom of speech, the beginning of political repressions and instances of ballot rigging and electoral fraud covered up by the illegitimate Central Election Commission.
The appointment of Yuriy Lutsenko, another crony of President Petro Poroshenko, as the prosecutor general would be one more step towards an authoritarian rule.
5. We demand a fair public investigation of the involvement of top Ukrainian officials in the Panama Papers offshore scandal, in particular, of Poroshenko, National Bank of Ukraine Governor Valerie Gontareva and Minister of Finance Oleksandr Danylyuk.
We believe that Poroshenko’s connection to offshore tax havens significantly weakens him politically both internally and externally. He is losing credibility not only in the eyes of the Ukrainian people, but of our international partners as well. In a sense, Poroshenko is becoming a “lame duck” in the middle of his term in office.
6. We conclude that the political crisis in Ukraine deepens. Ukraine is on a dangerous path as there is no real majority in the parliament or a legitimate government. There are clear signs of attempts to revive an authoritarian rule without checks and balances. However, the “coalition” and the new Cabinet of Ministers are unlikely to hold up for more than half a year at best. Undesirable early elections are looming.
7. We see the solution to the political crisis in Ukraine in uniting the democratic pro-European factions in the Ukrainian parliament, forming a majority dedicated to implementing genuine and efficient reforms, breaking through to a new level of economic development and establishing real dialogue with our international partners. Unfortunately, the main obstacle to achieving this goal has so far been Poroshenko’s unconstructive and uncooperative attitude, and personal ambitions.
Short points on the issues of foreign policy and security
1. We call our international partners attention to the erroneousness of the policy of appeasing the aggressor; history taught us it is a short-term win and a strategic loss. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic objective is striking a deal with President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Yalta 2, a new division of spheres of influence and new demarcation lines in Europe.
2. Putin’s strategic goal in the Minsk Agreements is a Kremlin-controlled Donbas autonomy, which will serve as a “cancerous tumor” and metastasize to other regions, stopping Ukraine, as an anchor, from moving towards Europe. The positive in the Minsk is the ceasefire, a respite used to strengthen the army, to enhance the defense capabilities of Ukraine and to search for other formats of international negotiations. It’s also a step towards freezing the conflict for a longer time.
We consider it unacceptable to amend the Constitution of Ukraine under external dictate, in particular on the special status of Donbas, as well as to resolve the Russian aggression crisis at the expense of Ukraine and our constitutional order.
3. The real basis for international efforts to resolve this crisis has to be the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament. We expect the Western powers to deliver on their commitments.
The memorandum is, in particular, a legal and moral basis to provide Ukraine with full-fledged military support, including modern defensive weapons. No agreements with Putin will work without a well-armed and trained Ukrainian army.
We would like to point out that the failure of the Budapest Memorandum undermines the entire regime of nuclear non-proliferation in the world, and may legitimize nuclear weapons for many countries that feel vulnerable to external threats and dangers.
4. Statements of Russian top officials on a new cold war have to be considered seriously as an open declaration by Russia of what it has been doing for the past two years. Moscow wages a hybrid war in Ukraine, Syria and Europe against the entire Euro-Atlantic civilization; occasionally a “hot” one, but in general a “cold” revanchist war. In our view, Europe and the USA have no choice, but to defeat Russia once more in a second cold war. As it was once done 25 years ago.
5. Our vision of the long-term strategy on solving this deep international crisis is as follows:
– extending and maybe even strengthening sanctions, to impose a truly significant cost on Russia, both for the armed aggression in the east and the annexation of Crimea;
– reviving the Geneva format with the participation of the United Staes and the European Union, as well as expanding it with the Budapest Memorandum signatory-states (United Kingdom) and Ukraine’s neighbors (Poland, Turkey);
– adoption by Europe of a strategic political decision in favor of Ukraine as an integral part of the European civilization and the allocation of the necessary resources – political, economic, financial and military – for Ukraine’s full-fledged European integration.
