Yanukovych Plans To Get Rid of Tymoshenko in Two Weeks

Ukraine’s new President Viktor Yanukovych will concentrate his efforts on creating the new ruling coalition in the nation’s parliament to be able to remove Yulia Tymoshenko from her position of the prime minister and appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers. It is not ruled out that the new ruler will manage to bid farewell to Tymoshenko and her government in two weeks.

Photo: Yanukovych Plans To Get Rid of Tymoshenko in Two Weeks

In his first speech as the president, Yanukovych outlined his main priorities: the reform of the government, the reduction of the governmental personnel, the creation of the competent executive power to deal with deteriorated branches of economy and the social field, and the creation of the strong and stable parliamentary majority.

Yanukovych’s priorities were like a death sentence to Tymoshenko’s government. However, it will be quite difficult for the new Ukrainian president to establish the new coalition. Andrey Paruby, a deputy of Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense Bloc, stated that his group would not cooperate with Yanukovych’s Party of Regions since the new head of state suggested Ukraine’s incorporation into the joint economic space with the Russian Federation and did not exclude a possibility for the Russian Black Sea Fleet to stay in Ukraine’s Crimea. The deputy said that such a perspective was not acceptable for his bloc.

Yanukovych is leaving for Brussels on March 1. Afterwards, he is planning to look into home political matters connected with the redistribution of power. Yanukovych stated earlier that a new government would be necessary for his team “to save the state from collapse and take it to the level of accelerated development.” However, the new president, just like the previous one, does not have any levels of influence on Tymoshenko in the economic sphere.

Alexander Yefremov, a deputy of Party of Regions, stated that the sitting prime minister of Ukraine would have “at least two weeks to cover things up as far as the untargeted use of state funds for her pre-election campaign is concerned.” Ukraine will have the new government already in two weeks, the deputy added.

Some experts believe that Tymoshenko will be able to promote a new large coalition and even win local elections if Yanukovych does not manage to deprive her of the administrative resource. If she succeeds, the new head of state may found himself surrounded with political opponents.

Scientists of politics say that Viktor Yanukovych’s victory has not changed Ukraine’s tense relations with Russia.

“Yanukovych will not be able to keep more than a half of his promises. He should balance between the East and the West, he should become the president of all Ukraine. That is why Bandera will not lose the status of the national hero bestowed upon him by Yushchenko. That is why the issue of the status of the Russian language will be included in pre-election campaigns in 2015 and even 2030,” scientist of politics Konstantin Bondarenko said.

Many journalists noted that Viktor Yanukovych was reading his presidential speech in the Ukrainian language. He would pause at difficult words, and it was clear that Yanukovych would feel much comfortable if he read the speech written in Russian.

It is worthy of note that Viktor Yanukovych’s election fund was evaluated at 322.545 million hryvnas (about $40 million), whereas his rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, spent a little less – 289.930 million hryvnas ($36 million). The funds, which Yanukovych used for the campaign, were the funds of Party of regions, Interfax reports. Tymoshenko’s spending included the funds of the parties of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and donations from natural persons. She did not invest her personal funds in the campaign, the news agency said.

Russia Today: Yanukovych between East and West