Orange team in Ukrain dismissed, Yushchenko the next to go?

The earlier the “father of the nation” realizes that he needs to go the better for Ukraine and its citizens

The government of Yulia Timoshenko also known as the government of national trust or the team of honest professionals was dismissed. All the formalities are settled. The Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko signed the resignation of the Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and the dismissal of the cabinet. Another decree dismissed the Secretary of the National Security Council Pyotr Poroshenko, President's press service reports. It was expected to deal separately with the Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun and the head of Security Service Alexander Turchinov. However, the leader of Security Service resigned himself. “I consider your decision about the government resignation in current conditions as a threat to the national security of Ukraine”, Turchinov wrote in his resignation statement.

Right after the government's dismissal news with reference to the cabinet sources appeared. It said that on Thursday Timoshenko made several categorical statements in connection with Yushchenko's decision to dismiss the cabinet.

Timoshenko is said to have claimed that Yushchenko betrayed her for the third time. The first time was when she was Vice-President; the second betrayal was when he called Ukraine without Kuchma movement fascism and now that Yushchenko said he needed documents to take the decision on Pyotr Poroshenko is the third time. Timoshenko is also said to demand non-interference into personnel policy of her electoral block in the coming parliamentary elections. 

Just before the cabinet's dismissal deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Tomenko made an impressive move.  As he resigned, he said, “I would organize the second stage of Orange Revolution”. He thinks, “It would end up in legal actions suitable for people, not for oligarchs”. Tomenko reminded that back at the meeting on 9 July he announced that recently there were two cabinets in the Ukraine  - the oligarch government of Pyotr Poroshenko and the government of Yulia Timoshenko elected by the parliament.
 
Tomenko named corruption among authorities the reason for his resignation. Earlier the Ukrainian State Secretary Alexander Zinchenko resigned for the same reason. Many of the observers blamed Timoshenko for Zinchenko's resignation.

There is a more radical theory saying that the artificial crisis had been planned by Timoshenko's team long time ago and this plan had to be put in action a month later in order to drive away the closest to Yushchenko politicians from controlling the formation of united democratic block.

Accusations would have allowed Yulia Timoshenko to lead the largest political coalition individually just before the elections into the Supreme Rada and to strengthen her positions of Prime Minister, that is to become the head of the country from 1 January, according to the Constitutional Reform. 

However, the corruption scandal around the Nikopol Plant of Ferrosmelting made Timoshenko put her plan into action earlier. She became involved in this scandal by openly supporting the oligarch group “Privat” that had pretensions to control the enterprise. Those who are quite close to Timoshenko say that this version does not sound so unfeasible. 

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the dismissed cabinet Boris Tarasyuk said on Thursday that the international partners of Ukraine expressed concern about the country's political crisis. He said that those who are not indifferent to the Ukrainian fate were worried about the political crisis.  

The representative of the directorship of the European commission on communication with mass media Emma Yudvin expressed hopes that the Ukrainian authorities together with the President Viktor Yushchenko would follow the promised way of reforms and struggle against corruption and would provide for stability in the country. “We are watching closely the events”, Yudvin emphasized.

Political scientist from the Center for European Policy Studies, Wojciech Lubowiecki, said that the European Commission trusted in Viktor Yushchenko. However, the EU is worried about further destabilization in Ukraine. Besides, Lubowiecki stressed, “Such a quick downfall of the new government in Ukraine causes worry”. It is likely that Europe recalled the February warning by the main expert of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who said that nothing good would come out of alliance of the West and Ukraine and that Ukraine unable to perform its role would become the open gate to catastrophe for the whole Europe.

Yury Yekhanurov was appointed acting Prime Minister. And he is actually the most sensible from the “orange team”. If this appointment turns out temporary and the old characters that led country to catastrophe come back it will mean that Yushchenko did not understand anything at all. In this case the catastrophe cannot be prevented. The earlier the “father of the nation” realizes that he needs to go following his “professional team” the better for Ukraine and its citizens.

Alexey Kovalenko