Another Faction Withdraws From Governing Coalition In Ukraine's Parliament

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Ukraine sank deeper into political turmoil Thursday as the governing coalition lost its majority in parliament after a second faction bailed out.

The move by Samopomich (Self Help), which has 26 seats in the 450-seat parliament, leaves the coalition partners with 217 votes. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's faction withdrew from the coalition a day earlier.

The failure to create a new majority coalition may lead to early parliamentary elections, something President Petro Poroshenko has sought to avoid, fearing it could further destabilize the nation.

The two factions remaining in the coalition are led by Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. They have been uneasy partners, with members of Yatsenyuk's and Poroshenko's blocs engaging in fierce spats which have strained public patience and eroded the confidence of the West.


Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-02-18/another-faction-quits-ukraines-governing-coalition

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Something’s Rotten in the State of Ukraine

Two years have passed since a popular uprising in Kiev toppled a Russia-backed regime in Ukraine. The glory of that people power moment has faded, and Western supporters are losing patience with the government as corruption hampers efforts to jump-start the economy. The gross domestic product of the war-plagued country contracted 10.5 percent in 2015. Inflation reached 43 percent. On Feb. 10, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde expressed concern “about Ukraine’s slow progress in improving governance and fighting corruption.” She said it would be hard to keep financing Ukraine in the absence of real change.

On Feb. 3, 10 Western ambassadors also called on Ukrainian leaders to “set aside their parochial differences” and crack down on corruption. The statement was prompted by the resignation of reformist Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, a Lithuanian who assumed Ukrainian citizenship to join the government in 2014. He said “actions aimed at paralyzing reforms” triggered his resignation. He pointed a finger at Ihor Kononenko, the senior legislator of President Petro Poroshenko’s party in Parliament and Poroshenko’s former business partner. Kononenko had engineered the appointment of a close associate to the post of Abromavicius’s deputy without telling the minister, according to text messages released by Abromavicius.

Investigative journalist Serhiy Leschenko, a Parliament member, wrote online that Kononenko was trying to get his man into the Economy Ministry so he could stop Abromavicius from reforming a state-run company unofficially controlled by the president’s allies. In an e-mail, Kononenko said he wouldn’t comment pending an investigation into Abromavicius’s allegations. To address voter anger, on Feb. 16, Poroshenko asked for the resignation of his prosecutor-general, Viktor Shokin, who was widely disliked for failing to root out corruption.

Ordinary Ukrainians’ wrath is aimed primarily at Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Eighty-two percent disapprove of the job he’s doing, according to a recent poll by the International Republican Institute, a Washington nonprofit.

MORE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-18/something-s-rotten-in-the-state-of-ukraine

[nyabingi]

1. Looks like the US-backed and installed

government in Ukraine is falling apart at the seams. I figured it wouldn't be long before they realized it's not really a good thing to be slaves to the IMF/World Bank and the US-based global financial cartel that brings suffering to every country that accepts their loans and terms.

The Bloomberg article references the International Republican Institute, but it should have also mentioned the National Democratic Institute, it's sister organization united in their goal of bringing about regime change and pro-Western governments in countries that need them. Republicans and Democrats share the same foreign policy objectives - don't be fooled by the domestic rhetoric.

[Purveyor]

2. Our track record is stellar, indeed~