Ukraine parliament won’t hear Cabinet’s formal annual report

The Cabinet of Ministers won’t engage in its formal presentation of its annual report at today’s session of parliament, as had been planned, said on Dec. 11 on his Facebook page Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction. He said the Cabinet neglected to adhere to the prerequisite procedures for the annual report, which include submitting it to parliament 15 days ahead of time. Instead, the Cabinet will offer an informal presentation. “I think this is good because the worst that can be done is to remove (Prime Minister Arseniy) Yatsenyuk and elect no one else,” Lutsenko wrote. “And precisely that arithmetic is in the parliament today.”

Parliament’s main priorities are to approve the 2016 budget, changes to the tax code, and only after those matters discuss the government’s fate, Lutsenko wrote. “A government without a prime minister, a parliament without a coalition and a country without a budget means a halt to cooperation with the IMF,” he wrote. Without the USD 3.9 bln tranche, the country will plunge into hyperinflation within a month.”

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Yatsenyuk asked Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Hroisman for three hours for the Cabinet of Ministers to present its report, followed by questions and answers, the Cabinet website said. The annual report is followed by a vote to approve or reject it, according to parliamentary rules. Its rejection is then followed by a vote on whether to dismiss the government.

More than 70 MPs have signed a petition demanding the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on Dec. 10. One of the coalition’s factions, the populist Fatherland party led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, had all 19 of its MPs sign in favor. The remainder of the signatories was a broad representation of the parliament’s other factions and groups. 226 votes would be needed for the coalition to resign, while a failed vote gives the coalition immunity for a year.

Zenon Zawada: Speculation has circulated for weeks that parliament could reject the report and vote to dismiss the Cabinet, which would require new parliamentary elections. Lutsenko’s statement is quite surprising, indicating that this threat was real. And that’s in spite of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s “one more chance” theme in his remarks this week, which was a cue to parliament to hold off on a dismissal, which could dangerously destabilize conditions in the country. Indeed such a vote could have delayed or derailed approval of the 2016 budget and tax reform proposal, which must be approved by the year end for IMF funds to arrive next month.

If the threat of a dismissal vote was real, then the decision to avoid it was wise because it posed enormous dangers. The decision also creates the opportunity to dismiss the Cabinet as a response to a crisis, rather than igniting a crisis, as it would have in this case. We believe that crisis should surface in February-March, given all the economic hardships and difficult decisions regarding Donbas that are on the horizon. By springtime, we believe there’s a strong possibility the parliament will be reaching for this trump card to dismiss the Cabinet.