Poroshenko calls for key legislation to be approved this week

This week will be decisive in approving legislation that will support reforms and forming the 2015 budget, said on Dec. 14 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The new laws and legislative changes should address state spending, new taxes, deregulation, humanitarian aid and corresponding budget amendments, he said.

The Cabinet of Ministers’ program doesn’t consist of a plan of activity in executing the coalition agreement, said MP Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc. It lacks deadlines and those responsible for executing programs, he said. “We would like to see in the program a transcript of those measures that will lead to fulfilling the coalition agreement,” he told parliament on Dec. 11. He also proposed include the coalition agreement into the Cabinet program.

Zenon Zawada: The seven sessions of parliament so far lead us to believe that a dependable coalition is lacking from which a majority can be consistently drawn, let alone the constitutional majority of 300 votes that had been declared. At the same time, we believe the president will have success in putting together situational majorities and we expect this week’s legislation to be approved on that basis.

The ability to achieve situational majorities is critical because numerous rivalries are already evident in the new parliament: Poroshenko Bloc vs. People’s Front, coalition factions versus the Opposition Bloc, the Radical Party versus everyone, and the Kolomoisky-backed UkrOp group of MPs versus everyone. Lutsenko comments on Dec. 11 were quite unconstructive, in our view, considering the Poroshenko Bloc played a role in drafting the government’s program. We see it as the latest episode in the rivalry between the president and prime minister.