Ukraine key government posts taken by Tymoshenko allies

Oleksandr Turchynov, the righthand man to former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, was elected parliamentary chair on Feb. 22, which automatically makes him acting president until the May elections. The next day, he told parliament the Ukrainian economy is a “catastrophe.” The State Treasury lacks funds entirely, he said, and the Pension Fund has “colossal problems.” Arsen Avakov, a EuroMaidan commander and head of Kharkiv regional office of Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party, will serve as the acting internal affairs minister. This morning, he declared a search for Yanukovych and his entourage.

Oleh Makhnitskiy of the Freedom nationalist party was elected to serve as a supervisor for the prosecutor general’s office. Valentyn Nalyvaychenko of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) returned to his post as head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Parliament voted on Feb. 22 to return the 2004 constitutional amendments that divide authority between the Presidential Administration and parliament.

Parliament voted on Feb. 21 to decriminalize the law for which former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was prosecuted and imprisoned. She was released the next day to wide applause from her supporters after serving about two-and-a-half years in prison. German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement calling upon Tymoshenko to work towards Ukraine’s unity. She offered Tymoshenko medical treatment in Germany.

Zenon Zawada: The biggest pro-Western party, Fatherland, will be leading the Ukrainian government until the elections. That’s already irritating many in the EuroMaidan protest movement, with the AutoMaidan declaring its opposition immediately in order to monitor the government. Fatherland had its fair share of corruption scandals before and even during the Yanukovych administration.

Given that parliament is avoiding pre-term elections, it will have to elect a new Cabinet of Ministers in the coming days. We hope to see a government of technocrats emerge, particularly in the economic-related ministries. It would be very helpful for these officials to work closely with EU advisors.

We will be very concerned if the new government takes a “business as usual” approach and turns all the key appointments into political tribute, as has been the tradition in Ukrainian politics. Most of the appointments should be experts in their fields and lifelong professionals. Failure to do so will cause the EuroMaidan to mobilize again and there is already cause for concern.

The appointments so far are barely acceptable since each of the new heads – Avakov, Makhnitskiy and Nalyvaychenko – are barely experienced in their respective fields (Avakov was a EuroMaidan commander, though he has never served as a police officer). Yet they do not inspire the full confidence of the EuroMaidan, which is already a risky gesture.