Cracks Appear in Yanukovich-Yushchenko Alliance.

The Cabinet yesterday changed its rules of order to clarify that it no longer considered itself subordinate to the president, drawing protests from two of President Viktor Yushchenko’s spokesmen, who insisted he still had the right to give the Cabinet and its ministers obligatory instructions. The new rules of order confirm that the Cabinet is still obliged to obey the president’s decrees (“ukaz”), but not presidential instructions (“doruchennya”). The Cabinet also deleted a provision that allowed the president to cancel Cabinet decisions, but confirmed the president can suspend Cabinet decisions pending a review by the Constitutional Court. Mykola Azarov, first deputy prime minister, who chaired the Cabinet meeting while Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was on vacation, said the changes were in line with amendments to the Constitution that took effect earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Cabinet issued another press release saying it planned to make Russian the second state language, which Yushchenko strongly opposes. Tom Warner: The Cabinet was already acting independently and the changes merely clarified the situation. Yushchenko’s pride might have been stung, but he will be very reluctant to get into a serious fight.