Ukraine Cabinet vote set for tomorrow as Hroisman accepts PM post

Ukrainian Parliamentary Head Volodymyr Hroisman announced this morning on his Facebook page that he has agreed to become prime minister. The new Cabinet of Minister will be voted upon at the April 14 session, he said when opening today’s session. MPs will meet today in order to prepare for a vote tomorrow on the new Cabinet, a program and a new parliamentary leadership, he said.

“Many different consultations were held yesterday with the leaders of coalition factions, the president,” he said in opening today’s parliamentary session. “But I think we’ve agreed to that format that will be acceptable, responsible and will enable bringing the country out of its crisis.”

Ukraine’s political leaders have agreed upon the new prime minister and Cabinet, confirmed on the early morning of April 13 Yuriy Lutsenko, the parliamentary faction head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

Zenon Zawada: Intense power struggles over positions are reported to be behind the latest delay in forming the Cabinet. Hroisman reportedly held out because he wants to form his own team as prime minister rather than become beholden to other politicians. A compromise was likely reached early this morning between Hroisman’s candidates and those proposed by other power brokers. However, we don’t rule out the prospect of last-minute cadre conflicts.

There has been much speculation about who the various Cabinet ministers might be. We decline to engage in the speculation regarding these rumored candidates because of the high uncertainty in whether they will be truly nominated. What is certain is that the new Cabinet is likely to follow the path that this one took, which is a slow pace of basic reforms, which marginally improve social conditions but at the same time preserve the status quo.