Government's Sacking Leaves Ukraine In Legal Blackhole?

Following firing of the Yekhanurov government yesterday opposing political forces squared off over who would be able to form the new government. Viktor Yanukovich, leader of the Party of Regions, said that he believed that after the political reform, the Rada had the power to appoint a new government, and stressed that he wanted this to be done quickly. Justice Minister Serhii Holovatyi said that the Rada’s move to fire the government was unconstitutional. President Yushchenko, pledged to fight Yekhanurov’s firing, and said that in any case the current government would remain in power until the March elections. Concorde Capital: The sacking of the government, following the January first switch to a parliamentary-presidential republic has left Ukraine in a bit of a legal gray-area with both sides claiming to be following the law. Clearly, January first gave the Rada new powers which were formerly reserved for the President; however, it was expected that the Rada would not take advantage of most if its new abilities until after the March elections. Compounding this problem is the fact that the Rada has not approved new judges for the Constitutional Court (the body that would decide legal questions of this nature), and this suggests this move was planned long in advance.  It seems highly unlikely the Rada will be able to appoint a new government as the constitution clearly states that the Rada can only attempt to fire the government once per session, which it already did on December 1, and second that the government can not be fired less than six months before a parliamentary election. This political stunt can be considered the opening ceremonies for the coalition process. None of the “Big 3” (Tymoshenko Block, Our Ukraine, Party of Regions) will get enough seats to form the government independently after the March elections, and they are now testing the waters for different coalitions. One clear winner in this melee was Rada Speaker, Volodymyr Lytvyn, who allowed the Rada to fire the government, he will certainly wield more power until the elections and this may boost the strength of his party. Tymoshenko, also seems to have used the occasion to remind Our Ukraine that she wants the PM?s seat, and is willing to work with anyone who will give it to her. Our Ukraine appears to be the big loser in this round however; some analysts have suggested that this event will mobilize their powerbase against Regions which has been quite dormant since Yushchenko came to power.