Pro-EU factions call for early parliamentary elections

Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the head of the parliamentary faction of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), called upon MPs on June 17 to approve a resolution declaring the self-dissolution of the current parliament and to appeal to the president to call early elections. He also called for legislation to change the voting system to entirely open party lists of candidates, instead of the current system of half of MPs selected by closed party lists, and the other half determined by single-winner, single-mandate districts.

The Fatherland parliamentary faction led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the Svoboda faction also declared they’re ready to support parliament’s self-liquidation too. Those against are the Russian-oriented Party of Regions and the pro-Russian Communist Party of Ukraine, both of which stand to lose significantly.

MP Anatoliy Kinakh, a former Party of Regions member, said on June 17 that elections should not be called within the next three months because the two war-torn oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk won’t be able to participate. “That will be a split of the state,” he said. He also raised the threat of terrorists being elected to parliament. The necessary legislative base needs to be prepared, after which elections could be held in end-2014 or early 2015, he said.

“We should understand that the main goal of the Putin scenario is not dispatching soldiers to mainland Ukraine,” Kinakh said. “The main goal is to create civil conflicts, to make impossible executing the Constitution and laws in eastern Ukraine and to deepen the social, economic and political crisis. In these conditions, if we begin to fuss over unprepared early elections in the next three months, then we can very seriously deep this crisis and lose control over the situation, which is necessary for Russia.”

Zenon Zawada: The threat of losing a potential, supportive parliamentary majority grows with every week the president waits to arrange early elections. The main threat is not even from the pro-Russian forces, which will become a minority in the next parliament. We see the next parliament as being divided primarily between pro-EU moderates, seeking appeasement with Russia, and pro-EU radicals, who will be ready to oppose Poroshenko if his reforms by election day aren’t decisive and fast-paced enough.

To set the tone for rule of law in the country, legislators need to prohibit the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Party of Regions of Ukraine for their crimes of the last four years (particularly during the EuroMaidan) and current support for separatist activity. We believe the Poroshenko administration is willing to support the disbanding of the Communists but will hesitate on the Party of Regions.

If early elections aren’t called by the end of the month, the Poroshenko administration stands to gain a greater enemy in the pro-EU, anti-Russian radical forces, which would certainly include the Freedom nationalist party and newly emerged Radical Party of Ukraine. Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party could reposition itself to target this swelling electorate as well.