Ukraine PM calls on president to support or dismiss him

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on President Petro Poroshenko to support his government or form a new coalition in an interview published by the Financial Times on March 10. The current coalition, in which the Poroshenko Bloc is the largest member, failed to support 60% of the Cabinet’s proposed legislation, he pointed out, referring to such measures as “stabs in the back.” Yatsenyuk said he opposes early parliamentary elections. He declined to comment on Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko becoming his possible successor. Yet the report said Yatsenyuk doesn’t think she will gain enough support in parliament. Corruption allegations against him and his entourage are baseless and slanderous, he said.

Yatsenyuk is trying to convince Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi to bring the Self-Reliance party back into the coalition, reported on March 10 the pravda.com.ua news site, citing anonymous sources. In exchange, the Cabinet would offer Lviv large investments and fiscal support, said the report, which was not confirmed by Self-Reliance MPs. Yatsenyuk is also negotiating with Oleh Liashko, the head of the Radical Party, reportedly offering him key ministerial posts. Yatsenyuk is hanging on as prime minister on behalf of several oligarchs, who are concerned about Poroshenko gaining too much power, the report said. These oligarchs include Igor Kolomoisky, who convinced Yatsenyuk to hang on.

Zenon Zawada: We believe it’s unlikely that Self-Reliance will return to the coalition alone since that it would lose the pro-Western protest vote to the Fatherland party and undermine its mid- to long-term viability. Therefore, we see Self-Reliance returning to the coalition only together with the Fatherland party (and possibly the Radical Party). Another viable scenario is the Radical Party rescuing the coalition on its own (joining the parties of Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk without Self-Reliance and Fatherland). Radical Party head Liashko is a risk-taker and might be more concerned with short-term gains rather than long-term prospects.