The confirmation of the PM and the appointment of former PM as the head of Ukraine Foreign Policy could strengthen the unity of the democratic political field
Philadelphia - Unity is the key word that Ukraine needs to take into reality in order not to deceive the desire of Justice, progress, peace and Europe that Ukrainian voters clearly expressed by giving to pro-European political parties a solid majority in the new Parliament on October 26 early parliamentary election.
However, unity seems to be far from being reached. On the one hand, President Petro Poroshenko Poroshenko Bloc -a coalition of centrist and moderate political forces, as Solidarnist, UDAR and the Third Ukrainian Republic- got the majority of seats in the Parliament thanks to the wins of a large number of candidates in majoritarian colleges.
On the other hand, PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk moderate-wing People Front got the majority of the popular vote by winning the proportional count of ballots by 23,9% to 23,6%. This result immediately pushed PM Yatsenyuk to ask for the appointment of People Front representatives as the new Ministers of Internal Affairs, Justice and Finances, and called President Poroshenko to confirm him as the head of the new Government.
By his part, President Poroshenko recognized the People Front to be the natural political ally of his Poroshenko Bloc because of the common pro-European orientation: both Poroshenko Bloc and People Front support the modernization of Ukraine according to European standards in economy, juridical and fiscal domains. However, President Poroshenko said he won't agree on any appointment according to party membership.
According to quite well informed sources, the division between President Poroshenko and PM Yatsenyuk is bigger that it seems to be. The division is filed not only with the realization of the new Government, but also with the historical struggle between two different factions within the "orange" democratic political field: the one of former President Viktor Yushchenko and the one of former PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
In fact, the Poroshenko Bloc is composed by several prominent representatives of Nasha Ukrayina Party of both former Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko and incumbent President Poroshenko, as former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Lutsenko and Transcarpathian businessman Viktor Baloha used to be.
On the other hand, the majority of People Front members, as the Speaker of the Parliament Oleksandr Turchynov, the Minister of Justice Arsen Avakov and the same PM Yatsenyuk, were members of Tymoshenko Batkivshchyna Party just a couple of months ago.
The struggle between President Poroshenko and PM Yatsenyuk risks to paralyze the creation of a new coalition, which has to activate as soon as possible in order to fasten Ukraine integration within the EU, oppose Russian military aggression in the eastern regions of the country, and stabilize the economical situation of the country.
President Poroshenko and PM Yatsenyuk should so unite and form a government with all the political forces of the democratic field. In fact, both the Poroshenko Bloc and the People Front represent the political instances of change, Justice, hope, modernization and European integration that motivated the"Revolution of Dignity": the non-violent movement that past February overthrew the autocratic and pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych.
A Samopomich Speaker
The one way President Poroshenko could unite the democratic field is to guarantee within the new Government and in the Parliament a fair, full and strategic representation to all representatives of Ukrainian democratic Parties.
The first step President Poroshenko should do is to confirm Yatsenyuk the PM of Ukraine and appoint People Front representatives the new Ministers of Internal Affairs, Justice and Economy: although the Poroshenko Bloc has the majority of seats in the Parliament, President Poroshenko must consider that the People Front obtained the majority of the popular vote, so that PM Yatsenyuk has now the right to propose its own candidates to be appointed at the head of the most prestigious Ministries.
The second step Poroshenko should do is to extend the coalition to other political forces by appointing a representative of Samopomich, a Christian-democratic and pro-western new political Party that got the 11% of the popular vote, the new Speaker of the Parliament.
This choice would demonstrate the willingness of both President Poroshenko and PM Yatsenyuk to recognize an adequate representation to a new political force that succeeded to get the majority of votes in the capital Kyiv and in Lviv, another important town of Ukraine.
The Obama lesson
In addition, President Poroshenko can't ignore the political role of former PM Tymoshenko, that remains a prominent member of Ukrainian politics despite her democratic-wing Batkivshchyna Party failed to get more than the 6% of the popular vote. To do this, President Poroshenko could appoint Yulia Tymoshenko the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Yulia Tymoshenko is in fact the one Ukrainian politician who still has tight and good relationships with a lot of world political leaders that appreciate her for having been the most famous victim of political prosecution under former President Yanukovych.
By appointing Tymoshenko the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, President Poroshenko has the opportunity to demonstrate to be wise, by getting through the historical rivalry of him with Yulia Tymoshenko.
On the other hand, the appointment of Tymoshenko as the Minister of Foreign Affairs -according to the Ukrainian Constitution, the President has the right to choose the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, while all other Ministers are to be proposed by the PM- could ensure President Poroshenko the faithfulness of the charismatic former PM to his Presidential Administration.
US President Barack Obama took the same decision when he appointed his former rival in democratic primaries Hillary Clinton the Secretary of State in 2009: by so doing, President Obama avoided Ms. Clinton to become the leader of the internal opposition within the Democratic Party.
On the other hand, President Obama entrusted the coordination of US foreign policy to a competent woman with strong diplomatic ties worldwide and a undisputed capability to provide international negotiations: President Poroshenko, who aims to integrate Ukraine within the Trans Atlantic Community, could now follow the example that President Obama gave.
Matteo Cazzulani,Independent Political Analyst of Central Eastern Europe,Twitter @MatteoCazzulani
