Cracks In The Coalition, Kiev Regime RADA Falling Apart !

At least two of the four factions are contemplating leaving the block ahead of local elections this October. Why? Political analysts argue lawmakers are afraid of making unpopular decisions. Much of the electorate are already disgruntled by the pace of promised reforms.

The threat of this break up makes the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada more likely, before the five year term is over.

After the snap parliamentary elections last year, some 302 MP’s of 421 agreed to form a coalition. This included President Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc, the People’s Front founded by now-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Fatherland party of Yulia Tymoshenko and several others.

Recently though, the Radical Party led by the flamboyant Oleh Lyashko exited the coalition, taking some 20 seats – this makes it tougher for lawmakers to pass any decisions with the majority, which stands at 226.

This was highlighted during a parliament session on Tuesday. Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili had been under pressure for months – the lack of improvements in the sector leading calls for his sacking. Despite this, no consensus could be met by MP’s.

Meanwhile, forcing through another decision took no less than five rounds of voting – and only then was it passed using support from MP’s linked to former President Viktor Yanukovych.

Cracks in the coalition appeared to come to light after Poroshenko attempted to pressure all parties to agree to amendments to the constitution, granting greater autonomy to regional powers. However the head of Poroshenko’s bloc Yuriy Lutsenko said parliamentary elections will be avoided.

Yuriy Lutsenko, head of Poroshenko’s bloc: “These newly-minted oppositionists ‘go away (leave)’ in the same way as they ‘worked’. Right now, I am afraid; we witness the creation of a broad opposition, which will do everything to demonstrate the incapability of this Rada. I am addressing not them, but their puppeteers: dear oligarchs, this parliament will work, with Voshchevskyi or without him, with the Radicals and without them, the Rada will work for Ukraine!”

In response, the Radical Party leader Oleh Lyashko said his party left the coalition on principle.

Oleh Lyashko, Radical party leader: “Here we show the example of European policy making. We resigned and we gave away all our posts because we joined the coalition not for posts, we joined the coalition to defend our principles, our vision and I thank my former coalition colleagues for supporting our numerous law making initiatives which were a little step towards changing Ukraine. But we left the coalition after Ukraine was betrayed!”

Only a handful of laws about reforms in public procurement and several social issues were tackled on Tuesday.

And with snails-pace decision making, the hopes of a fast-transforming Ukraine on the path towards European standards could take longer than those who stood in central Kyiv during the revolution had initially hoped.