Rada Fires Yekhanurov

Ukraine's parliament today voted to dismiss Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, a pro-Yushchenko figure, amid intense power struggle and allegations of corruption.

The firing of Yekhanurov comes on the eve of the expected birth of a new coalition, between the Party of Regions and Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, one that would be fiercely opposed to President Yushchenko.

The Coalition of Unity and Revival, as the two would-be coalition partners call it, plans to rewrite the Constitution and abolish direct presidential elections.

The vote breakdown:

PRU, 161
BYuT, 152
NUNS, 4
LyB, 19
CPU, 27

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/6/5/96047.htm

Yekhanurov on NATO

Our pathway to Europe lies through the doors of NATO. And that’s why the MAP is very important to us today as a direction that will allow us to discipline ourselves and to galvanize the Ukrainian public around this action plan.

— Minister of Defense Yuriy Yekhanurov speaking at the NATO ministerial in Vilnius, Lithuania

In the run-up to the primaries in states with significant Ukrainian American populations, Democratic hopefuls Clinton and Obama, as well as Republican frontrunner McCain, voiced support for Ukraine’s membership in NATO.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/75731.html

The Yesman

The objectives set before the armed forces will be accomplished. I am finished, and once again I thank you, my President, for your trust.

— Yuriy Yekhanurov, the newly appointed Minister of Defense

If Klim Voroshilov was his childhood hero, then he hasn’t failed him. This parting shot, an outburst of party loyalty characteristic of the 1930s, can well be called “Smells Like Stalin’s Spirit.”

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/72003.html

Outgoing Defense Minister Strikes Back

“The low point in combat ability has been reached. The combat ability of the armed forces will not go any lower than the present level.”

President Yushchenko went public with this assessment as he introduced the newly appointed Defense Minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov. Responding to the President’s assessment, outgoing Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko, No. 3 on the NUNS candidate list, said the following:

If we were to have a professional debate, I would cite dozens of arguments that support the rise in combat ability of the armed forces and the systemic nature of changes for the better. But since there is no professional approach, I would limit myself to short rebuttals.

Unfortunately, throughout the three years the President neither managed to grasp the army, nor did he manage to grasp the substance and depth of the reform being made.

Maybe that explains why the approval ratings of the army are several times the approval ratings of the Commander-in-Chief.

I’d put it differently: A president who puts his name on preposterous “social ads” — while keeping his son out of the draft’s reach — does not score high on credibility. The same applies to a president who uses your approval ratings to boost the party’s ticket, and then gives your job to another person, one of controversial voting habits.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/25/68979.htm
http://www.president.gov.ua/done_img/gib/4531.jpg

Agent PoRnificateur

MP Yuriy Yekhanurov, NUNS, blasts the Orange Coalition agreement in a deliriously Tymophobic shyrka speech. Reading between the lines, we can safely assume that this “voice of dissent” looks forward to hooking up with the Party of Regions (acronyms: PRU, PoR) for a “sexy time.”

The drafts being proposed today — they are being touted as holistic documents. Right now, whatever signatures there are — they’re nothing. The undersigned are the people who want it that way. We’ve got to have a stance and dignity — the dignity to defend the interests of our voters, for our voters…our voters are the people who “thought with their heads,” and BYuT folks thought with some other body parts. We have to coexist with the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/65459.html

Great Actress Gone Bad: “Erin Brockovich” on the Wrong Side of the Vote
All Is Fai®lure in Love, War, and Elections

Last Tuesday, many observers believe, ought to be a date which will live in infamy for Ukraine's most famous woman. Yuliya Tymoshenko joined forces with the enemies of the Orange Revolution on a vote to sack the Yekhanurov government, linking the decision to the government's failure to resolve the gas dispute in Ukraine's best interests. Mrs. Tymoshenko, who argued her case with the passion of Erin Brokovich, the Oscar-winning movie character played by Julia Roberts, may now have to wear an egg-proof vest, should her campaign tour include western Ukraine. Many Ukrainians still recall presidential candidate Victor Yanukovych, who became the victim of an egg attack masterminded by a freshman college student in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano Frankivsk, a region known for its strong patriotic sentiment.

In stark comparison to the fall 2004 campaign, when they had stood on different sides of the barricade, this year parties led by Yanukovych and Tymoshenko formed the backbone of the anti-orange alliance in the Ukrainian parliament. In fact, the stakes are just as high in the upcoming parliamentary election as they were in fall 2004. The so-called politychna reforma (political reform) effective Jan. 1, 2006, shifts power from the president to the prime minister, whose cabinet will be formed based on the results of the March 2006 parliamentary election. The almighty Russian lobby, which at the onset of the crisis held that Russia had a right to demand a higher price for gas, was uniform claiming that the newly negotiated price would be the kiss of death to Ukraine's industry. Their solution: Chum up with the Kremlin, earn a price cut. And no NATO, please. In other words, the best preventive for Russia's gasmanship is Ukraine's full and unconditional yesmanship.

Such chameleon behavior injects a masquerade dimension into the election, as parties scramble to position themselves in sexy political lingerie to attract voters with unmet erotic needs. Now that the orange guys have “screwed up” Ukraine so bad it has a sluggish economy, Russia tops the exhibitionist charts.

In this noisy publicity jungle — with mating season in full progress, presenting spectacular scenes — the 'helicopter mom” of Ukraine's democracy veered off course and made a crash landing. Her political compass betrayed her, and she now has to cope with the surrounding fauna and flora. She hit the danger zone, and it's unclear whether her PR consultants' "search-and-rescue” teams will reach her before her rating gets cannibalized any more than it already has.

What happened? To add insight to injury, excellence took a back seat to ego. By letting her steam off on a vote of no consequence, she marginalized herself in her electoral base. Most legal experts believe that the Yekhanurov government will be here to stay until the election. It means that Tymo has gained little from her demarche, but lost a lot.

At Maidan's first anniversary celebration, many, if not most, folks chanted her name, embracing the “orange queen” as the bolder alternative to Yushchenko, who had floundered in a series of cronyism scandals. Some of those folks may now have second thoughts about her. She lost her colors at a time when Yushchenko has made a good faith effort to contain Moscow’s gasmanship. Forums that once praised Yuliya as a talented troubleshooter now lambaste her as a treacherous troublemaker — a prodigal sister with her own agenda, who consorted with the local bad boys and subscribed to Putin's “pipe dream.” Themed “hall of shame” posters have already decorated the streets.

To fare well in this election, Yuliya needs to repent and reposition. She needs to restore her unique selling proposition — and she better start right away.