Oligarchs save the Yatseniuk government

On 16 February 2016 the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine, rejected a vote of no confidence in the Government, as the result of a confidential agreement between President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, and leading oligarchic groups. Another important factor behind the decision was the United States’ clear support for Yatseniuk. However, this was a tactical step, aimed at gaining time and postponing the prospects for early elections. Almost all the participants in Ukraine’s political manoeuvrings understood that these were inevitable, but almost no-one wanted to see them happen in the near future. After the rejection of the vote, two of the four factions within the ruling coalition left it; nevertheless it will probably survive thanks to legal ambiguities, although it will be even weaker than before. We may expect some changes in the composition of the government, which will still lack stable support in parliament, and will become more dependent on the President. However, we should not expect either any substantial improvement in the quality of legislative work, or any revival in the process of reforming the state, which has become bogged down primarily due to the strong resistance from the oligarchs.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Ukraine: Prime Minister Yatsenyuk remains in power http://www.europeansources.info/record/ukraine-prime-minister-yatsenyuk-remains-in-power/

ESO: Background information: Crisis deepens as Yatsenyuk survives no-confidence vote http://www.europeansources.info/record/crisis-deepens-as-yatsenyuk-survives-no-confidence-vote/

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