UKRAINE: ANOTHER RADA SESSION ENDS WITHOUT A

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIEV 002403

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI MARR UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: ANOTHER RADA SESSION ENDS WITHOUT A
COALITION

REF: A. KIEV 2359


B. KIEV 2329

Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The Rada (parliament) held two short sessions June 20
but adjourned until June 21 without forming a majority
coalition. Before the morning session, Our Ukraine (OU) MP
Roman Zvayrch claimed to us that talks with OU's Orange
partners were deadlocked over Yuliya Tymoshenko's refusal to
accept checks on her power as prime minister and on the
Socialist Party's (SPU) opposition to a NATO Membership
Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine. In contrast, Zvarych said,
OU's talks with the Party of Regions were going smoothly,
adding that Regions had agreed to support a MAP as early as
September. Speaking from the rostrum at the morning session,
OU's point man in the coalition talks, Roman Bezsmertny,
called for the creation of a "stable coalition" and for all
MPs to "find common ground." Tymoshenko used her turn at the
microphone to assert that OU's leadership simply did not want
to form an Orange coalition. Separately, a BYuT MP told us
that the FM Tarasyuk-led Rukh faction of OU had voted on June
19, despite the opposition of its leader, to abandon OU if it
entered into a coalition with Regions. Senior Regions MP
Mykola Azarov denounced Tymoshenko as a "demagogue" and
emphasized that the question of NATO membership could only be
decided by the people of Ukraine through a referendum.
Azarov warned that if a coalition were not formed by June 21,
Regions reserved the right to seek a vote on a new Rada
Speaker. Following the brief afternoon session, Zvarych told
reporters and diplomats at the Rada that OU's talks with its
potential partners were continuing. A longtime BYuT MP said
that the bloc would be urging President Yushchenko to meet
with OU MPs on June 20, discuss coalition options, and make a
decision. Regions MP Leonid Kozhara asserted that Regions
was ready for anything: a coalition with OU, going into hard
opposition, or even new elections. End summary.

No Coalition Announced
--------------


2. (U) The Rada held short morning and afternoon sessions
June 20, and adjourned until 10:00 a.m. local time on June

21. There was no announcement about the formation of a
coalition government.

Morning Session: The Our Ukraine View...
--------------


3. (C) Our Ukraine (OU) MP Roman Zvarych told us privately
before the morning session that OU's talks with its Orange
partners were again deadlocked. According to Zvarych, the
two main sticking points were Tymoshenko's refusal to accept
checks and balances on her power as prime minister, and what
Zvarych said was the Socialist Party's (SPU) refusal to agree
to a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine. The
Socialists, he complained, said one thing to the press and
another thing at the negotiating table. In contrast, he
related, "consultations" with Regions were moving relatively
smoothly, including on NATO membership. Zvarych asserted
that Regions had agreed to support a MAP for Ukraine "as
early as September," while the Socialists, he reiterated,
flat-out opposed a MAP. (Note: SPU leader Moroz told
reporters and diplomats on June 20 that he did not oppose
NATO membership, but insisted that membership be determined
by a nationwide referendum.)


4. (U) Once the session started, the SPU member/acting
chairman of the Rada's provisional presidium, Ivan Bokiy,
offered each faction an opportunity to speak. Roman
Bezsmertny took to the rostrum for OU, calling for the
creation of a stable coalition capable of implementing a
reform program; looking in the direction of the Bloc
Tymoshenko (BYuT) contingent, he pleaded for MPs to "find
common ground" and work for the interests of Ukraine -- and
not simply themselves.

...Tymoshenko Blasts OU...
--------------


5. (SBU) Yuliya Tymoshenko used her turn at the microphone to
attack OU, whose leaders, she snapped, did not want an Orange
coalition. Whenever progress was made during the troika
talks, OU would immediately throw up new roadblocks to a
coalition deal; BYuT and the SP could agree, a priori, to
every precondition stipulated by OU, and OU's leaders would
still refuse to seal a coalition deal. She warned OU that
oblast and municipal councils in western Ukraine favored an

KIEV 00002403 002 OF 002


Orange coalition and could not be expected to support "an
unnatural" alliance between OU and Regions. Separately, BYuT
MP and Tymoshenko foreign policy guru Hryhoriy Nemyrya told
us privately that the Rukh faction of OU (7 MPs) voted on the
evening of June 19 to abandon OU if the party formed an
Orange-Blue coalition. This occurred despite what Nemyrya
called the "unprincipled" effort of Rukh's leader, Foreign
Minister Borys Tarasyuk, to convince his colleagues to stay
with OU no matter what kind of coalition emerged.

...And Regions Calls Yuliya a "Demagogue"
--------------


6. (U) Tymoshenko ended her remarks by "calling out" Regions
on NATO. Wagging her finger at the Regions contingent, who
whistled and catcalled back at her, Tymoshenko said "she
knew" that Regions had agreed with OU to accept NATO
membership for Ukraine. As Tymoshenko headed back to her
seat, Regions MP Mykola Azarov moved quickly to the podium to
denounce Tymoshenko as a "demagogue" who was "misinforming"
the Rada. Speaking in Russian, Azarov emphasized, to the
cheers of his Regions colleagues, that it was the position of
the Party of Regions that the question of NATO membership
could only be decided by the people of Ukraine through a
referendum. Azarov then issued a threat, warning that if a
coalition was not formed by June 21, Regions reserved the
right to choose a new Rada Speaker -- a move that "the people
will support" because they were tired of "never-ending
talks." (Note: Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych told the
press on the afternoon of June 20 that Regions "had the
votes" to elect a new Rada Speaker on June 21.)

Afternoon Session: OU Says Talks Continue...
--------------


7. (U) Following the brief afternoon session, which approved
an adjournment until the morning of June 21, Zvarych told a
group of reporters and diplomats that OU was continuing its
talks with both sides, and stressed again that the Team
Orange discussions were stuck on Tymoshenko's reluctance to
accept checks on her power as prime minister. In particular,
Zvarych said, OU was insisting that the Minister of Internal
Affairs, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, and the
Prosecutor General should all be professional bureaucrats;
these "power" positions should not be divided up among the
Orange parties and then used to attack political enemies.

...BYuT Says Yushchenko Needs to Focus...
--------------


8. (SBU) Echoing what we have heard repeatedly at the Rada
during the past few days (reftels),BYuT MP Hryhoriy
Omelchenko, a longtime Tymoshenko partisan but not a member
of the bloc's inner circle, stressed to us that the key was
Yushchenko. BYuT, he said, was urging Yushchenko to gather
all of OU's MPs, have an open discussion about forming a
coalition, and then make a decision.

...And Regions Claims Yushchenko Is in Ashgabat
-------------- --


9. (SBU) Omelchenko's view was separately seconded by Regions
MP and foreign affairs advisor Leonid Kozhara, who told us
Yushchenko had to "get serious" and make a decision, and
needed to be fully focused on domestic affairs. Asked to
explain, Kozhara claimed that Yushchenko had been virtually
summoned to Ashgabat on the afternoon of June 20 for
face-to-face gas negotiations with President Niyazov.
Kozhara asserted that Yushchenko was expected back in Kiev
late on the evening of June 20. (Note: Presidential
Protocol denied to us that Yushchenko was out of the country,
and news reports had Yushchenko meeting with Tymoshenko at 5
p.m. There were also media reports that Yushchenko spoke by
telephone with Niyazov today.) Kozhara confirmed that OU was
still negotiating with Regions, and emphasized that Regions
was "ready for anything": a coalition with OU, going into
opposition, or even new elections. Kozhara warned that if
Regions were in the opposition, it would be aggressive,
deadlocking the Rada when possible and generally hindering
the work of an Orange government. He added that, in his many
years of government service, he had never seen a Ukrainian
government so "disorganized and dysfunctional."


10. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor