RADA OUSTS FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000406

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL UP
SUBJECT: RADA OUSTS FOREIGN MINISTER

Classified By: Ambassador William Taylor for reasons 1.4 (b,d).

ummary
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1. (C) On March 3, PM Tymoshenko's BYuT faction delivered the
decisive votes to oust Foreign Minister Ohryzko, a President
Yushchenko ally. Opposition Party of Regions and the
Communists initiated the measure. BYuT's coalition partners
Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense (OU-PSD) and Speaker
Lytvyn's bloc did not support it. OU-PSD contacts were
"shocked" by the vote, and said that it throws the coalition
into a crisis. BYuT members who voted in favor said they did
so in response to Ohryzko's actions against the Tymoshenko
government, notably his issuance of instructions to Embassies
to deliver a message to key capitals harshly critical of the
PM. Party of Regions MPs worked to remove Ohryzko because of
what they see as his "anti-Russian" bias -- as evidenced by
his recent threat to PNG Russian Ambassador Chernomyrdin over
comments made to the media about Yushchenko. End Summary.

BYuT VOTES FM OHRYZKO OUT
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2. (SBU) Surprising coalition partners, 49 BYuT MPs voted
together with Party of Regions and the Communists to dismiss
Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko on March 3. 250 MPs,
including 174 Regions and 27 Communists, voted to oust
Ohryzko, a Yushchenko ally. The resolution was thought to be
a symbolic measure that would be supported only by Regions
and the Communists. However, after the vote, Ohryzko claimed
he was "not surprised" by the outcome as "unwanted
politicians" were being removed from the government.
President Yushchenko released a statement saying that
Ohryzko's dismissal was "untimely and unfounded" at a time of
economic crisis. He said, however, that he would nominate a
new Foreign Minister. First Vice Foreign Minister Volodymyr
Khandogiy will be acting Minister until a new Minister is
confirmed.

OHRYZKO SEEN AS ANTI-TYMOSHENKO
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3. (C) OU-PSD MP Roman Zvarych told us that Tymoshenko had
not originally included Ohryzko's name on the list of
ministers slated for replacement. However, Ohryzko's recent
issuance of instructions to Embassies in Europe and the US to
deliver a letter from the National Security and Defense
Council harshly critical of PM Tymoshenko (related to the gas
crisis) had changed that. BYuT MP Valeriy Pysarenko
confirmed to us March 3 that when Ohryzko distributed the
blatantly anti-Tymoshenko instruction to Embassies, many in
BYuT decided he had to go. Ohryzko told the Ambassador that
the instruction was not his idea; the Presidential
Secretariat had ordered him to do it.


4. (SBU) BYuT MPs claimed that Tymoshenko did not order the
decision to vote for Ohryzko's dismissal. Rather, each MP
was allowed to decide for him/herself. OU-PSD deputy faction
leader Taras Stetskiv argued that, based on who voted in
favor of dismissal, especially MPs Portnov, Pysarenko and
Zabzalyuk (all close to Tymoshenko),it was clear that this
was her decision. After the vote, Tymoshenko announced that
she "understood" why some of her bloc's deputies voted to
dismiss Ohryzko.

REGIONS: MAKING POINTS WITH MOSCOW
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5. (C) Before the vote, Regions MP Vladimir Makeienko told us
that Regions was pushing the resolution largely to curry
favor with Moscow, where Ohryzko is seen as anti-Russian.
Makeienko said that Tymoshenko returned from the gas
negotiations in Moscow with a "plus" in her column. Regions
needed to do something to "get their own plus" from Moscow.
Ohryzko had recently criticized Russian Ambassador Viktor
Chernomyrdin for an interview that was seen as insulting and
demeaning to President Yushchenko. Regions and Communist MPs
seized on this as cause for Ohryzko's ouster. (Meeting with
the Ambassador March 2, Chernomyrdin was dismissive of
Ohryzko -- making fun of Ohryzko's name, saying it is similar
to the verb for gnawing like a rodent in Russian.
Chernomyrdin joked that only because of the dispute,
"everyone now knows who Ohryzko is." After the vote
Chernomyrdin told the media that MFA should learn to "think
before talking.")

COALITION PARTNERS "SHOCKED"
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6. (C) After the vote, OU-PSD deputy faction leader Taras
Stetskiv told us that his faction was surprised by BYuT's

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votes. Stetskiv called it "a vote to end the coalition" as
it contravened a coalition council decision not to support
the resolution. OU-PSD coalition member Vladislav Kaskiv
said he and his colleagues were "shocked" by the vote. Other
OU-PSD contacts told us that the vote, and the way it
happened, showed divisions within the coalition, but did not
necessarily mean the coalition would collapse.


7. (C) Some coalition members, including coalition agreement
signatory Borys Tarasyuk, announced that they would leave the
coalition over the vote. Kaskiv told us that a majority of
OU-PSD faction leaders expressed support for leaving the
coalition in a hastily-arranged faction political council
meeting, but that a final decision on the coalition would be
voted on at a full faction meeting, which has not yet been
scheduled. Tarasyuk has tabled a resolution to annul the
vote to dismiss Ohryzko.

COMMENT
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8. (C) BYuT has a track-record of voting discipline in the
Rada. We doubt Tymoshenko would let individual MPs decide
for themselves on such a controversial resolution unless she
was comfortable with the outcome. Some of the BYuT members
who voted to oust Ohryzko are, after all, close to
Tymoshenko. What impact this might have on the coalition
remains to be seen. If the OU-PSD faction were to vote to
pull out, the coalition -- which had appeared relatively
solid -- would collapse.


TAYLOR