The Ukrainian Weekly 2006, No.50
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www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• The Holodomor is remembered at the U.N., in D.C. — page 4. • New book is tribute to Ukrainians of Chicagoland — page 9. • Open letter, memorandum to Viktor Yanukovych — pages 10-11. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXIV HE No.KRAINIAN 50 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine TarasyukT sacked,U then unsacked, Ukraine’s primeW minister completes as battle rages over foreign minister two-day official visit to Washington by Zenon Zawada Ukraine’s Constitution and parliamentary by Khristina Lew Vice-President Dick Cheney and Kyiv Press Bureau regimen. Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, President Viktor Yushchenko reaf- which were closed to the press. State KYIV – A political war has erupted firmed the ruling by issuing a presiden- WASHINGTON – Ukrainian Prime Department spokesman Sean within Ukraine’s bipolar government tial order reinstating Mr. Tarasyuk as for- Minister Viktor Yanukovych visited the McCormack denied that the United after the pro-Russian coalition forces led eign minister. nation’s capital on December 3-5 amidst States was deliberately downplaying the by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych The next day, the Cabinet of Ministers growing tensions at home and a marked- meeting with the Ukrainian prime minis- attempted to sack the Western-oriented led by First Vice Prime Minister Mykola ly restrained reception from official ter, despite the fact that no State minister of foreign affairs, Borys Azarov, denied Mr. Tarasyuk entry to Washington. Tarasyuk. On December 4 he held meetings with (Continued on page 12) The Verkhovna Rada voted for Mr. their morning meeting. Tarasyuk’s dismissal on December 1 Instead, Mr. Tarasyiuk paced the halls after he submitted a letter to the U.S. of the Cabinet of Ministers trying to Embassy in Ukraine canceling Mr. reach the Secretariat with his cell phone, Yanukovych’s U. S. visit because the with little success. Mr. Tarasyuk said he prime minister had failed to submit a list would submit the matter for Ukraine’s of directives for his five-day trip. procurator general to review. “A minister who is in opposition to Mr. Tarasyuk’s letter to U.S. the government can’t work in the gov- Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor ernment, first of all,” Mr. Yanukovych was an attempt to pre-empt Mr. said after Mr. Tarasyuk’s dismissal. “A Yanukovych from once again subverting minister who doesn’t coordinate his Ukraine’s pro-Western foreign policy as activities with the prime minister and established by the president and the for- Cabinet of Ministers, and creates prob- eign affairs minister. lems in international relations can’t work During his September visit to in the Cabinet.” Brussels, Prime Minister Yanukovych The battle over the post of foreign surprised Messrs. Yushchenko and affairs minister marked a new degree of Tarasyuk by announcing that his govern- aggression in the Party of the Regions’ ment had postponed plans to enter campaign of seizing power in Ukrainian NATO, directly conflicting with the government, crossing into territory that Presidential Secretariat’s foreign policy is the president’s domain – namely, for- goals. eign and defense policy. Mr. Yushchenko had hoped Ukraine What was once deemed a “cold war” would sign a Membership Action Plan at Khristina Lew in the bipolar government, with the pro- NATO’s November summit in Riga, Western Presidential Secretariat on one Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and Sen. Richard Lugar, chair- end and the pro-Russian coalition gov- (Continued on page 13) man of the Committee on Foreign Relations, address the news media. ernment led by Mr. Yanukovych on the other, is now a wide-open conflict that is likely to get worse, political experts said. On December 5 a Kyiv district court Ukrainians mark national Day of Memory reinstated Mr. Tarasyuk to his post, rul- by Zenon Zawada Ukraine looks like today.” from all of World War II. ing that the Parliament’s vote violated Kyiv Press Bureau “And I know what she [Ukraine] The president’s grandfather, Ivan, could become if she forgets the inno- starved to death. Mrs.Yushchenko’s par- KYIV – Tens of thousands of cent perished souls of her children ents experienced the Holodomor and Ukrainians converged on St. Michael’s because of her trifling, her pitifulness – survived. Square on November 25 to place can- the type of country that inevitably sells In 2003 Prime Minister Viktor dles, in memory of the up to 15 million its soul, its language and its memory. Yanukovych and former Rada Chair Ukrainians who perished during the She will become a faceless territory Volodymyr Lytvyn arrived to place nation’s three disastrous 20th-century wreaths, but delivered no speeches and famines. with a faceless people,” the president continued. didn’t stay for the requiem concert or The Day of Memory for Victims of moleben ceremony. Famines and Political Repressions rose The crowd’s size was unprecedented to a new level of stateliness and recog- for an event that was initiated by Viktor A national event and Kateryna Yushchenko only three nition this year, indicating that it has Mr. Yushchenko had said then that he become a major national holiday for years ago, when they asked Ukrainians to light a candle on behalf of victims of hoped the commemoration would Ukrainian society, observed on the become an annual national event and, the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 and fourth Saturday in November. indeed, it has since spread to most place it at the Holodomor Victims For the first time, much of St. major Ukrainian cities. Monument on St. Michael’s Square. Michael’s Square was cordoned off by Now president, Mr. Yushchenko sent scores of military cadets holding An estimated 2,000 Ukrainians came letters to Ukraine’s oblast administra- Ukrainian flags for the official ceremo- for what was largely a grassroots event tion chairs and mayors ahead of this ny led by President Viktor Yushchenko, that had few formalities. year’s event, asking that they hold Verkhovna Rada Chair Oleksander The Holodomor of 1932-1933 is an wreath-laying ceremonies at oblast Moroz and other Ukrainian leaders. event that deeply affected Mr. Holodomor monuments, and plant “I don’t know what Ukraine would Yushchenko, his family and his native Zenon Zawada guelder-rose (kalyna) bushes as well. have looked like had they lived,” Mr. village of Khoruzhivka in the Sumy In Odesa more than 200 Ukrainians Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk Yushchenko said of the millions of vic- Oblast, which suffered nearly 1,000 addresses the press after he was locked tims in his address. “I know what deaths, more than twice the casualties (Continued on page 5) out of a Cabinet meeting on December 5. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006 No. 50 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Constitutional reform adopted in 2004 Rada fires two ministers… Borys Tarasyuk to continue fulfilling his duties as foreign affairs minister. The deci- now being questioned in Ukraine KYIV – The Verkhovna Rada on sion was made in accordance with Article December 1 dismissed Foreign Affairs 106 (Item 3, Part 1) of the Constitution of by Pavel Korduban reform failed to clearly outline the presi- Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian media Ukraine, which stipulates that the presi- Eurasia Daily Monitor dent’s remit. The PRU believed that the reported. A motion to sack Mr. Tarasyuk dent represents the state in international Constitution obliged President was supported by 247 deputies. Shortly The constitutional reforms that relations, leads the state’s foreign policy, Yushchenko to automatically submit Mr. afterward, 248 deputies endorsed the dis- Ukraine’s Parliament passed during the and negotiates and concludes international Yanukovych’s candidacy for prime minis- missal of Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Orange Revolution in December 2004 treaties of Ukraine. On December 1 the ter, PRU National Deputy Taras Lutsenko. The Verkhovna Rada tried to and that came into effect after the March Verkhovna Rada dismissed Minister Chornovil recalled, speaking to the week- fire Mr. Lutsenko on November 30 but fell 2006 parliamentary election may now be Tarasyuk. “It is irresponsible to try to can- ly Korrespondent. But many Yushchenko three votes short of the 226 required to do revised. President Viktor Yushchenko cel such decisions,” Reuters quoted Mr. allies thought he was not obliged to do so. so. Mr. Tarasyuk was appointed to his and the parties that are in opposition to Yanukovych as saying in Washington When Mr. Yushchenko eventually did Cabinet post directly by President Viktor Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych about the president’s decree regarding Mr. so, he found that his hands were tied Yushchenko, as stipulated by the believe that the reform has destabilized Tarasyuk. (Ukrinform, RFE/RL Newsline) regarding important personnel decisions. Constitution of Ukraine. Mr. Lutsenko too the balance of powers in the country. “The president appoints the Security was proposed to his Cabinet post by ... but this may prove problematic The reform beefed up Parliament at the Service chief with consent from expense of the president; consequently, Mr. President Yushchenko, following an agree- Parliament, but the president cannot dis- ment with Prime Minister Viktor KYIV – Borys Tarasyuk told an RFE/RL Yushchenko lost control over the executive miss him,” National Deputy Anatolii Ukrainian Service correspondent in Kyiv when a coalition hostile to him established Yanukovych. Mr. Yushchenko said in an Matvienko of OU told Korrespondent. interview with the BBC on November 30 on December 5 that he was not allowed to the majority in Parliament and formed a “The same applies to the procurator gen- attend a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers Cabinet this past summer.