Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced
the principles on what the Government’s team is ready to continue its activity,
on Sunday, February 7, on the Ten Minutes program.
The first principle, according to him, is complete
absence of political pressure and political corruption: "Each Minister, who was appointed through the Coalition
Agreement, assumes full responsibility for the area of his/her competence, as
well as for determining the development strategy of the sector they represent.
None of the political figures or business interests should be allowed to exert
any pressure on a Minister or try to lobby a decision which would contradict
the policy adopted by the Ministry and the interests of the Ukrainian state at
large."
"The era
of political quotas in the Executive Branch or the public service industry is
over. Politics and big business interests managing the state-owned enterprises
or banks should be a relic of the past," ArseniyYatsenyuk stated.
The second guiding principle is zero tolerance for corruption, be it in politics
and the economy. All appointments in the state-owned companies are to be made
exclusively by a new independent Nominations Committee. This is the only viable way for the sixty largest
state enterprises to receive renewed and autonomous leadership,
which would be independent of political factions and parties, or the business
groups and elites."
"2016
should, consequently, herald the start of a straightforward and transparent
privatization program in Ukraine. This should include privatization of the
Odessa Port Plant, the ‘Centerenergo’ and other energy companies."
"The
Parliament should adopt appropriate laws
which would enable strategic investors to equally participate in transparent
tenders for the acquisition of state enterprises. Only through a fair and open
process would we be able to attract foreign direct investment, create new jobs, modernize the
Ukrainian economy, while ridding the state-owned companies of political
influence or their former ‘breadwinner’ status for some of the political
parties or the business groups," he stressed.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasised that the third principle was full disclosure in activities of all appointees
in the Executive Branch, local self-governance bodies and members of the
Ukrainian Parliament. From now on, all joint sessions of the Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine will be streamed live in their entirety.
"We must
root out the old ways of circumventing the
rules, which goes against the transparency ideals of the new-era Ukrainian
politics; we must prevent any further attempts at backstage shady deals," said the Prime Minister.
To that end, according to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is now introducing
a resolution on a Code of Ethical Conduct of All Civil Servants and will also
be submitting for review by theVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine a Code of
Integrity for All Politicians. "These decisions will make it compulsory to record
details of all meetings and negotiations conducted by political figures and
government authorities on behalf of the State."
The fourth is the principle of accountability. The Prime Minister has pointed out that, according to the Constitution of
Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers is directly answerable to the Verkhovna Rada., "It is the constitutional duty
of the Prime Minister and each Minister to openly and honestly report to the
Ukrainian Parliament on the job we were all hired to do. This Government has
been formed by the coalition forged in the Parliament. Consequently, all
activities of the Government are determined by the Coalition Agreement and theProgramme of
Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which were ratified by the Ukrainian Legislative
Branch."
"This
enables the Government to fulfill its duties as an Executive Branch. However,
it is the Ukrainian Parliament which needs to vote on the laws which are vitally needed for carrying out the
reform program. TheVerkhovna Rada should also have faith in the
Government which it formed. It should assist the Government in advancing the
country by adopting the imperative legislative changes that are required by the
Ukrainian State," he underlined.
The fifth principle, according to the Prime
Minister, is that of equitable distribution
of power, "The President of Ukraine is the Head of the Ukrainian State, and the
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is accountable to the President."
"The
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is the Executive Branch responsible for the
social, economic, financial and fiscal policies. It is directly responsible for
financing of the Armed Forces, which in turn requires the full extent of
executive authority to be able to implement the strategy of reforms as defined
by the Head of the State," he stressed.
"The Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine is the Legislative Branch, to which the Ukrainian Government is
answerable, which enacts laws to enable implementation of the Programme of
Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Coalition Agreement."
Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted that the Political discussions on the need to reform at this
Government "have started on the first day following its appointment." Both the
President or the Verkhovna Rada have the constitutional
right to submit a no-confidence motion to the Parliament, "To any of our esteemed
politicians who believe that the incumbent Government fails to implement the
agreed program or fails to bring about required reforms: 150 votes is all it
would take to submit a no-confidence resolution, followed by ratification in
the Parliament, to enact the Government’s resignation."
"This
Government, however, will not be intimidated by the prospect of resignation.
All of us came here to bring about real change in the country. Discussions
should not revolve around personalities, but rather the adherence to the very
specific set values and ideals we’ve all declared. Stabilizing the economy and
achieving political stability in Ukraine should be our focus."
"In their
struggle for power and ‘lucrative appointments’, some politicians appear to
have forgotten that Ukraine is in a state of war declared by Russia; we have
not yet overcome the economic crisis, and the people are expecting genuine transformations
in the country," said the Prime Minister.
"My team
and I will not stop halfway on this road of reforms. That was the primary
reason for the recall of resignation requests by several Ministers who decided
to return to the Government, so that they are able to carry out the fundamental
changes in the country. If someone else has an alternative program or does not
share these principles, we encourage them take on the full responsibility of
the task. In the meantime, we will continue on this path of building a strong,
sovereign, European State of Ukraine,"
Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.
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