Neil Buckley and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev
Ukraine’s prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk has
challenged president Petro Poroshenko to “back me or sack me”, saying decisive
action is the only way out of the country’s month-long political crisis that
risks triggering early elections and derailing pro-western reforms.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr
Yatseniuk complained bitterly of constant attacks from a governing coalition
that includes 136 MPs from the president’s party, saying it was “uncomfortable
[to be] stabbed in the back”.
Parliament, he noted, had failed to pass 60 per
cent of government bills. But Mr Yatseniuk defended his record, insisting
Ukraine was an “entirely different country” from 2014, when a revolution ousted
pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich.
His comments came amid intense backroom
political manoeuvring, with the US-born finance minister Natalie Jaresko and the parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman
said by political insiders to have been sounded out over the premier’s job.
“If the president doesn’t want to work with me,
and if his faction strongly oppose this government and this prime
minister . . . I kindly request with all due respect to take the responsibility
to form the government, to present the programme of the new government to the
Ukrainian people, and to form a new coalition,” Mr Yatseniuk said.
“Take it or leave it, back me or sack me.”
Ukraine’s deepest political crisis since the
2014 revolution was triggered by last month’s resignation of the economy
minister Aivaras Abromavicius, who said it had become impossible to implement
reforms.
Mr Yatseniuk’s government survived a no-confidence motion in parliament. But he admitted his government
had been weakened after some coalition MPs supported the vote and two of its
five constituent parties withdrew.
Political uncertainty risks derailing international
financial support for Ukraine amid continued attempts by Russia to destabilise
it and pull it back into Moscow’s sphere of influence.
The IMF has delayed disbursement of the next
tranche of a $17.5bn aid package until it is clear the government can continue
pushing through structural reforms. One senior official warned Ukraine’s
financial reserves would last only six to eight months without IMF support.
Some political commentators draw parallels with
the rift between president Viktor Yushchenko and premier Yulia Tymoshenko that
ultimately undermined Ukraine’s 2004 pro-democracy “Orange” revolution.
Mr Yatseniuk said he had “always tried to avoid
the notorious 2005 scenario”. “I will never complain about my president . . . I
will bite my lip to the end. But the end is too far,” he
quipped.
The prime minister did not dispute reports that
Ms Jaresko and others had been in talks over the top job, but declined to
comment further.
“My government survived a confidence vote,” he
said. “I am absolutely open for any type of discussion. But . . . any
government needs to get the support of the house,” he said.
People familiar with the situation told the FT
this week that representatives of Mr Poroshenko and Mr Yatseniuk’s
parliamentary factions had offered to back Ms Jaresko in the premier’s job, but
talks stalled.
One political insider suggested the premier
might initially have supported such a scenario as a way out of the crisis, but
later concluded the finance minister lacked parliamentary backing to be an
effective long-term premier.
Mr Yatseniuk said the country faced three
scenarios — a reshuffled government headed by him, a new government or snap
elections. He was “ready with all honour to hand over the office of the prime
minister to the strongest government, the strongest coalition, and the best
programme”.
Some of his former political allies appeared to
favour early polls, he added, but this was misguided.
“After any snap parliamentary elections, trust
me, they will never be able to form any pro-reformist and pro-western
government,” he added, saying any new coalition would comprise “10 different
parties with entirely different ideologies”.
The premier insisted that corruption allegations
levelled against him and associates by opponents were “groundless”. “This is
slander and defamation,” he said.
Mr Yatseniuk said he had “to beg, to plead, to
attack the house” to get parliament to back legislation. He had presented one
privatisation bill 15 times.
But he added, “this country is entirely
different than it was two years ago . . . new police, new army, new fiscal
policy, new energy policy, new social policy, new folks sitting in the
government . . . very strong society”.
“I have done everything I can, in these current
circumstances. I can do more, but we need to press down on the accelerator.”
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