KIEV, Ukraine—Yulia Tymoshenko, current Prime Minister and one of two candidates vying for presidency in the upcoming Feb. 7 elections, lost the “battle” on Wednesday when a last-minute electoral reform bill benefiting her archrival, Viktor Yanukovych, was passed.
The election campaign has been a bitter one, marked by vicious mud-slinging and name-calling.
Last week, Yanukovych’s party pushed forward a bill to eliminate the requirement that the territorial electoral commission needs a two-thirds quorum to be legal. On Wednesday, the opposition party members created a scuffle at an unscheduled session of Parliament, which was called to try to pass this bill ahead of the election.
At the start of the session, the opposition party members were physically blocking the speaker’s podium, and it appeared as if they would start a fight with the members from Tymoshenko`s party. Eventually, however, the impasse was settled without the fists and negotiations began.
Members of parliament from Tymoshenko’s party insisted on adding a total of 232 amendments. However, every single one of these amendments was unanimously defeated.
With the bill passed, Tymoshenko decided to take decisive action. She called upon President Viktor Yushchenko not to sign the draft and said that she would call all Ukraine-based ambassadors and international media to tell them that “if the bill is signed by the President, there will be no more elections in the country.”
Tymoshenko considers the changes to the electoral law to be “unfair, false, and uncontrolled.” Her party is concerned that with the passage of the bill, the opponents will exclude them from the 225 territorial electoral commissions, which would jeopardize fair elections. Yanukovych’s camp insists that Tymoshenko’s party members would not be excluded.
Whether President Yushchenko will answer Tymoshenko’s call and veto the bill remains to be seen in the days to follow.
The election campaign has been a bitter one, marked by vicious mud-slinging and name-calling.
Last week, Yanukovych’s party pushed forward a bill to eliminate the requirement that the territorial electoral commission needs a two-thirds quorum to be legal. On Wednesday, the opposition party members created a scuffle at an unscheduled session of Parliament, which was called to try to pass this bill ahead of the election.
At the start of the session, the opposition party members were physically blocking the speaker’s podium, and it appeared as if they would start a fight with the members from Tymoshenko`s party. Eventually, however, the impasse was settled without the fists and negotiations began.
Members of parliament from Tymoshenko’s party insisted on adding a total of 232 amendments. However, every single one of these amendments was unanimously defeated.
With the bill passed, Tymoshenko decided to take decisive action. She called upon President Viktor Yushchenko not to sign the draft and said that she would call all Ukraine-based ambassadors and international media to tell them that “if the bill is signed by the President, there will be no more elections in the country.”
Tymoshenko considers the changes to the electoral law to be “unfair, false, and uncontrolled.” Her party is concerned that with the passage of the bill, the opponents will exclude them from the 225 territorial electoral commissions, which would jeopardize fair elections. Yanukovych’s camp insists that Tymoshenko’s party members would not be excluded.
Whether President Yushchenko will answer Tymoshenko’s call and veto the bill remains to be seen in the days to follow.
