Yushchenko dismisses Ukraine government
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today dismissed his Cabinet amid swirling allegations of corruption, saying members of the fragile coalition formed after last year’s Orange Revolution had turned on one another.
The dissolution of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s government, coupled with the president’s decision to accept the resignation of Petro Poroshenko, the powerful head of the Security and Defence Council, left Yushchenko looking increasingly isolated.
He appeared at ease, however, as he addressed journalists from Ukrainian television stations.
“I knew that there were definite contradictions between those people … (but) I hoped that there would not be enough time for intrigues,” Yushchenko said. “Those were my hopes.”
Yushchenko made his abrupt move after Poroshenko, whose agency controls Ukraine’s military and law enforcement services, and other top presidential aides were accused of corruption by some of their former Orange Revolution allies. Yushchenko called the allegations “groundless but very strong,” saying they demanded a response.
“I want people to feel that the government works in harmony … (but) they lost the team spirit and faith,” said Yushchenko, adding that “They remain my friends.”
He later said he hoped Tymoshenko and Poroshenko would remain part of his team, but they must agree to work together. He didn’t specify whether this meant he would consider welcoming them back into the government at some point.
“I have spent the last three nights thinking about how to keep together that which has already separated … the key issue was the issue of trust,” he said.
“If there had been a possibility to preserve team spirit, to remain together, it would have been the best answer. We had such an agreement and during the night it was changed, but not by me.”
Vitaliy Chepinoga, spokesman for Tymoshenko, refused to comment. “Let the president speak his mind today, tomorrow we will comment,” he said. Oleksandr Turchinov, head of the State Security Service and a close Tymoshenko ally, also announced his resignation today.
Yushchenko appointed politician Yuriy Yekhanurov, a former economics minister who now heads a parliamentary committee on industrial issues, as acting prime minister.
Yushchenko said conflicts between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko “became the everyday agenda”.
“The president must not be a governess who has to settle relations between them,” he said, adding that the trust between his partners “was zero”.
