Ukraine's Politics Descend Into Slapstick

DEC 15, 2015 1:23 PM EST
By Leonid Bershidsky

Less than a week after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden asked Ukraine's political leaders to play nice, the quiet war between the teams of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and President Petro Poroshenko has turned publicly and comically violent.

The situation is growing increasingly reminiscent of Ukraine's previous attempt to break with Russia's dominance and embark on a European path. From 2005 to 2010, then President Viktor Yuschenko's faction clashed repeatedly with that of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, rampant corruption undermined the economy and reforms proved fake. This led to the election of President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted last year in a bloody uprising.

Biden's plea was timed to preempt a crucial moment: On Dec. 11, Yatsenyuk's year-long immunity from dismissal as prime minister expired, rendering him vulnerable to political attack. Biden warned Poroshenko that Ukraine's Western allies want to avoid the political upheaval that Yatsenyuk's firing would entail. Without the support of the prime minister's faction -- the second biggest in parliament -- the ruling coalition would fall apart, triggering an early election. The resulting campaigning could sideline reforms, sorely testing the patience of impoverished and often armed voters.

On Dec. 12, Yatsenyuk was defending his government's record in parliament when legislator Oleg Barna, a member of the presidential faction, approached him with a bunch of flowers. Nonplussed, Yatsenyuk took the bouquet. Barna then lifted him up in a body lock and attempted to drag him from the rostrum. Yatsenyuk clung to it, so Barna changed his grip, seizing the prime minister between his legs. Legislators from the Yatsenyuk party were already running to intercept Barna like a rugby team in suits. Soon, fists were flying all over the floor. Many Ukrainian legislators have risen through the ranks in mob-controlled coal and steel towns, and their Brioni attire is only a thin veneer.

"Possibly, this wasn't a very European way to act, but I couldn't do otherwise," Barna later explained. "If he won't leave of his own accord, people will carry him out."

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http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-15/ukraine-s-politics-descend-into-slapstick