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Ukrainian Government Survives Confidence Vote Ukrainian Government Survives Confidence Vote, and Protests Continue
(about 5 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — As protesters continued their siege of government buildings and occupation of a landmark plaza in this rattled capital, President Viktor F. Yanukovich survived a no-confidence vote on Tuesday after some lawmakers demanded the resignation of the government. KIEV, Ukraine — Refusing to grant a central demand of protesters who have laid siege to public buildings and occupied a landmark plaza in this rattled capital, the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday defeated a measure calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his government.
The measure failed as members of the majority Party of Regions stood by Mr. Yanukovich and the government. The failure of the no-confidence vote pushed the battle for the future of Ukraine back onto the streets, where demonstrators and political opposition leaders allied with them say they will not relent until they succeed in removing the government, including President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
The proposal, which needed 226 votes for approval, was backed by 186 lawmakers; 5 voted no, 12 abstained and 135 did not vote. The tally suggested that while few wanted to be on record in support of the government, there was also no major revolt. “Our demand is impeachment of the president and dismissal of the government,” said Oleksiy Ivannikov, 35, a construction engineer who was in a crowd of protesters with his friends. “I see no compromises here,” Mr. Ivannikov said. “How long should we go on compromising?”
Opposition leaders had insisted that the government resign over Mr. Yanukovich’s refusal to sign political and trade agreements with the European Union, and over the use of force by the police in dispersing a crowd of several hundred from Independence Square early Saturday. In response to Parliament’s refusal to act, demonstrators — who have already blockaded the Cabinet of Ministers building and seized City Hall — said they intended to close off access to the headquarters of the presidential administration, which is heavily guarded by riot police officers. They also plan to take up positions allowing them to cordon off Parliament, in a bid to paralyze the legislative and executive branches of government.
“We demand the resignation of the government, the president and the minister of internal affairs,” Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, the leader of the Fatherland coalition, said Tuesday. Leaders of the protest movement, a loose coalition of Ukraine’s three main political opposition parties, civic organizations and student groups, said they were digging in for a long fight.
Members of Parliament settled on a resolution, approved overwhelmingly, to summon Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the rest of the cabinet. Since the start of demonstrations on Nov. 22, many protesters, especially students, have been skeptical that elected officials would answer their demands, which were a response to Mr. Yanukovich’s decision not to sign far-reaching political and trade agreements with the European Union that had been in the works for years.
Mr. Azarov appeared in Parliament shortly before 1 p.m., where he apologized for the police violence and insisted an investigation was underway. He said that talks would resume next week with the European Union, though officials in Brussels said that the accords were not open for renegotiation, so it was unclear what could change. Public anger deepened over brutal tactics used by riot police officers against protesters in Independence Square early Saturday — a display of violence that led to a march and rally by hundreds of thousands of people in Kiev on Sunday, and thousands more in cities around the country.
European Union officials have said they remain willing to sign the accords with Ukraine, provided the country meets the agreed upon conditions. They have refused, however, to engage in three-way negotiations with Russia, as Mr. Yanukovich has proposed. The protesters occupied Independence Square, setting up barricades that now form a wide perimeter around the landmark plaza and establishing a tent city with first-aid stations and canteens. They also control the large Trade Unions building nearby, along with the huge television screen mounted on its facade allowing them to broadcast the speeches and musical performances that take place virtually around the clock on an outdoor stage.
Thousands of protesters, many of whom have remained in the city center since a huge rally on Sunday, marched to the Parliament building, which was shielded by lines of buses and deep columns of riot police. The control of the Trade Unions building, as well as City Hall a short walk away, has given the protesters access to shelter, heat and toilets — crucial to maintaining a long standoff in the winter weather.
Carrying blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags and chanting, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to her heroes!” the protesters marched past the Cabinet Ministry, where other demonstrators continued to block the entrances in a seemingly successful bid to paralyze government offices. In a speech to Parliament before Tuesday’s vote, Mr. Azarov once again apologized for the police violence on Saturday and said that an investigation was underway that would hold those responsible accountable. But he also warned that the authorities would answer any violence.
Parliament can be a volatile body, with fistfights occasionally breaking out in the chamber. The proceedings on Tuesday, however, remained mostly civilized, with only intermittent shouting and rude gestures. “We are ready to discuss with peaceful manifestations all conditions of our agreements,” the prime minister said, as opposition lawmakers in the chamber pounded their desks and rendered him nearly inaudible with chants of “Resignation! Resignation!”
At one point during the proceedings, opposition lawmakers began chanting, “Revolution! Revolution!” Outside the Parliament building, protesters shouted, “Resignation!” and “Gang, get out!” “We will give you a hand,” Mr. Azarov said. “If we see a fist, we have enough force.”
Mr. Yanukovich, in a television interview on Monday night, criticized the unrest, especially the occupation of City Hall in Kiev, but sought to minimize the significance of the demands for his resignation. He said that opposition figures should wait until presidential elections in 2015 to challenge him. The prime minister seemed to be suggesting new talks between the Ukrainian government and European leaders. But while European leaders say they remain open to signing the accords if Ukraine meets previously agreed-upon conditions, like an overhaul of its justice system, they are not willing to renegotiate.
“I urge all politicians not to rush,” he said. “They are all still young, and they have everything ahead of them. Elections are coming. People will determine. Whoever is elected, so be it.” “The European Union is ready to discuss aspects of implementation of the agreement already initialed but not to reopen any kind of negotiations,” said Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
Mr. Yanukovich left on Tuesday for a visit to China where he was to participate in business development meetings. Mr. Yanukovich has also effectively shut the door to new talks. In the days since he refused to sign the agreements at a summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, last week, Mr. Yanukovich has turned forcefully toward Russia, which had exerted heavy pressure on him to derail the accords.
Many demonstrators, however, said that they would not relent until Mr. Yanukovich was ousted. “Our demand is impeachment of the president and dismissal of the government,” said Oleksiv Ivannikov, 35, a construction engineer in Independence Square, where demonstrators have blocked the plaza and established a small tent city. In an interview with Ukrainian television on Monday evening, Mr. Yanukovich said that he would begin working to extend a strategic partnership agreement first executed with Russia in 1997, and that he was close to securing lower natural gas prices from Russia. On Tuesday, officials said Russia had agreed to defer Ukraine’s payments for natural gas for several months.
“I see no compromises here,” Mr. Ivannikov said. “How long should we go on compromising? When there is this brute force, what compromises can there be?” European leaders have said they would not participate in three-way negotiations with Russia, as Mr. Yanukovich has proposed.
On Tuesday, as Mr. Yanukovich flew to China to attend business development meetings, opposition lawmakers continued to call for his ouster.
“We demand the resignation of the government, the president and the minister of internal affairs,” Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, the leader of the opposition Fatherland coalition, said in Parliament.
Thousands of protesters, many of whom have remained in the city center since the huge rally, marched to the Parliament building, which was shielded by lines of buses and deep columns of riot police officers.
Carrying blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags, yellow-starred European flags and the red-and-black banner of World War II partisans from western Ukraine, the demonstrators shouted, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to her heroes!” They marched past the Cabinet Ministry, where other protesters continued to block the entrances, and crowded onto the cobblestone slope of Mikhail Grushevsky Street.
“This government and this president are on a path to nowhere,” said Igor S. Palyamichuk, 44, a sales manager at a construction company. “We are taking the Belarussian path,” he said. “Not even the Russian path, but the Belarussian one. Think about it. Full isolation.”
Although a handful of lawmakers have defected from Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions and declared support for the protests, the party still has a commanding majority.
That was evident with the no-confidence measure, which needed 226 votes for approval. It was backed by 186 lawmakers, only one from the Party of Regions; 5 voted no, 121 abstained and 135 did not vote.
The tally suggested that while few wanted to be on record in support of the government — especially the Communists, who are allied with the Party of Regions — there was no major revolt.
Opposition lawmakers said they now expected the action to shift onto the street.
“Street politics were always in the forefront,” said Yuri Levchenko, a member of Parliament with the nationalist Svoboda party. “In this environment, they will stay that way.”
The organizers are using a strategy akin to a spreading ink blot, letting the crowds of giddy young men and women spill across an ever-broadening area of central Kiev, occupying the country’s most important political landscape. On Independence Square, protesters huddle around drum fires, play guitars and claim the pavement as their own, clearly confident that momentum is on their side.
“The last couple of days have shown we are able to increase our area of control,” Mr. Levchenko said.
The new strategy formulated on Tuesday, he said, was to blockade entrances to the three most important buildings in the capital — the government building, the presidential administration headquarters and Parliament. Mr. Levchenko said this was also necessary because underground passageways connect the three buildings, so that only when they are all surrounded will the opposition have fully shut down the government.
The buildings themselves remained guarded by a dense police force.
“This is our plan,” Mr. Levchenko said. “By tomorrow, it should all be in place.”
Still, a column of protesters that had approached the presidential administration building turned back to Independence Square on Tuesday, suggesting some uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the political parties in charge, no strangers to rough-and-tumble former Soviet street politics, have taken meticulous precautions against police raids on the territory they hold.
Independence Square, for example, is fully fortified with chest-high heaps of plywood, metal fencing, logs and scavenged holiday decorations.

Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting.

Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting.