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Ukrainian Premier Offers to Resign Ukrainian Premier Submits Resignation
(about 4 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Mykola Azarov, the prime minister of Ukraine, offered to resign on Tuesday hours before he appeared likely to be stripped of his powers in a vote of no confidence in Parliament. His offer to quit was the latest sign of the building momentum of the opposition in the ongoing crisis. KIEV, Ukraine — Mykola Azarov, the prime minister of Ukraine, submitted his resignation on Tuesday hours before he risked being stripped of his powers in a vote of no confidence in Parliament. His offer to quit was the latest sign of the building momentum of the opposition in the ongoing crisis.
Mr. Azarov had been a staunch ally of the embattled president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, through the two months of protests roiling Ukraine and his offer represented the first substantive concession to the protesters on the part of Mr. Yanukovych. In another concession to the opposition, the pro-government political party in Parliament, the Party of Regions, voted together with the opposition to repeal most of the laws in a package of rules limiting free speech and assembly the lawmakers had passed just a week earlier.
Mr. Yanukovych has promised other concessions, including the repeal of laws passed earlier this month curbing civil liberties, an amnesty for arrested protesters and a revision of the Constitution to weaken presidential powers, all of which will require votes in the Parliament, or Verkhovna Rada. Lawmakers were expected to take up these legislative overhauls later Tuesday. President Viktor F. Yanukovych has promised other concessions, including an amnesty for arrested protesters and a revision of the Constitution to weaken presidential powers, measures which also require votes in the Parliament, or Verkhovna Rada. Lawmakers were expected to take up these legislative overhauls later Tuesday.
The resignation alone was not likely to appease protesters. The opposition Fatherland Party posted on its Twitter feed that “the resignation of Azarov does not mean the resignation of the government.” Mr. Azarov has been a staunch ally of the embattled Mr. Yanukovich through the two months of protests roiling Ukraine and his offer represented the first substantive concession to the protesters on the part of Mr. Yanukovych.
Mr. Azarov wrote in a letter posted on the government website that he was prepared to resign “for the sake of a peaceful resolution,” to the civil unrest that escalated sharply last week with the deaths of five protesters in clashes with the police or after being abducted by people with apparent ties to the security services. Demonstrators occupied provincial administration buildings in at least 10 regions, sending the police fleeing out rear exits in some instances. The resignation and repeal of the repressive legislation, called by the opposition the “dictatorship laws,” were not likely to appease protesters. The opposition Fatherland Party posted on its Twitter feed that “the resignation of Azarov does not mean the resignation of the government.”
On Independence Square, the central plaza occupied by demonstrators, their tents, field kitchens and a stage since November that is the epicenter of the street protest movement, reactions were mixed.
One elderly woman in a kerchief giddily told the Ukrainian channel 5 television after Mr. Azarov’s resignation, “Thank God you heard us!”
But a young man wearing a metal helmet told the television station, “It’s not a victory yet.”
Mr. Azarov wrote in a letter posted on the government website that he was prepared to resign “for the sake of a peaceful resolution” to the civil unrest that escalated sharply last week with the deaths of five protesters in clashes with the police or who died after being abducted by people with apparent ties to the security services. Demonstrators occupied provincial administration buildings in at least 10 regions, sending the police fleeing through rear exits in some instances. One policeman was shot to death on a street in Kiev far from the protest site; a nationalist group calling itself the Ukrainian Partisan Army claimed responsibility in a Facebook post.
“The state of conflict in the nation threatens the social and economic development of Ukraine, and presents a threat to all Ukrainian society, and all its citizens,” Mr. Azarov wrote in his letter. “In order to create additional opportunities for social and political compromise for the sake of peaceful resolution of the conflict, I made a personal decision to ask the president of Ukraine to accept my resignation.”“The state of conflict in the nation threatens the social and economic development of Ukraine, and presents a threat to all Ukrainian society, and all its citizens,” Mr. Azarov wrote in his letter. “In order to create additional opportunities for social and political compromise for the sake of peaceful resolution of the conflict, I made a personal decision to ask the president of Ukraine to accept my resignation.”
Mr. Yanukovych has said he would be willing to dismiss Mr. Azarov, and over the weekend offered the prime minister’s position to the Parliamentary leader of the opposition Fatherland party, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, though Mr. Yatsenyuk declined.Mr. Yanukovych has said he would be willing to dismiss Mr. Azarov, and over the weekend offered the prime minister’s position to the Parliamentary leader of the opposition Fatherland party, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, though Mr. Yatsenyuk declined.
Mr. Yanukovych did not immediately accept Mr. Azarov’s resignation, a point pro-government lawmakers made in statements noting Mr. Azarov would remain prime minister until the president had done so. Mr. Yanukovych did not immediately accept Mr. Azarov’s resignation, a point pro-government lawmakers made in statements noting that Mr. Azarov would remain prime minister until the president had done so.
In the ranks of the radical opposition empowered now by its survival as an organized movement after a week of fierce street fighting with the police that left scores wounded and under arrest, Mr. Azarov’s suggestion that he had voluntarily resigned brought only scorn.
Oleg Tyagnibok, the leader of the nationalist Svoboda party, said he had been forced out. Members of Parliament had intended to vote on a no-confidence measure covering the entire Cabinet, not only the prime minister. Though it was unclear whether such a vote would have garnered support from the pro-government party, Mr. Tyagnibok called the prime minister’s resignation a maneuver to avoid the vote. “It’s clear they are looking for ways to avoid responsibility,” he said.
In the morning session that began with a moment of silence for those who died last week, lawmakers repealed nine of 12 laws that were passed on Jan. 16 by a show of hands, without debate. They had limited free speech and assembly, and outrage over their passage touched off the violence on Jan. 19.
The Party of Regions, Mr. Yanukovych’s party, supported the repeal, which passed with 361 votes in the 450-seat chamber.
The laws had specifically banned tactics adopted by the opposition, such as instituting a prohibition against driving in a column of more than five cars, a rule aimed at a group called AutoMaidan that had taken to protesting by driving in large, honking caravans of vehicles .
In a compromise, members of Parliament, including those from opposition parties, also voted for four bills similar to those overturned. A criminal offense for destroying monuments, for example, passed with the specification it applied only to monuments honoring those who had fought against fascism, covering Ukraine’s ubiquitous World War II statues. It clearly exempted statues of the Communist leader Vladimir Lenin, a statue of whom was toppled by protesters in December. The Svoboda party has called for dismantling all of Ukraine’s Lenins.