Posts
:
Billionaire
Petro Poroshenko has been sworn in as Ukraine’s new president at a
ceremony in Kiev. He won the emergency election in the first round on
a promise of change as the country faces a massive political and
economic crisis
Poroshenko
gave his presidential oath on Saturday at an event attended by
delegations from 56 countries. The US, the key supporter of the
opposition forces, which ousted Poroshenko’s predecessor Viktor
Yanukovich in the February armed coup and made way for his
presidency, was represented by Vice President Joe Biden.
A
wealthy businessman with assets in the chocolate industry, media and
shipbuilding, Poroshenko is no stranger to government. He served in
the Cabinets of presidents Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich,
chairing Ukraine’s central bank and serving as its foreign minister
and trade minister at different times.
Following
the inauguration the new Ukrainian president proceeded to deliver his
inaugural address in front of members of the Ukrainian parliament. He
faces several tough challenges, including a slide towards civil war,
economic slowdown, debt crisis and a potential continuation of public
rioting in Kiev.
The
president’s immediate plan is to hold early parliamentary election
in the country as well as in the regions currently engulfed by
violence. He offered amnesty to Ukrainians not guilty of committing
serious crimes and a free way out of Ukraine to Russia for armed
militias, whom Poroshenko described as “Russian militants.”
Poroshenko
also said he wants a new international treaty that would ensure that
Ukraine is defended militarily by foreign nations if its territorial
integrity is threatened, although he didn’t say which countries
were willing to offer such protection. He also said Ukraine must
pursue visa-free travel with the European Union, although it is not
yet clear whether Brussels is willing to grant it. Poroshenko also
promised to fulfil pledges he made during his election campaign.
Poroshenko
campaigned on a platform of change, promising to free the country
from corruption and domination of the oligarchs. Yet some of
Ukraine’s rich are now governing its provinces and even have
personal armies. With all the public support he managed to rally, he
may find it difficult to rein in officials and business elites,
especially with his presidential authority diminished by a
constitutional reform and the parliament dominated by the party of
his bitter rival, Yulia Tymoshenko.
There
is also doubt over whether the president intends to deliver on his
election campaign promises. He pledged to sell his business assets to
assure personal integrity, but he refused to sell his TV channel,
which was one of the most vocal critics of the Yanukovich government,
and has bought a new factory since making his promise.
The
first test of his presidential independence and determination is
likely to be dealing with the country’s unruly eastern provinces,
which boycotted the election and are defending themselves against
Kiev’s military crackdown. So far Poroshenko has demonstrated
little intention to replace air strikes and artillery barrages in
Donetsk and Lugansk regions with peace envoys and negotiators.
Stopping
the bloodshed is the main demand from Russia, which may choose to
stop delivering gas to Ukraine without pre-payment, as Kiev has been
behind in paying its bills for months. Moscow agreed to postpone the
shutdown until Monday after Ukraine covered a portion of its debt,
but it leaves Poroshenko with a deadline looming just days ahead.
Poroshenko
pledged to sign the economic part of the EU Association Agreement.
Yanukovich’s refusal to do so was the trigger of the public protest
that ousted him. But the painful reforms and losses from severing
economic ties with Russia, which were the reason for Yanukovich’s
move, are still there, and Poroshenko’s chances of softening the
blow are even slimmer now, with recession kicking in and credit lines
from the IMF, the US and the EU far from assured
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.