God help us

Unfortunately, there's little good news on the political front.

A Cliffhanger So Dragged-Out It's Not Exciting Anymore

Foreign Minister Tarasyuk is still there on the brink, after months of shoving by the Party of Regions. They cut off his budget. Now it's back. Everybody's waiting on the Constitutional Court, which, I hope, will mean a more high-profile position for the court and some sort of arbitration to the endless squabbling of Ukrainian politicians.

It's all part of the uncertainty about power that's existed at least since the March elections. PACE recently said, among other things, that it "reduces to zero the hope of political consensus in making further decisions which will speed up the adoption of necessary reforms in Ukraine." (It can say this because it doesn't really have any power, and therefore can dispense with diplomacy in favor of straight talk. Refreshing.)

Tymoshenko And Yanukovych Star In Naked Ambition

Tarasyuk is probably losing ground, though, as Yushchenko loses it. On Jan 12, Tymoshenko joined with Yanu and crew to help strip Yushchenko of even more of his powers as President. Foreign Notes speculates that the move is calculated to try and push Yushchenko further into a corner where calling new elections is his only option. In essence, she voted to strip power from Yushchenko and vest it in Yanukovych. Both Zerkalo Nedeli and EDM believe that it was more a negotiated settlement, in which Yanukovych got his power, and she got her law protecting the opposition and law requiring local officials to dance with the ones who brung them (in other words, remain with the parties they got their positions through).

Even if the Constitutional Court breaks its long silence to overrule this (as it has every reason to do since it's a legal mess), the effort shows complete disregard of democratic institutions by both BYT and PoR. Should the majority in Parliament manage to enforce this travesty, they will have basically sawed off one of the branches of power. Forget about Tymoshenko trying for President in 2009: who'd want that figurehead position? Yanukovych recently said in Davos that "Neither the government nor the prime minister ever aspires to replace the president," which would certainly be true: why replace him when you can simply ignore him and rule alone?

[update: I said "another" branch of government in the title, but forgot to explain why. If you've been counting, this is the second branch of government to be broken off (the judiciary has long been ineffectual). That means it's basically a Parliamentary dictatorship with almost no checks and balances.] 

I can hardly get my brain around how foul this is, and how awful for the country it would be. Oh, wait, now I've found the right words: Kuchma was better. Shame and degradation on all those who voted for this law, especially Tymoshenko.

Kushnaryov killed in a hunting accidentParty of Regions Deputies: Rising and Falling 

To put it bluntly, Kushnaryov is dead (image: Reuters). He was on a hunting expedition with fellow PoR deputies and was accidentally fatally wounded by a shot to the stomach. While Foreign Note's entry, cited, mentions that the accident was perpetuated by a supposedly decorated marksman, it's being ruled an accident. Which couldn't be otherwise, because who would investigate the event? Unfortunately, none of the former orange groups look interested, and generally PoR tends to adopt a "devil take the hindmost" stance: if one of theirs falls, it's his own fault.

Not that I was a big fan, or anything (Kushnaryov was from the no-compromise wing of PoR), but it would have been nice to at least have seen an investigation.

Not all PoR deputies' fortunes are so dark. As Foreign Notes has been describing in detail, all the oldest, dirtiest politicians are returning to government, like rats pouring on to a ship that is, remarkably, still afloat despite its deplorable state. 

In the midst of all of this, an anniversary few people are probably marking these days: two years of Yu.