Republicans exploring coalition options

Kyivskiye Vedomosty (Kyiv Gazette)
October 4, 2005

In light of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Ukraine’s Republican Party (RPU) will decide
with whom to form a coalition by the end of October. This announcement came from First Deputy
Chairman of the RPU and MP Yuli Yoffe during his recent visit to Crimea.

While Republicans have not released specific details about the composition of their
parliamentary election coalition, RPU leader Yuri Boyko has stated repeatedly that the RPU is
willing to cooperate “with all constructive socio-political forces.”

Among the most likely coalition partners is The Party of Industrial Entrepreneurs, headed by
Anatoli Kinakh, which has already entered into an agreement on cooperation with the Republicans.
The RPU leadership has also commented positively on the People’s Bloc Party founded by Vladimir
Litvin.

In response to journalists’ questions regarding the RPU’s constituency, Yoffe explained that his
party is seeking to obtain votes and secure support from the middle class. “We believe that it
is important to have a healthy middle class. We have learned from the Latin American republics
that a vibrant middle class is one socioeconomic factor that is critical to ensuring stability
of the state,” he said.

“Therefore, the RPU seeks both to represent, and obtain support from, teachers, doctors, other
professionals, farmers and small-to-medium sized business owners, as they constitute important
elements of Ukraine’s growing middle class,” Yoffe said.

Regarding the RPU’s platform for political reform, Yoffe stated: “We were deceived by the
constitutional reform. On September 1 we should have woken up in a parliamentary-presidential
republic.”

For Yoffe and the RPU, the primary purpose of current political reform efforts should be to
establish an effective balance of power among the Parliament, President and Cabinet.

Analyzing the current situation, Yoffe argued that the first order of business for the Prime
Minister and his new government should be to address the country’s salient economic problems. He
cited the enormous increase in the import of goods that occurred as the result of lower import
duties, which ultimately hurt domestic production, he said.

According to Yoffe, the devaluation of the dollar had a strong impact on export-oriented
domestic companies, while the subsequent 15 percent increase in inflation diminished the
purchasing power of recently raised salaries and pensions.

Directing his comments to the government, Yoffe said: “At the present Mr. Yekhanurov needs to
address the current economic situation and specifically needs to find a way to decrease
inflation. It is crucial to develop an economic strategy that supports our domestic market, and
regulates trade through appropriate customs duties on imports.”

He said, “The Prime Minister must consider the dollar, and has to maintain a balance between
protecting importers from overly high import duties, while continuing to motivate domestic
producers, and in particular those with export-oriented production.”

During his visit to Simferopol, Yoffe also commented on the situation regarding the Russian
language. He asserted that although the problem must be addressed now, it would not be possible
to do so through the introduction of Constitutional amendments. He did say that a draft law had
been submitted to Parliament on the use of Russian, noting that “maintaining Russian as an
official language, as opposed to downgrading it to the status of a ‘second state language’, will
be a calming compromise for a substantial part of the population.”