Ukrainian President Offers Concessions and Top Posts to Opposition Leaders
Maneuvering to defuse the civil uprising that has gripped Ukraine, President Viktor F. Yanukovych on Saturday offered to install opposition leaders in top posts in a reshaped government, proposing one of them, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, as prime minister and another, the former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, as a vice prime minister for humanitarian affairs.
Many protesters who have taken to the streets of Kiev, the capital, including some involved in violent clashes with the police, have been demanding Mr. Yanukovych’s resignation, which he did not offer. In addition, some of the most aggressive demonstrators have been supporters of the nationalist Svoboda Party and its leader, Oleg Tyagnibok, who was apparently not offered a position.
There was no immediate reaction from the three opposition leaders, but there were immediate indications that the proposal was not being well received on the street.
Yet in a move that suggested that the offers were more than theatrics aimed at dividing the opposition, Mr. Yanukovych also said he would be willing to roll back constitutional changes made at his direction that had sharply expanded the powers of the presidency. He also agreed to make changes to a package of new laws that broadly suppress political dissent, including freedoms of speech and assembly, that Mr. Yanukovych’s backers rammed through Parliament on Jan. 16.
READ MORE »
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/world/europe/ukrainian-president-offers-top-posts-to-opposition-leaders.html?emc=edit_na_20140125
DO SOMETHING!
| 