Le Sabot Post-Moderne

Disco,

Thanks for the parliamentary breakdown. It's hard to find that sort of info over in the States.

It would be extememely nice if those blocs were labeled as part of Yushchenko's coalitio or part of an opposition coalition... if possible....

:)

Hi John, I agree with Joe St, with the addition that I've heard Lytvyn has been picking up a lot of the opportunist deputies that don't want to go all the way and try to join NU. Which party is he? Center? Because that doesn't ahve many folks in it. Where is Lytvyn?

John, I'll 'third" the motion! Though I've tried to find it, there is just not much to tell us who is who here... and lots of joining and bloc-ing going on, dying out, forming, renaming - it's all VERY confusing. It would be so nice to have just two sides - the good guys and the mostly nice guys...

My check list tally doesn't look so good..

1. Our Ukraine -- 100 name 'stolen' by Viktor Pynzenyk - old Reforms and Order
2. Regions Party -- 56 - Volodymyr Lytvyn (Op)
3. Communist Party -- 53 - Petro Symonenko (Op)
4. Social Dems -- 28 - Viktor Medvedchuk's party (Op)
5. Workers&People's Dems--15
6. People's Agrarian Party -- 32 - Volodymyr Lytvyn (Op)
7. Socialists -- 20 - Alexander Moroz (Y) - linked with Symonenko?
8. Tymoshenko Bloc -- 19 - Y
9. Union Party -- 16
10. Center Party -- 14
11. United Ukraine -- 22 (supports a multidirectional foreign policy
12. Democratic Initiatives -- 13
13. Democratic Ukraine -- 14 Volodymyr Horbulin? (clear pro-Western orientation?
14. Independent MPs -- 41

I can't identify a lot of support for Yushchenko anywhere - particularly with 'Our Ukraine' being taken over by Pynzenyk.

It would be VERY nice if you can add the party leadership to the list too. That seems to change faster than I can keep up from the sources available. 8^)

Being able to open up the comments to full screen is missing! Booo... 8^)

Yup, we most definitely need more clarity on these parties.
As it stands now, it's a fractured blur.

Please help us with some background, individual or collective.

Well, as long as we are all posting our wish lists...

I'd sure like to know what the composition looked like before the Orange Revolution. I might be able to find the composition after the 2002 elections at Adam Carr's or Erik Herron's sites, but the problem is that labels have changed.

As far as there not being a lot of Yushchenko allies on the roster, I actually think that is less troublesome than it might at first appear. These folks were all elected under vastly different (pre-revolutionary) circumstances, in 2002. As Discoshaman has pointed out many times, those who are drifting over to Yushchenko are opprtunists.

In a sense, then, greater clarity of political alliances is matintained if Yushchenko does NOT have a majority in parliament. As long as he does not have an absolutely opposed majority, which he does not--not if the "opportunistic" label really applies to so many in the current parliament.

The Ukrainian presidency is strong enough to do quite a lot without a pro-president majority (again, as long as there is not a fully obstructionist majority). Those powers go away only in September under the recent reforms (assuming I understand correctly). By then we will be in campaign mode.

The chances of a decisive 2006 victory for pro-Yushchenko parties are improved if the interim period has shown how necessary it is for a full overhaul of parliament before the majority will, as reflected in the events of late 2004, can be reflected. Besides, in the meantime, the check afforded by a not-too-sympathetic parliament is probably a good thing for placating the east.

Now, one more thing for the wish list. :-) Is there any way we can get a fairly detailed description of how the new proportional electoral system for 2006 will work? it was on this blog--and nowhere else--that I learned that getting rid of the current "mixed" system was part of the late-2004 agreement, but I long for more details.