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Ukraine's Parliament Appoints Interim President

February 23, 2014
by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Ukraine's parliament has voted to temporarily hand over the duties of president to parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov.

The decision came one day after parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych following three months of antigovernment protests. A new presidential election has been scheduled on May 25.

Turchynov told deputies to agree on the formation of a national unity government by February 25. He said Ukraine's economy was in a 'catastrophic' state and that state coffers were empty.

Turchynov is an ally of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych's chief political rival who was released from detention on February 22.

Tymoshenko said she is not seeking the post of prime minister.

Earlier, her supporters in parliament said she was one of the three favorites to be named to head a government of national unity. But Tymoshenko, in a statement by her Batkivshchyna party, said she was 'surprised' when she heard she had been proposed for the premiership.

Lawmakers also voted to dismiss Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, a strong Yanukovych ally, and a number of other ministers.

Parliament also voted on February 23 to hand Yanukovych's opulent residence outside Kyiv to the state.

Yanukovych left the capital on February 22 and his precise whereabouts remain unclear.

Arsen Avakov, the acting interior minister, confirmed that border guards had prevented Yanukovych from boarding a chartered plane out of the eastern city of Donetsk.

Criminal Investigations

Parliament was also told an order has been given to arrest former Tax and Revenue Minister Oleksandr Klimenko and former Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka.

Avakov said criminal investigations have been launched into the alleged role of some 30 Interior Ministry officials in the brutal crackdown on protesters.

Ukraine's Health Ministry on February 22 said clashes between protesters and riot police earlier this week left 82 people dead and 645 injured.

Tymoshenko, addressing thousands of antigovernment demonstrators in Kyiv on February 22, called for Yanukovych and his allies to be held accountable for the killings of protesters.

'I was sitting in prison thinking that there was no bigger happiness than to be born and to live among you, because you are the best. But now, we have to do a couple of important things. First of all, we have to bring Yanukovych and all this scum that gathered around him here to the square,' Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko also urged demonstrators not to abandon their protests.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said it was right that protesters keep up their presence in the streets.

'I think the people have to stay on the streets and in control of the whole process that happens in Ukraine. Human power is very important. Every politician has to know -- any new [government] has to know and remember -- if they start to play the dirty game, this can happen again,' Klitschko said.

'The main power -- the will of the people -- is very important. Ukraine has shown to the whole world that it works -- we can [bring about] change.'

Yanukovych, in an interview on February 22, said he will not resign and that all decisions by parliament are illegal.

His Party of Regions in a statement said the 'entire responsibility' for the recent bloodshed in Ukraine rests 'with Yanukovych and his nearest associates.'

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ tymoshenko-calls-for-accountability- presidents-whereabouts-unclear/25274148.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.