Second Yatsenyuk Government | |
|---|---|
 18th Cabinet of Ukraine (since 1990) | |
 | |
| Date formed | 2 December 2014[1][2] |
| Date dissolved | 14 April 2016 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Petro Poroshenko |
| Head of government | Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
| Deputy head of government | Yuriy Zubko Vyacheslav Kyrylenko Valeriy Voshchevsky (until 17 September 2015) |
| No. of ministers | 20 |
| Member parties | Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" People's Front Self Reliance (until 18 February 2016) Fatherland (until 17 February 2016) Radical Party (until 1 September 2015) |
| Status in legislature | Coalition |
| Opposition party | Opposition Bloc |
| Opposition leader | Yuriy Boyko |
| History | |
| Predecessor | First Yatsenyuk government |
| Successor | Groysman government |
Thesecond Yatsenyuk government was created inUkraine after the2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election. On 2 December 2014, 288members (of the 423[3]) of theUkrainian parliament approved the composition of the cabinet.[1][2] The Government was backed by (the political parties)Petro Poroshenko Bloc,People's Front,Self Reliance,Fatherland andRadical Party.[4]
Radical Party left the coalition on 1 September 2015.[5]
After Fatherland and Self Reliance left the coalition on 17 and 18 February 2016 the coalition became 5 deputies short of the 226 needed.[6][7] It was then disputed that Radical Party had left the coalition until on 29 March 2016 it was officially announced in parliament that on September 1, 2015, Radical Party had left the coalition.[8][9][10]
On 10 April 2016 Prime Minister Yatsenyuk announced he resigned.[11] On 14 April 2016 Yatsenyuk was replaced by new Prime MinisterVolodymyr Groysman and thus theGroysman Government became the next cabinet of Ukraine.[12]
The morning after the 26 October2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election thePetro Poroshenko Bloc and thePeople's Front started negotiations on forming a parliamentary coalition.[13] 226 votes are needed to form a simple majority in theVerkhovna Rada.[14]Late 27 October preliminary results indicated that both parties had won (together) 207 seats.[15] By 30 October 2014Self Reliance,Fatherland and theRadical Party were also involved in negotiations.[16][17] On 31 October 2014, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, the People's Front and Self Reliance formed "a joint trilateral group and that we will begin professional talks on our joint work, including on the drafting of a coalition agreement". According todeputy prime ministerVolodymyr Groysman of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc his party was open to the possibility of Fatherland and the Radical Party joining this coalition.[18] The same day the Petro Poroshenko Bloc stated it supported the candidacy of the People's Front'sArseniy Yatsenyuk (who was Prime Minister at the time) asPrime Minister of Ukraine.[19]
On 21 November 2014, Petro Poroshenko Bloc, People's Front, Self Reliance, Fatherland and the Radical Party signed a coalition agreement.[4]
On 27 November 2014, at the opening session of the new parliament, these 5 parliamentary factions formed a parliamentary coalition of 302 deputies.[20] Following thisArseniy Yatsenyuk was confirmed as prime minister by 341 votes.[21]
On 2 December 2014,Ukrainian presidentPetro Poroshenko grantedcitizenship toNatalie Jaresko,Alexander Kvitashvili andAivaras Abromavičius, who were all potential ministers in the government.[22] Later that day Jaresko, Kvitashvili and Abromavičius were confirmed as the Minister of Finance, Health and Economy.[2][23]
The approval of the composition of the government was marred by some last-minute delay and controversy when a group of deputies demanded that ministers be approved on an individual basis.[24] This caused hours of debate, however, the government was approved in the proposed form by 288deputies (of the 423[3]).[1][2][24]
For the candidacy of the prime minister of Ukraine, 341 members of parliament voted forArseniy Yatsenyuk.
| Faction | Number of members | Yes | No | Abstained | Did not vote | Absent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro Poroshenko Bloc | 143 | 139 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| People's Front | 83 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Opposition Bloc | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 11 |
| Non-affiliated | 38 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| Self Reliance | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Radical Party | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| People's Will | 20 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Fatherland | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Economic Development | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| All factions | 416 | 341 | 2 | 7 | 40 | 28 |
| Proposals | Yes | No | Abstained | Did not vote | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine[25] | 288 | 1 | 30 | 20 | 339 |
| Appointment of Poltorak as Defense Minister[26] | 347 | 0 | 33 | 82 | 308 |
| Appointment of Klimkin as Foreign Affairs Minister[27] | 351 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 383 |
Radical Party left the coalition on 1 September 2015 in protest over a vote in parliament involving a change to theUkrainian Constitution that would lead to decentralization and greater powers for areas held bypro-Russian separatists.[5] The same day Radical Party's Vice Prime MinisterValeriy Voshchevsky tendered in his resignation.[28] Parliament accepted the resignation on 17 September 2015; after failing to pass the motion four times on 15 September 2015.[28]
February 2016 saw the start of the fall of the cabinet after economy ministerAivaras Abromavičius announced his resignation claiming the government did not have a real commitment to fightcorruption.[12]
On 16 February 2016, presidentPetro Poroshenko asked Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to resign.[29] Also on 16 February 2016 the government managed to survive a vote of no confidence from theUkrainian parliament.[30]
The next day Fatherland left the coalition since it believed that the previous day had shown that the government had turned into a "shadow clan-political coalition" that "doesn't want to carry out reforms".[7] Fatherland would have liked the next government to be atechnocratic government.[31] Self Reliance then (also on 17 February 2016) issued an official statement on itsFacebook page in which it argued "A cynical coup has occurred in Ukraine, with the help of the president, the prime minister, the kleptocratic part of the coalition, and the oligarch bloc" that led to the second Yatsenyuk government being an "illegitimate government".[7] The next day Self Reliance left the coalition; meaning that the coalition became 5 deputies short of the 226 needed.[6][7] Under Ukrainian law parliament has 30 days to form a new coalition after a Government coalition collapses; if it can not produce a new coalitionnew elections are needed.[32] But on 19 February 2016 First Deputy Chairman of parliamentAndriy Parubiy stated that since theParliamentary Speaker had not officially announced in parliament that Radical Party had left the coalition this party was still a part of the parliamentary coalition.[9] Also on 19 February 2016 Radical Party leaderOleh Lyashko stated in parliament that the Parliamentary Chairman had received a letter that announced that the Radical Party had left the coalition.[10] It was officially announced in parliament that on 31 September 2015 Radical Party had left the coalition on 29 March 2016.[8]
| Faction | Number of members | Yes | No | Abstained | Did not vote | Absent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro Poroshenko Bloc | 136 | 97 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 19 |
| People's Front | 81 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 78 |
| Non-affiliated | 51 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 20 |
| Opposition Bloc | 43 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 |
| Self Reliance | 26 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Revival | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12 |
| Radical Party | 21 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| People's Will | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Fatherland | 19 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| All factions | 420 | 195 | 1 | 12 | 28 | 184 |
On 10 April 2016 Yatsenyuk announced that he would resign as Prime Minister and would ask parliament to fire him on 12 April 2016.[11] He added that his own party (People's Front) "remains in the coalition because today it is the only way to defend the state."[11] On 25 March 2016 Parliamentary SpeakerVolodymyr Groysman had been nominated by coalition partner Petro Poroshenko Bloc to replace Yatsenyuk.[11][33] On 12 April parliament did not held a vote on Yatsenyuk's resignation, because (Yatsenyuk's party)People's Front andPetro Poroshenko Bloc could not agree on the forming of a new government.[34] On 14 April 2016 parliament did hold a vote on his resignation resulting in Yatsenyuk being replaced by new Prime Minister Groysman and hisGroysman Government.[12]
Under theConstitution of Ukraine theUkrainian president submits nominations to parliament for the post ofMinister of Foreign Affairs andminister of defense. On 2 December 2014, PresidentPetro Poroshenko proposed that theVerkhovna Rada reappointPavlo Klimkin andStepan Poltorak for these posts.[35] The same day Poltorak was reappointed as Minister of Defense by 347People's Deputies of Ukraine and Klimkin as Minister of Foreign Affairs by 351 votes.[36] A few hours later 288 Deputies (of the 423[3]) approved the composition of other ministers in one vote.[1][2]
TheMinistry of Information is a newministry which oversees the information policy related to the2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine; according to its MinisterYuriy Stets one of its goals is "active counteraction to theRussian information aggression".[2][37]Reporters Without Borders firmly opposed the creation of such a ministry, stating "the media should not be regulated by the government".[38]
WhenRadical Party left the coalition on 1 September 2015 Radical Party's Vice Prime MinisterValeriy Voshchevsky tendered in his resignation.[28]
On 2 July 2015, theMinister of EcologyIhor Shevchenko was fired by parliament because "[the ministry] doesn't fulfill its basic functions and obligations".[39]
During the lifespan of the second Yatsenyuk Government the Cabinet Ministers of agriculture, health and informationOleksiy Pavlenko,Alexander Kvitashvili and Yuriy Stets all announced and later withdrew their resignations.[40]
On 11 December 2015 infrastructure ministerAndriy Pyvovarsky resigned.[41] Pyvovarsk was never formally dismissed by parliament.[42]
On 4 February 2016 leader of Self Reliance parliamentary factionOleh Berezyuk stated that Pavlenko no longer represented his party in the second Yatsenyuk Government.[43]
When Fatherlandleft the Yatsenyuk Government on 17 February 2016 its ministerIhor Zhdanov refused to resign and hence was expelled from Fatherland.[44]
Economy ministerAivaras Abromavičius announced his resignation on 3 February 2016 claiming the government did not have a real commitment to fightcorruption.[12][45] Just like Pyvovarsky, Abromavičius was never formally dismissed by parliament.[46]
| Nominating party key | Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" | |
|---|---|---|
| People's Front | ||
| Self Reliance | ||
| Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko | ||
| Fatherland | ||
| Presidential nominations | PresidentPetro Poroshenko |
.svg)
.svg)
