Ukrainian Cabinet to keep working, fuss surrounding its work aimed at redistributing financial flows, seizing power – Yatsenyuk

Arseniy Yatsenyuk file photo

KYIV. Feb 3 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers will continue working, and if some parliamentarians disagree with this, they are free to initiate a vote of no confidence in the government, says Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

“We, as a government, will keep doing our job, we will be fulfilling the government action program, we will pursue reform, and we will be defending the members of our team,” Yatsenyuk said in opening a government meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“Here is my position: we will keep fighting and working. If someone is unhappy about this, I mean parliamentarians or parliamentary factions, they have a constitutional right to consolidate 150 votes and pass a parliamentary resolution on a vote of no confidence in the government, gather a majority and assume all responsibility,” he added.

The Cabinet would treat such a decision with respect, Yatsenyuk said. “Perhaps they have better programs and better people. I haven’t seen any. And perhaps this is an elementary struggle for power, and I even claim this now,” he said.

“All this fuss aimed at discrediting ministers over the past year is aimed at one thing, namely the redistribution of [financial] flows and the seizure of power,” he said.

“Certain ministers and the government as a whole have been subject to permanent pressure. This is a dirty political reality, which I oppose,” he said. Yatsenyuk said he would defend each of the ministers, “who are having hard times now.”

He said he values the position of ministers who had to tender their resignation. At the same time, quite a lot of work has already been done, he said.

“In this situation, resigning is like fleeing a battlefield. We have to keep fighting. Resignation can be accepted only by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada. And our faction, the Popular Front faction, will make decisions individually on each minister, taking into consideration how everyone has worked,” he said.

Facts of corruption and political pressure will be investigated, Yatsenyuk said. “The Cabinet of ministers will address the Anti-Corruption Bureau and other law enforcement agencies,” he said.

“The government is working, and it is looking forward to the government’s report at the parliament. Distinguished deputies, the government is ready,” Yatsenyuk said.

It was reported earlier that Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius had announced earlier on Wednesday that he had decided to resign because of a lack of support and active opposition to reforms pursued by his team.

 

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