KIEV, Ukraine - A day after President Viktor Yanukovych fled the Ukrainian capital and was removed from power by a unanimous vote in the nation’s parliament, lawmakers moved swiftly Sunday to dismantle the remaining vestiges of his government by firing top Cabinet members, including the foreign minister.
With the parliament, led by Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov, firmly in control of the federal government - if not yet the country as a whole - lawmakers began an emergency session Sunday by adopting a law restoring state ownership of Yanukovych’s opulent presidential palace, which he had privatized.
During his first formal address to the nation, in a recorded video that was broadcast Sunday evening, Turchynov sought to soothe any remaining fear of the police and security services after clashes in Kiev last week left 82 people dead - the worst violence in Ukraine since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
“The law enforcement structures are no longer threatening the life, health and security of the citizens of Ukraine,” he said.
Turchynov said top priorities include saving the economy and “returning to the path of European integration,” news agencies reported.
The parliament voted to grant Turchynov authority to carry out the duties of the Ukrainian president, adding to his authority to lead the government that lawmakers had approved Saturday.
Turchynov said in his address to the nation that he expected the parliament to name an acting prime minister and fill out the remainder of a unity government by Tuesday.
Speculation about an immediate major role for the freed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was squashed Saturday afternoon when she issued a statement asking not to be considered for the post again.
Depending on her health, Tymoshenko, who has complained of chronic back problems since she was jailed in 2011, might run for president in elections now scheduled for May 25, and many of her supporters are eager to build a campaign.
In a sign of her still-formidable political influence, Tymoshenko spoke by telephone Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as with Stefan Fule, a top European Union official, and U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Christopher Murphy, D-Conn; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Tymoshenko also met with ambassadors from EU countries and the U.S.
Tymoshenko, long Yanukovych’s political rival, was released Saturday from a prison hospital in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and quickly made her way to Kiev, the capital, where she appeared briefly in a wheelchair in Independence Square. Tymoshenko was jailed by Yanukovych after losing the presidential election in 2010. Many in Ukraine and the West think her conviction was politically motivated.
Just a day after she left the hospital where she was imprisoned, demonstrators outside the Cabinet of Ministers expressed dismay that she could be Ukraine’s next president. One of them held a placard that depicted Tymoshenko taking power from Yanukovych and said, “People didn’t die for this.”
In Kiev, Tymoshenko received an enthusiastic but not overly exuberant reception from the crowd in Independence Square. The response demonstrated her continued popularity and status as a symbol of opposition to Yanukovych but also underscored the apprehension many Ukrainians feel toward politicians deeply connected to a government with a long history of corruption and mismanagement.
Meanwhile, Yanukovych, whose whereabouts remained unknown, appeared to be losing the support of even his former allies. On Sunday, Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, which days ago enjoyed a majority in the parliament, released a statement blaming him for the recent violence.
In the statement, the party said it strongly condemned what it called “criminal decrees” that resulted in “human casualties, an empty treasury, huge debts and shame in the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the whole world.”
“All attempts to convince the president to act differently were ignored,” the statement said. “The party was virtually the hostage of one corrupt family.”
Although the parliament has dismissed a number of senior officials, Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev told Ukraine’s Channel 24 that he intended to remain in his post, and the military issued statements that seemed to offer assurance that no steps would be taken to interfere with the provisional government.
Yanukovych has not signed the decision into law, and he said Saturday that the parliament is now acting illegally.
Presidential aide Hanna Herman said Sunday that Yanukovych was in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv as of Saturday night and that he plans to stay in power.
It is not yet clear whether Ukrainians in the southern and eastern regions of the country, which host the bulk of the country’s industrial infrastructure as well as the heaviest concentration of pro-Russian sentiment, would resist the change of government in Kiev.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, continued to insist that Ukrainian opposition leaders had “seized power” illegally, and the Kremlin recalled its ambassador to Kiev, citing chaos. Lavrov spoke by telephone with Secretary of State John Kerry, continuing a high-level dialogue on Ukraine, though Kerry voiced support for the parliament’s actions.
Several lawmakers expressed alarm over Ukraine’s perilous economic situation. The Russian government in December went to Yanukovych’s rescue with a $15 billion bailout and an offer of cheaper prices on natural gas.
A $2 billion installment of that aid was canceled as part of a deal reached Friday between Yanukovych and opposition leaders. Western officials have said they hope to offer assistance, but it is unclear how quickly that help might arrive.
Among the reasons Yanukovych turned away from signing political and trade accords with Europe in November was his unwillingness tocarry out painful austerity measures and other changes that had been demanded by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for a large assistance package.
Russia will hold back further loans and aid to Ukraine until it becomes clear “with what government we will cooperate,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Sunday.
Siluanov also said Moscow thinks Ukraine should turn to the IMF for help in averting bankruptcy and overhauling its corrupt and indebted budget, a signal that the Kremlin might be unwilling to further extend loans and subsidies to a Ukraine under the sway of pro-Western opposition figures.
On Sunday, the IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, said there was concern about the political instability in Ukraine and that the fund could only provide assistance in response to a formal request.
Moscow announced last week that it would release an additional $2 billion in loans to its ally. But as the opposition gained force and international support after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators, the Kremlin froze further bond-buying until the unrest subsided.
Russia supports the conditions laid out by the IMF for assistance with Ukraine’s financial problems, Siluanov said, indicating that the Kremlin might abandon the task of bailing out Ukraine to a broader international effort.
Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, said Sunday that the United States was prepared to work with the EU and the IMF, as well as Russia, to shore up Ukraine’s nascent government.
Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a telephone conversation Friday that a political settlement in Kiev should ensure the country’s unity and personal freedoms, Rice said.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rice said the United States hoped to see constitutional change and democratic elections in Ukraine “in very short order,” and she added that it “would be a grave mistake” for Russia to interfere militarily.
“It’s not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or of the United States to see the country split,” she said. “It’s in nobody’s interest to see violence return.”
Russia’s next moves in the crisis were not immediately clear.
Russian legislator Leonid Slutsky said Sunday that naming Tymoshenko prime minister “would be useful for stabilizing” tensions in Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies.
The parliament, led by Turchynov, has been moving swiftly to rebuild the government.
In a series of votes Sunday, the Ukrainian parliament dismissed Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk and Health Minister Raisa Bogatyrova.
Arsen Avakov, who was installed by the parliament Saturday as interior minister, said Sunday that an investigation had been opened into 30 or more officials who might have been responsible for the violence last week.
Information for this article was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn, Oksana Lyachynska and Michelle Innis of The New York Times; by Angela Charlton, Jim Heintz, Maria Danilova,Yuras Karmanau, Dusan Stojanovic and Geir Moulson of The Associated Press; and by Carol J. Williams of the Los Angeles Times.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/24/2014