Second Yanukovych government

History

Initially the Our Ukraine Bloc intended to join the coalition and five of its ministers were initially appointed into Cabinet of Ministers of the coalition; Justice Minister Roman Zvarych, Family and Sports Minister Yuriy Pavlenko, Emergency Situations Minister Viktor Baloha, Culture Minister Ihor Likhovyy, and Health Minister Yuriy Polyachenko. By November 2006 these five ministers were dismissed by parliament or withdrawn by Our Ukraine Bloc.

Before the crisis which sparked the 2007 parliamentary election, the coalition consisted of the following 249 members of parliamentary parties:

• Party of Regions (186)
• Socialist Party of Ukraine (31)
• Communist Party of Ukraine (21)
• Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc (6)
• Our Ukraine Bloc (5)

At its highest point the Alliance consisted of 260 members, and the trend was that opposition members were willing to join the Alliance, and thereby undermine the authority of the President and move towards the 300-member constitutional majority.

On 6 April 2007 the coalition's members count was reduced to 238 members:

• Party of Regions (186)
• Socialist Party of Ukraine (31)
• Communist Party of Ukraine (21)

Fall of cabinet

President of Ukraine Yushchenko dissolved parliament on 2 April 2007 because he believed the government was acting illegally during the 2007 Ukrainian political crisis. Yushchenko argued that the constitution only allows whole parliamentary blocs to change sides, not individuals deputies. Yushchenko, Yanukovych and parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz agreed in late May 2007 that the election would be held on 30 September, provided that at least 150 opposition and pro-president MPs formally gave up their seats, thereby creating the legal grounds for dissolving parliament. This happened.

Creation

Composition

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of the Alliance of National Unity was appointed on August 4, 2006; it served until the twelfth Cabinet and Second Tymoshenko Government was chosen on December 18, 2007. Its composition was:

• Prime Minister — Viktor Yanukovych (Party of Regions)
• First Vice Prime Minister, Finance Minister — Mykola Azarov (Party of Regions)
• Vice Prime Minister in affairs of Building, Architecture and Housing and Communal Services — Volodymyr Rybak
• Vice Prime Minister — Andriy Klyuyev (Party of Regions)
• Vice Prime Minister — Dmytro Tabachnyk (Party of Regions)
• Vice Prime Minister — Viktor Slauta
• Vice Prime Minister — Volodymyr Radchenko (January 12 — May 25, 2007) replaced with Oleksandr Kuzmuk
• Minister of Internal Affairs — Vasyl Tsushko (Socialist Party of Ukraine)
• Minister for Foreign Affairs — Borys Tarasyuk (dismissed on December 1, 2006) replaced with Arseniy Yatsenyuk
• Minister of Coal Mining Industry — Serhiy Tulub (Party of Regions)
• Minister of Culture — Yuriy Bohutsky
• Minister of Defense — Anatoliy Hrytsenko
• Minister of Economy — Volodymyr Makukha replaced with Anatoliy Kinakh (Industrials and Entrepreneurs)
• Minister of Education and Science — Stanislav Nikolaenko
• Fuel and Energy Minister — Yuriy Boyko
• Minister of Labor and Social Policy — Mykhailo Papiev
• Health Minister — Yuriy Polyachenko
• Minister of Agro-Industrial Complex — Yuriy Melnyk (Ukrainian People's Party)
• Minister of Industrial Policy — Anatoliy Holovko
• Minister of Environmental Protection — Vasyl Dzharty
• Minister of Transport and Communications — Mykola Rudkovsky
• Minister of Emergencies — Nestor Shufrych
• Minister for Family, Youth and Sport — Viktor Korzh
• Minister of Justice — Oleksandr Lavrynovych
• Minister in connections with Verkhovna Rada and other state authorities — Ivan Tkalenko
• Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers — Anatoliy Tolstoukhov

References

References

1. (2006-07-07). "Agreement on creation of Anti-Crisis Coalition beetwean parties".
2. (2007-04-27). "Ukrainian ruling parliamentary coalition renamed as Alliance of National Unity". People's Daily Online.
3. [http://qa.rferl.org/content/article/1070421.html Analysis: The Faces Of Ukraine's New Cabinet], [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (8 August 2006)
4. [http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-171585.html Verkhovna Rada approves new Cabinet members], [[UNIAN]] (11 November 2006)
5. Peter Lang]], 2009, {{ISBN. 3-03911-607-X (page 38)
6. "Ukraine: Two Viktors, But No Clear Winner". [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]].
7. (2007-04-06). "Transcript of Verkhovna Rada meeting". Official parliament website.
8. (2007-04-06). "Coalition officially reduced to 238 deputies". [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency.
9. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7015947.stm Q&A: Ukrainian parliamentary poll ], [[BBC News]] (1 October 2007)
10. "Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України".
11. [http://portal.rada.gov.ua/control/uk/publish/printable_article?art_id=73478 announcement on the Ukrainian parliamentary official website]
12. {{Cite Ukrainian law. (2007-12-18)
13. (Yushchenko issued a decree that Tarasyuk must keep his job. Despite a court order and a presidential decree, he was not allowed to enter cabinet meetings. Tarasyuk resigned at the end of January 2007)