PM is ready to sign published coalition agreement

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has instructed to immediately present to the public the program of a new Government that meets the basic provisions of a draft coalition agreement, he stated at a Cabinet’s meeting on Wednesday, November 19.

The Prime Minister has underlined that the creation of a coalition and a new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is an urgent issue.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has stressed that he studied in detail a draft coalition agreement, which was posted on the website of the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko: "I openly declare that I’m ready to sign a final version of this coalition agreement. There are a range of things that need to be changed, added and completed. The country needs to know exactly what will make the new coalition and in what terms. "

The Prime Minister has reminded that under the Constitution of Ukraine, "a coalition agreement becomes the basis of the main binding constitutional document – a program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine": "In the framework of the work of a new Government such a program is approved for a year, and it should be a simple, strict and clear action plan similar to that which was adopted in the appointment of this Government on 27 February, and which was has been approved by the Government of Ukraine as the recovery plan. It includes a specific objective and the deadline."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has recalled that the Government is ready to report and has already repeatedly reported on the current program.

The Prime Minister has instructed to immediately present to the public the action program of a new Government, "which should include five key points that correspond to the basic provisions of a draft coalition agreement."

The first point concerns the sector of defense and security, "To stop the war, to equip the army with arms, to restore order in the country, to equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces with arms should be a guarantee for future reforms. Peace, security and the strong army are identical to the concept of strong and successful reforms."

The second set of issues, according to the PM, is reform of justice and the law enforcement system. Arseniy Yatsenyuk has reminded that the Ministry of Justice has prepared all bills on the new judicial system, which have been already discussed in the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Moreover, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has developed and submitted reforming of the law enforcement system for public discussion.

Another set of issues concerns state budget and tax reforms, "I congratulate political forces that they supported the tax reform, developed and elaborated by the Government of Ukraine - namely, a reduction of the number of taxes from 22 to 9," Arseniy Yatsenyuk underlined and recalled that the Government had also developed a new draft Budget Code providing fiscal decentralization.

"The key issue is directly a budget. Without a budget there will be no program with the International Monetary Fund and other institutions that are now supporting Ukraine. There are no private investors in a country at war. So a key requirement to a coalition and, as well as to a new Government is to immediately agree all budget parameters and be ready to vote for this budget," Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.

The third, according to him, applies to public administration reform: "The Government has launched reform through a two-fold reduction in the number of regulatory and supervisory functions. There are a number of laws that require immediate approval. Thus, it reduces the powers of Government, and not only the Government’s ones. We must fight for the country, not for power. Therefore, I hope that a coalition will also support the balance of power in the country rather than the concentration of power in the hands of one person, as well as deregulation and a reduction of the powers of all branches of the Ukrainian government."

An action program of the Government must also involve the implementation of laws aimed at tackling corruption: "The laws have been worked out, the basic law has been adopted. Now it is the matter of implementation of those bills that have been already passed by Parliament. "

"Fighting corruption means, of course, lustration and modernization of power. A number of public authorities, including law enforcement bodies, have not yet begun to implement the law. And persons, who are subject to dismissal from the law enforcement bodies with special status, still occupy these positions. I hope that law enforcement bodies will speed up the implementation of the law," Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed, noting that the Interior Minister Arsen Avakov "began to work actively in the implementation of the law on the purification of power."

"We have no time. I call on other political forces to complete talks on the text of an agreement and start working instead of talking and scribbling," Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.