People’s Self-Defense demands resignation of Victor Baloha from post of the President’s Chief of Staff.
People’s Self-Defense leader, Interior Minister of Ukraine, Yuri Lutsenko claimed this to a news conference in UNIAN.
According to him, the government and the democratic coalition have become hostages of the destructive policy, conducted by the Presidential Secretariat, headed by V.Baloha. “In my opinion, the head of the Presidential Secretariat must provide compromise, contacts, agreement, and coordinated work of the President, the Prime Minister, and the coalition in parliament. To the contrary, Victor Ivanovych [Baloha] has become a source and an initiator of all possible provocations and intestine strife”, Yuri Lutsenko said.
He recalled that at first there were attempts to frustrate the creation of the democratic coalition, after that, the Baloha’s team occupied an unclear and inadmissible position, aimed at disrupting the parliament’s voting for candidacy of Yulia Tymoshenko as Prime Minister. After that, the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense faction has been facing a real split, caused by “an artificial creation of an aggressive pocket group United Center, controlled by Baloha”.
Yuri Lutsenko also recalled that recently Oblast State Administrations heads were forbidden to arrive in Kyiv to take part in Cabinet of Ministers sessions.
“But all these are just flowers, the worst happened, in my opinion, before the Easter holidays. It was the last straw that broke the camel`s back”, he added. Yuri Lutsenko noted that the matter concerned the plan to disrupt the fulfillment of the state budget revenues plan by means of frustrating privatization. “Despite the evident mistakes of Yulia Tymoshenko in the financial and economical policy, which caused the skyrocketing prices and significant worsening of population’s incomes, I consider amoral the Baloha’s principle: the worse people live, the easier it is to criticize the government and to replace it later”, he said.
According to Yuri Lutsenko, they even wanted to involve him personally and the Interior Ministry in the developments connected with the State Property Fund. “I have enough control over my subordinates, and I have enough will to not allow the notorious march of internal troops, committed by [ex-Interior Minister] Mr.Tsushko and his deputies”, Yuri Lutsenko said.
At the same time, he emphasized that the People’s Self-Defense, as well as many Our Ukraine leaders, are convinced that Baloha must resign. “We do not see any other variant to provide a calm and effective work of the parliamentary coalition and the government of democratic forces”, he added. In his opinion, the war of ambitions has gone too far.
