Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk To Resign; Parliamentary Speaker Hroysman Proposed

April 10, 2016
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who announced on April 10, 2016 he would submit his resignation to parliament on April 12.

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk To Resign; Speaker of Parliament Hroysman Proposed

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation today, Ukrainian and Russian media reported.

Yatsenyuk said he was submitting his resignation to the parliament April 12 and that the Popular Front would remain in the ruling coalition.

“I have a design to resign from the office of Prime Minister of Ukraine. On April 12, the submission will be made to the Verkhovna Rada.” 

The Verkhovna Rada or parliament will likely accept the resignation, after nearly two months of debate and negotiations.

The beleaguered leader, who has been a magnet for Ukrainians’ frustrations with the uneven pace of reform, notably against corruption, made his announcement on the TV show “10 Minutes with the Prime Minister” and posted the video to his Facebook page.

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2016-04-10 15:13:01

The same video has been uploaded to YouTube.

But he added: 

“The desire to change one person has blinded politicians and paralyzed their will for real changes. The process of changing the government has turned into an insane running in place. We cannot allow the destabilization of the executive authority during war. Such a prospect is inevitable if after a resignation a new government is not chosen immediately.” 

We will recall that nearly two months ago, the Verkhovna Rada or parliament of Ukraine made a no-confidence vote in the government, but stopped shy of dismissing Yatsenyuk, who survived with a handful of votes.

This stalemate unleashed turmoil that has destabilized the government even as Russia has stepped up the war on Ukraine through its ongoing support to militants in the Donbass.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick