President Lukyanov has proposed a set of talks between the two major parties in an attempt to resolve the ongoing government crisis.
In a crunch meeting with the leader of the Federal Council, Ivan Tattar, the President urged the Union Party to support the formation of a Polasciana Centrist government led by interim leader Ludvig Fedorov.
Mr Fedorov, who assumed the Centrist leadership following the resignation of Prime Minister Koruin Gruaman, has offered to lead a temporary administration until his party holds an official ballot for the role of leader. Urging a resolution to the crisis President Lukyanov is thought to have appealed directly to Mr Tattar in today’s meeting to end internal disputes within the Union Party and accept Mr Fedorov’s offer of forming an administration.
Mr Tattar, who remains one of the nations most popular politicians, criticised his own party leader in an interview at the weekend, suggesting his party’s leadership was ‘spineless’ and ‘could not recognise what was in the national interest’. Lazar Ulanov, the leader of the Union Party is reportedly ‘furious’ with Mr Tattar’s statement and according to a source close to his leadership, Ulanov is considering attempting to replace Mr Tattar as Federal Council leader.
With no end in sight to the crisis engulfing the political landscape in Karasicena, the President is being pressured by an influential group of governor’s to call emergency elections for the lower house, and install a government with a credible mandate.
Centrist governor’s Lars Arevin and Katrina Fischer have tabled a proposal that would see Legislative Elections held in early December, to change the composition of the lower-house. Ms Fischer said in a statement that her party ‘owed it to the country to get on with the work of government’ and that it should ‘seek a new mandate’. But President Lukyanov has ruled out elections before the current term of the Federal Executive expires in 2013, five years after the last elections in 2008. Mr Lukyanov’s position is made harder by the strong party affiliation of his successor, President-elect Gennadiy Artamova. Known as a strong ally of Mr Ulanov, Artamova has been silent on the issue since being elected as the country’s next President.
In a poll released by the regional ‘Khreschatyk’ newspaper, there remains little public support for a Fedorov led administration – despite remaining a widely ‘trusted’ and popular figure compared to his Centrist colleagues. Former cabinet member Krill Serbin, once an ally of former Prime Minister Koruin Gruaman, is thought to be considering a run for the Centrist leadership following any temporary arrangement of power-sharing. Mr Serbin, highly respected amongst the right-wing in his party, is widely believed to be ‘biding time’ until the country heads to an election – where his chances of success seem relatively more favourable. Nearly 42% of those polled suggested they would vote Centrist if Mr Serbin was the party’s leader, that figure stands at just 22% under Mr Fedorov. While political speculation continues to swirl about Mr Serbin’s aspirations within the party, many commentators however have suggested the crisis could produce an opening for former Presidential candidate Lena Zilberman to return to front-line politics. Coy about a potential return at the beginning of the year, those close to Ms Zilberman suggest she has been ‘waiting’ for an ‘ideal time to step back in’.
With a deal unlikely for a number of days at least, Mr Lukyanov is balancing his negotiations carefully between both parties – a strategy proving difficult due to the discord and dis-functionality being witnessed in the leadership at the top of Polascianan politics.
Without a solution ‘soon’, the President has suggested he will ‘impose’ a deal on the leadership of both the Polasciana Centrists and the Union Party – potentially forcing the lower-house to conform to Mr Fedorov’s temporary leadership.
Tonight, while the future looks uncertain, the country’s political leadership continues to look towards Council-leader Mr Tattar, who follows in the footsteps of his predecessor President-elect Artamova, in becoming one of the most powerful deal-brokers in the country.
