KIEV, June 1 – Opposition groups vowed on Tuesday to boycott President Viktor Yanukovych’s address to the nation on Thursday, at which he plans to unveil his proposed economic reform package.

The boycott is a setback for Yanukovych, signaling that political tensions in Ukraine remain high, weakening the government’s ability to implement unpopular reforms and austerity measures.

The president’s annual address to the nation usually takes place in Parliament, but the Yanukovych administration has switched the venue to Ukrayina Palace, the biggest concert hall in downtown Kiev.

“We won’t be present at the Ukrayina Palace,” Ksenia Liapina, a lawmaker from the opposition For Ukraine group, said. “Yanukovych learned to read texts written by good experts, while at the same time the reality is absolutely opposite.”

The group led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the largest opposition group in Parliament, will also skip the address, Serhiy Sobolev, a group lawmaker, said.

“The president must be delivering the address to the people from within Parliament,” Taras Stetskiv, a lawmaker from People’s Self-defense group, said.

“Scheduling the meeting at the Ukrayina Palace, which is designed for entertainment shows, and forcing a pro-government crowd there, is a slightly different story,” Stetskiv said.

The refusal of the opposition groups to attend the meeting is a setback for Yanukovych, who has specifically said that his economic reform package is aimed at uniting
the people of Ukraine.

Speaking several days ago in Lviv, Yanukovych gave little detail of what will be in the package, but said the reforms will deal with the economy, which he compared to a “sensitive woman.”

The Yanukovych administration on Tuesday reacted angrily to the plans by the opposition groups to boycott the address.

“Their problem is that they never listened to anybody except for themselves,” Hanna Herman, the first deputy chief of staff at the administration, said. “Because they never listened to us, never listened to the people, they had lost the election.”

The People’s Committee for Defense of Ukraine, the country’s opposition body, recently called on the International Monetary Fund to postpone resumption of lending until the government starts economic reforms.

The government asked the IMF to approve a $19 billion 2.5-year lending package, in hopes of getting $4.5 billion in June to bridge budget deficit. (tl/ez)