Extraordinary congress of Rukh removes Chornovil as chairman (03/07/99)

Extraordinary congress of Rukh removes Chornovil as chairman

by Roman Woronowycz and Pavel Polityuk

KYIV - A quickly convened extraordinary congress of Rukh Party delegates on February 28 has removed Vyacheslav Chornovil as the long-time leader of the party and caused concern that another split, the most dramatic yet, could soon occur within the organization that spearheaded Ukraine's drive toward independence 10 years ago.

The vote by Rukh delegates to remove Mr. Chornovil as chairman came days after the 48-member Rukh faction in the Verkhovna Rada voted to replace Mr. Chornovil as faction head for ignoring faction procedures and directives.

At the extraordinary congress, delegates voted Yuri Kostenko, a member of Parliament and a former minister of the environment and Chornobyl matters, to succeed Mr. Chornovil as Rukh chairman.

In a speech to Rukh delegates before his formal election, Mr. Kostenko explained that the congress had to be called to pre-empt another special congress of Rukh that had been scheduled last fall for March 7. There were suspicions that at that congress Mr. Chornovil would prematurely change Rukh's central leadership, with which he was dissatisfied.

"The rapid course of events in the last two months, which has threatened the unity of Rukh and was leading to a schism, forced the leading body of the party between conventions, that is the central leadership of Rukh, to make the only right decision: to immediately call an extraordinary convention, which is the only way to guide the party out of its crisis," explained Mr. Kostenko.

The new Rukh chairman criticized oblast organization leaders, spoke of Mr. Chornovil's inability to accept directives voted upon by the faction members and described the ousted chairman's effort to liquidate the statutory bodies of the party.

"The situation within the party has taken on not merely a critical, but a catastrophic character. The effort to liquidate the statutory bodies of the party means not merely a split, but threatens the very existence of our party," said Mr. Kostenko.

At a press conference afterwards, Volodymyr Cherniak, a member of the central leadership and a Kostenko supporter, said a civil war was taking place in Rukh. "We need to break the tendency to develop the party through one person," said Mr. Cherniak. "We need to transform it from a party with a strong leader into a strong party."

Although Mr. Kostenko and other leading party members have downplayed the division of Rukh into two camps, and possibly two parties, whether Rukh will remain a single political force will ultimately be decided after the other Rukh congress convenes on March 7.

Mr. Chornovil, who did not attend the February 28 congress, stated in an open letter to the delegates that "a schism hangs over our party." He told the delegates that "the holding of the [extraordinary] 10th party congress has, in fact, become the creation of a new political party."

A day after he was ousted, Mr. Chornovil called the February 28 extraordinary congress illegitimate because it was attended by delegates that represent less than a majority of all Rukh members, and only 11 of the 26 Rukh oblast organizations, according to Interfax-Ukraine. He said 12 regional leaders, as well as many district leaders from throughout Ukraine, had been against convening the extraordinary congress, while regional meetings in three oblasts that were to pick delegates were faked. The former Rukh chairman also said he will file a complaint with Ukraine's Justice Ministry regarding the manner in which the congress was organized and held.

During a press conference on March 1, Mr. Chornovil's pronouncements were backed up by 15 oblast party leaders who did not participate in the work of the February 28 congress. The regional Rukh leaders called that congress a "violation of party rules."

Les Taniuk, who remains within the Chornovil camp, said the aim of the new leadership is to change Rukh's constituency. "Actually, a new party of rich people is being formed, while the socially unprotected people remain together with Chornovil," said Mr. Taniuk

Mr. Chornovil has also suggested that his removal occurred to further the personal interests of other party leaders. On February 22, while naming Rukh Party Vice-Chairman Bohdan Boyko as the initiator of the special session of the central leadership that called the extraordinary congress, Mr. Chornovil said, "The rebellion of the party leadership is continuing in an attempt to privatize the party and please certain political and financial clans."

The ouster of Mr. Chornovil was precipitated by a revolt within the ranks of the Rukh faction in the Verkhovna Rada, which had become impatient with what they described as Mr. Chornovil's authoritarian ways and his disregard for faction procedures. Much of the Ukrainian press has referred to the upheaval as a rebellion of "young Turks," chief among them Mr. Kostenko, who is 54, and Mr. Boyko, who is 44 years old.

On February 17 the parliamentary faction of Rukh had passed a vote of no-confidence in Mr. Chornovil as leader and replaced him with Mr. Kostenko.

"It was time to protect Rukh from its leader," said National Deputy Roman Zvarych, a leading member of the faction.

The decision, passed by a vote of 30-18, was taken after Mr. Chornovil refused to abide by decisions made by the faction with which he disagreed and his refusal to attend several faction meetings in early and mid-January, according to Mr. Zvarych.

Then on February 20, 29 members of the 50-member strong central leadership of the Rukh Party expressed no confidence in Mr. Chornovil's leadership of the party in a vote echoing the faction vote and called for an extraordinary congress of Rukh.

The new Rukh leadership has extended an olive branch to Mr. Chornovil in the hope that he will remain within the ranks of the party by suggesting that he be named honorary chairman of the Rukh Party.

So far, Mr. Chornovil has answered only with charges of an illegal congress and by formally declaring the formation of a new 16-member political faction in Ukraine's Parliament, consisting of those Rukh national deputies who have chosen to stick with the man generally considered the most dynamic opponent of the political left in Ukraine. The faction, which has been named Rukh-1, was recognized by the Verkhovna Rada on March 2.

The shake-up within Rukh comes just as political forces are gearing up for presidential elections and has left some of the party's political partners unsure of where they stand.

The Reform and Order Party and the Republican Christian Party in December had agreed to join with Rukh in supporting the candidacy of Hennadii Udovenko for president.

Reform and Order Party leader Viktor Pynzenyk told The Weekly on March 3 that, after the latest events within Rukh, he still believes the coalition remains intact but that he could not say who was the leader of the Rukh Party.

"We are still in a political union with Rukh, we just don't know right now with whom we should talk," he noted.

Mr. Pynzenyk said he believes it was too soon to state that two Rukh parties now exist. "In my opinion, there is still one Rukh. We are waiting to see what happens."

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