ELECTION WATCH: Quotable notes (10/17/99)

ELECTION WATCH

Quotable notes

"I think that our joint appeal to the people is a striking example of how responsible politicians should behave in order to confront a common misfortune. When the state is on the verge of destruction, even activists with different views should unite. Despite holding different opinions, we are not irreconcilable opponents. Why should we be? For instance, Yevhen Marchuk is a skilled KGB officer who has received good schooling in state security bodies - he certainly possesses a great deal of information about what is happening in the country. On some problems he is better informed than all of us."

- Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko, commenting on his anti-Kuchma election coalition with Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksander Moroz and Volodymyr Oliinyk in the September 16 issue of Pravda (as reported by RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine report).

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"We have come to a firm conclusion: October 31,1999, will not be a day of regular elections, it will be a turning point in Ukraine's history. The citizens must elect not a president, but a savior of the state. Judging by all appearances, if the incumbent president stays in power, the state will be ruined completely: Ukraine will lose its sovereignty. We appeal to all people of good will: Let us unite. The fatherland is in danger. Your children and grandchildren face slavery in the future. We address Leonid Danylovych Kuchma with a categorical demand: Stop mocking the good, hard-working and patient people. Over the six years of your premiership and presidency, Ukraine has lost more than during the Nazi occupation. Report immediately to the people on your rule. Confess your guilt. Ask the people for pardon. Such a step is the only good deed that you still can do for Ukraine."

- From the August 24 appeal of four presidential hopefuls, Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksander Moroz, Volodymyr Oliinyk and Oleksander Tkachenko, who pledged to choose one joint candidate from among their ranks in order to beat Leonid Kuchma in the first round of the October 31 presidential elections (as reported in RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report).

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