Candidate Yuschenko promises economic reforms and ethical politics

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Ukraine's popular ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko promised on January 16 to improve the people's standard of living via economic reforms and to uphold ethics in politics upon winning a seat in the parliamentary elections in March.

"Our highest value is the individual," Mr. Yuschenko said as he opened a meeting of his Our Ukraine bloc. The Interfax news agency quoted him as saying: "Our main goal is to secure conditions for a person's self-realization as an individual, as a citizen and as an owner."

At the meeting, which attracted about 2,000 delegates, Mr. Yuschenko announced the list of candidates fielded by his bloc.

The top five posts are held by Mr. Yuschenko; the head of Ukraine's trade union federation, Oleksander Stoyan; the chairmen of two Rukh parties, Hennadii Udovenko and Yurii Kostenko; and the leader of the Reforms and Order Party Viktor Pynzenyk.

Other well-known candidates on the Our Ukraine list are the president of the Obolon beer company, Oleksander Slobodian; Rukh leader Ivan Zayats; former Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk; and former Vice Prime Minister in charge of Cultural Affairs Mykola Zhulynskyi.

Mr. Yuschenko said his bloc of reformist and nationalist pro-government parties will become a joint faction or even a joint party in the new Parliament.

He also revealed plans to cooperate with the Yednist (Unity) political bloc led by Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko, and the pro-presidential bloc For United Ukraine headed by Volodymyr Lytvyn, the presidential chief of staff.

"We are sure that important partners of our bloc will demonstrate a pragmatic policy, especially in economics," Mr. Yuschenko said.

The ex-prime minister also urged honest politics in the Verkhovna Rada, promising to adhere to the principles of morality, transparency and humanity.

"Ukrainian politics lack honesty," Mr. Yuschenko said, drawing attention to a problem that had affected him personally in the form of a tape scandal that roiled the country last week.

The scandal was launched January 9, when a nationalist politician, Dmytro Ponomarchuk, publicized a telephone conversation between Mr. Yuschenko and Mr. Omelchenko. Mr. Ponomarchuk accused both leaders of organizing a plot in the Parliament against former Rada Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk.

In the taped conversation, Mr. Omelchenko angrily urged Mr. Yuschenko to organize the collection of deputies' signatures for an upcoming vote in the Verkhovna Rada. However, it was not immediately clear from the conversation what the vote was about.

Mr. Medvedchuk was dismissed the same day as the conversation took place, and the Ukrainian media burst forth with speculations that Mr. Yuschenko was being ordered to organize enough lawmakers to vote in support of the Rada vice-chairman's dismissal.

Some reports have expressed surprise that Mr. Omelchenko spoke in a commanding tone to one of the country's most significant and popular politicians.

Other reports commented with irony that the tape scandal has become a "national peculiarity" of Ukrainian politics. They recalled the high-profile case involving President Leonid Kuchma, when his bodyguard released audiotapes allegedly documenting the president's orders to silence an opposition journalist.

Mr. Kuchma had denied those charges, and the tapes' authenticity have never been proven, but Ukraine's international image was badly tarnished.

Meanwhile, the release of Mr. Yuschenko's taped backfired on Mr. Ponomarchuk. His allies criticized the release and, according to the Korrespondent.net Internet newsletter, said they would exclude Mr. Ponomarchuk from their party list in the elections.

Mr. Yuschenko called the scandal a "weak morality" act by his opponents, and assured the public he has nothing to hide.

"I am not afraid of any information aimed at damaging my image," Mr. Yuschenko said at a news conference on January 14. "I conduct myself legally and transparently."

He also harshly criticized another political move by a lawmaker, Oleksander Rzhavskyi, who surprisingly declared a new bloc called For Yuschenko and included the ex-prime minister on the bloc's top candidates list.

Mr. Yuschenko repeatedly dismissed any chance of his participation in other political groupings. "I don't need somebody to defend the Our Ukraine bloc, my family and me, or to wave Yuschenko flags behind my back," Mr. Yuschenko said on January 16.

Mr. Yuschenko is a reformer known for effective governance that produced Ukraine's first industrial and economic growth over the past 10 years. He served as prime minister beginning in late 1999 and was ousted by centrist and Communist foes in Parliament in April 2001.

His government policy was marked by pragmatism and his public remarks at the time demonstrated a strong pro-presidential position.

In the parliamentary elections race his bloc is one of the few groups named by various polls as potential winners. Others include the Communist and Socialist parties, the Social Democratic Party (United) led by Mr. Medvedchuk, and For United Ukraine. The elections are scheduled for March 31.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 20, 2002, No. 3, Vol. LXX

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