Ukraine Without Kuchma movement announces plans for mass protests (08/25/02)

Ukraine Without Kuchma movement announces plans for mass protests

by Ivan Poltavets
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Leaders of the Ukraine Without Kuchma movement, which organized mass protests throughout 2000-2001, announced plans for a mass demonstration to be held on the Kyiv's Independence Square on September 16 to commemorate the death of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze to and demand the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma.

A statement of the movement's leaders also called on four opposition factions - Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialists and the Communists - to join in the protests.

"It's not just about changing one person for another. We want the situation in Ukraine and the destiny of the people not to depend on the character of the man who is president," said one of the leaders of the Ukraine Without Kuchma movement, Volodymyr Chemerys, during a press conference on August 20.

The Ukraine Without Kuchma activists' statement calls for the dismissal of Mr. Kuchma and senior officials in Ukraine, for transformation of Ukraine's presidential republic into a parliamentary one, and for full investigations into the deaths of Ukrainian journalists and politicians such as Mr. Gongadze, Ihor Aleksandrov, Vyacheslav Chornovil and Vadym Hetman.

The Ukraine Without Kuchma movement calls for a roundtable between the opposition and the government prior to the planned September demonstration to discuss, among other things, unconditional freedom for all political prisoners, pre-term presidential elections, and a coalition government composed of representatives of Our Ukraine, the Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Communist and Socialist parties.

Activists of the movement say they realize, however, that the people currently in power in Ukraine use all the means possible to avoid dialogue with the opposition.

Ukraine Without Kuchma leaders also stressed the necessity to avoid violence during the forthcoming mass protests in order not to repeat the scenario of March 9, 2001, when demonstrations resulted in a violent clash between protesters and police. They noted that political activists, who purportedly took part in attacking police near the presidential administration building, were arrested and still are imprisoned while court hearings proceed slowly.

"Only Kuchma, [Rada Chairman Volodymyr] Lytvyn, [Head of the Presidential Administration Viktor] Medvedchuk, and other leaders of the bankrupt power today need blood on Kyiv's streets," the statement of the Ukraine Without Kuchma activists said.

Those in power also are preparing for the forthcoming opposition protests. News coverage of the opposition's plans was nothing but bleak. Only a few media outlets reported on the unification processes among the four factions.

Now that the protests seem imminent, however, it is much harder to ignore the opposition plans. Oleksander Hapon, state secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said the militia is ready to protect public safety during the planned opposition demonstrations, adding that he hopes citizens of Ukraine will not allow for a repetition of the March 2001 clashes, when 36 militiamen were hospitalized.

Earlier in July, leaders and representatives of four parliamentary factions - Our Ukraine, the Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialists and the Communists - announced advance plans for the mass protests scheduled for September 16. One of the leaders of the Socialist Party, Yosyp Vinskyi, speaking on public radio on July 25, broke the news on the signing of a protocol of intent among the four factions concerning cooperation in the mass protests and demonstrations throughout Ukraine.

The Socialist Party has already adopted a decision to take part in the demonstrations on September 16. "We have the decision of the political council on that matter. We are going to take part in the activities within the framework of the four [factions]," said Mr. Vinskyi. However, the Socialist Party will make its final and official decision about participation in the protests after a meeting of leaders of the four opposition factions, which is to take place in the next few days, according to the press service of the Socialist Party.

The Communist Party of Ukraine also has confirmed its participation in the mass protests. "Civil protests all over Ukraine should put an end to the corrupted Kuchma monarchy and lead the Ukrainian people to the solution of the main question, the question of power [in the country]," said the official statement of the Communist Party disseminated on August 20. The press service of the Communist Party confirmed the official decision of the party to conduct rallies all over Ukraine and said that the final approval of the plan of protests will be adopted on August 31 by the plenum of its Central Committee.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, too, has confirmed its participation in the September rallies. The confirmation came just prior to the Procurator General's request that the Verkhovna strip Ms. Tymoshenko of her deputy's immunity so that she could be arrested and brought to trial.

The Our Ukraine faction has decided to consider its participation in the mass protests in late August. "Our Ukraine will take part in the protests in some form for sure," said Mykola Tomenko, director of the Institute of Politics and a member of the Our Ukraine faction, according to the UNIAN news agency. The only issue, in Mr. Tomenko's opinion, is the form of the protests and the slogans under which the demonstrations are to take place.

The September 16 protests will mark two years since the disappearance of Mr. Gongadze. A headless corpse claimed to be that of Mr. Gongadze was found in the forest a month later. Later Oleksander Moroz, leader of the Socialist Party, publicized the recordings made by a presidential security service officer, Oleksander Melnychenko, which became the main basis for opposition claims concerning the president's key role in the disappearance and alleged murder of the journalist.

President Kuchma denied the opposition's allegations. An investigation of the journalist's death has stalled without reaching any conclusions. Lately the new procurator general, Sviatoslav Piskun, has appointed a new team of detectives to continue the Gongadze investigation, promising progress. So far there have been no new developments in the investigation.

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