FOR THE RECORD: President Leonid Kuchma's address to the people of Ukraine (09/01/02)

FOR THE RECORD

President Leonid Kuchma's address to the people of Ukraine

Following is the text of the televised address of President Leonid Kuchma to the people of Ukraine on August 24, on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. The English-language translation was provided on August 26 by the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington.

Fellow countrymen!

Today, which is the 11th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, I would like not only to greet you on the occasion of the holiday and assess the path we have come through, but also express my view on the need to embrace a new phase in the development of our statehood.

We are now into the second decade of Ukraine's independence. We face new tasks that require new solutions. In a few minutes I will dwell extensively on these tasks.

Today's holiday has been overshadowed by the tragic events of the last few months, namely the coal mining accidents and the air show tragedy in Lviv that took lives of many of our compatriots. We bow our heads in their memory and share the grief with their families and loved ones. We should do everything to avoid such tragedies from happening ever again in Ukraine.

Today I laid flowers at the monuments to St. Volodymyr the Great, Taras Shevchenko and Mykhailo Hrushevskyi. These are the people who personify the Ukrainian people's aspiration to statehood. Today we should also remember the personality who first announced and laid down the foundations for the slogan of state independence of our country, the important western Ukrainian humanist, Yulian Bachynskyi.

We also remember the painful lessons of Ukraine's history - the destructive impacts of the Ottoman period, the wave of revolution, and senseless uprisings and violence. There were three times when Ukraine fought for its independence. But the disagreements of politicians and their inability to work constructively twice cost us the loss of Ukraine's statehood. For the third time, at the end of the 20th century, Ukrainian politicians had enough wisdom not to repeat these mistakes.

For the last 11 years we have come through a long and difficult path. We survived a terrible economic crisis, destruction of the social infrastructure and the loss of our valuable guideposts.

At the same time, over this period we formed our statehood and institutions of power, and managed to restructure the economy. We also created our own monetary unit, our own army, as well as our law and order structures.

Today Ukraine's independence is not a subject for discussion. Our state has gained international authority and is actively integrating into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, while at the same time developing good relations with our neighbors, primarily Russia.

We can be proud of the fact that throughout these years Ukraine has remained a center of civil peace; it has avoided acute civil conflicts, tanks and barricades in the streets of the capital. Ukraine has already carried out a peaceful transition of power from one president to another; and I have no doubt that it will do so again at a time specified by the Constitution.

Today we can say with certainty that the years of economic recession are behind us. For the third year running, Ukraine has been demonstrating a high economic growth rate, which is one of the highest among CIS countries.

But the pace of resolving social problems that have a direct bearing on every citizen, unfortunately, is far too sluggish and far from satisfactory. Although we have recently managed to take certain steps in this area, we are still in great debt to our fellow countrymen. As the president, I personally do not decline all responsibility for this.

I am personally concerned with the following problems; first, eradication of poverty; second, affordable healthcare for everyone; third, pension reform; and fourth, quality education, irrespective of incomes. I will assume personal responsibility for all these areas, as a politician and a person.

Yes, we need pension reform, but this is a question that will be solved in at least five to seven years. Besides, it affects those who are still working, while the majority of today's retires receive pensions that are lower than the living wage. This is completely unacceptable. In the nearest two years it is necessary to do everything possible to at least double the amount of the minimum pension level, which should depend on a person's length of service.

One of the most important concerns of our people, especially the elderly, is access to medicines, which the majority of people cannot afford due to high prices. But here in Ukraine we have real possibilities to start producing analogues of the most imported medicines. And in this way they will become affordable for our people. The fact that this was not done earlier can be explained merely by the inactivity of our officials. I will take this problem under my control.

The main resource for the development of the country is its citizens. This is why education is a strategic task for us. Can we say that it has been tackled in the right manner?

No. The financial situation of teachers and lecturers at higher education institutes not only undermines the prestige of the profession, but also creates conditions for corruption, both in terms of admission to such institutes and passing the examinations.

Today a teacher's salary is one of the lowest in Ukraine. Certain steps to improve the situation have been taken - over the last two years teachers' wages have increased by more than 1.5 times. But that is not enough, and I consider it my personal duty to do all the best in order to at least double it.

The problems of small business need to be resolved as soon as possible. Appropriate conditions for its development still have not been created. To a considerable extent this situation is caused by the resistance of the bureaucratic apparatus, which is interested in having businessmen be dependent upon it.

In this confrontation between business and red tape, I side with businessmen. Among the tasks of the nearest future is adoption of the budget for the next year. I rely on the responsibility of political forces to resolve budget issues, and hope that these issues will be considered in a calm, business-like atmosphere, without unnecessary passions and excessive politicization.

I stress once again that all these and other issues can and should be resolved immediately away. But in order to ensure the sustainable and dynamic development of Ukraine, decisive changes are needed in its political system.

Ukraine happened to form as a presidential-parliamentary republic with all the advantages and disadvantages of such a system. Probably we did not have an alternative. Taking into account the weakness of political parties and the lack of democratic traditions, the president had no choice but to assume responsibility for making important decisions, especially those dealing with the economy. Let us recall that a number of reformist initiatives, which later gained the support of society and Parliament, were introduced by presidential decrees.

However, I am convinced that further development of the country requires transition to a new political system - the parliamentary presidential republic.

By the end of the year 2000, real steps had been taken in this direction. It seemed then that the Verkhovna Rada would be able to form a parliamentary majority. Eleven factions and groups put forward a candidate for the post of prime minister, and I met them halfway.

Unfortunately, we failed to create a mechanism allowing the government and the parliamentary majority to work together. Hence, it needs to be said that the first results were encouraging.

I am convinced that we do not need to invent our own bicycle, a Ukrainian one. Such a mechanism has existed for a long time. It consists of a coalition government that depends on a stable parliamentary majority. The parliamentary majority forms a government and bears responsibility for its work. Let me remind you that this is in the spirit of the decisions reached in the nationwide referendum of 2000.

With such a division of powers, the branches of power would be interested in close cooperation, and their responsibility to the people would be enhanced. With the introduction of such a model, the role of parties and the structures of a civil society would be enhanced.

Moreover, the said reform should facilitate mutual understanding between the government and the constructive part of the opposition, which often calls for such a model.

Therefore, I call on the Verkhovna Rada to create a parliamentary majority. To my mind, such a majority should form a government shortly. Let this government, along with the majority, implement its economic policy and be responsible to the people for its implementation. No doubt this model should be enshrined in the Constitution. We have to proceed to the elaboration of relevant changes to the Constitution without delay.

The reform of our electoral law, which should correspond to the requirements of the parliamentary-presidential system, has to be one of the steps towards political reform. In other words, we need a European-type electoral system based on proportional representation.

It is also high time for administrative and territorial reforms. The development of its concept and wide public discussion cannot be postponed any longer.

Transition to a parliamentary-presidential model and the strengthening of local self-government indicates our European choice. Precisely this type of political system demonstrates its effectiveness in most European countries.

I have already instructed that an ad hoc group be set up to deal with drafting political reform, and in this regard I call on all political forces, including those in the opposition, to take part in this process.

I would like to emphasize once again: political reform should be launched immediately.

In conclusion, I would like once again to call on those of you who are not indifferent to Ukraine's fate to support these initiatives both in the social and political spheres. We have only one Ukraine and that's why we should work in unison for Ukraine's sake.

We often forget how far we have traveled since we left behind the way of life of some 10 to15 years ago. Maybe this is the reason we are, on the one hand, so impatient, and on the other, insufficiently decisive.

Frankly speaking, the latter concerns me more than the former. So, let us be more decisive in building our state and our lives.

Happy holiday, fellow countrymen. I wish you all happiness!

| Home Page |