CAMPAIGN REPORT: Viktor Yushchenko's announcement of his bid for the presidency (07/11/04)

CAMPAIGN REPORT: Viktor Yushchenko's announcement of his bid for the presidency

Following is the text of Viktor Yushchenko's address on July 4 in the city center of Kyiv in which he officially announced his bid for the presidency of Ukraine. The text was disseminated by PRNewswire.com, which cited Our Ukraine as its source.

Dear Compatriots and Friends:

We have come to the Dnipro hills from across Ukraine. Today we stand shoulder-to-shoulder. We are citizens of Ukraine and we demand change. We are united in our love for Ukraine and our trepidation for her destiny. Our country stands on the threshold between the past and the future. We have gathered here because it is time to make the choice for a better life. Today, all of Ukraine, from Luhansk to Lviv, from Chernihiv to the Crimea, demands change.

Our mothers and fathers want change. They worked all of their lives, but today live in destitution. They lost their savings, while their pensions resign them to poverty. In their twilight, our parents want respect and tranquility. They earned it.

All of us want change. We, citizens of Ukraine, are dismayed at the constant rise in prices, without any chance for normal housing, without hope for medical care. We want work and we want honest jobs. Our minds and our hands will be our keep.

Our children yearn for change. We are ready to do everything in our power for their benefit. But today they are vulnerable to unfairness, poverty and spiritual deprivation. Many children wait years for their mothers and fathers who are scattered across the globe in search of a living. Just like all of you (and I am the father of five children), I want the young generation to have a future in their own country.

All citizens are demanding change. My heart, as all of yours, breaks when it sees how the government is robbing the country of its riches, how they sell out our national interests. Our country deserves a respectable place in the world and the respect of all capitals.

They try to convince us that Ukraine is experiencing an economic rise, that things have stabilized, and that Euro-integration is under way. But why then are our living standards falling so far behind our neighbors? Why can't we earn an honest wage and build a prosperous life? Do our neighbors have something we don't?

Let us look out across Ukraine from these hills of Kyiv. We see its fertile soil and its rich resources. We see how millions of Ukrainians toil every hour of every day, mining coal, forging steel and growing grain. We see scientists developing modern technologies able to compete in a global market. We have everything we need to be a wealthy, prosperous, European country.

Let us recall our history. The conviction of our Ukrainian nation is embedded in the pages of its history. After the most trying times - artificial famines, wars, the Auschwitzes, Gulags - our sons and daughters raised Ukraine from ruin. I believe that love for one's country and love for liberty lives in each and all of us. Our nation, its energy, its history and culture, are the greatest treasures of Ukraine!

Today our national wealth is only filling the pockets of the oligarchic clans. Access to social welfare is no longer a right to all, but a privilege for the few. The criminal government is to blame for all of this.

Today citizens are not free in their own country; they are unprotected against the whims of the bureaucrats, tax inspectors, militia and the procurators. Investigation of crimes has become a farce; denigration the norm. People can't find justice in the courts. The corrupt, irresponsible government is to blame for all of this.

Today they try to divide the Ukrainian people into "west" and "east," divide us by ethnic origin and language, by history and faith. The cynical government is to blame for this.

In reality, there is only one conflict in Ukraine today - between those in power and the people. The government is sowing the seeds of division in society. Those in power want us to struggle with one another, but not against them. To lead Ukraine in the right direction, all we need is one thing: fair, responsible and effective government.

Time and time again I had to show how the government should act. The National Bank, which I governed, gave Ukraine the hryvnia. The government, which I led, paid the people what they were owed; in a single year we increased the minimum wage and pensions one and a half times. We cleared the path for the economy, and it started to grow. We created new jobs and kept prices under control. We introduced order into budget policy; widespread power shutdowns were stopped. And, most importantly: we didn't borrow a single cent in doing all this.

They didn't let me finish what I started. But then I said "I shall return." Three years I've traveled throughout Ukraine. I met with hundreds of thousands of people and I know - my mission has the broadest base possible. At the toughest times I recalled how the children and the elderly looked at me with trustful eyes. Your faith has given me strength.

I have a program for Ukraine, which will let us attain what we seek. I have a team qualified to carry it out. I remember everything that my father taught me, everything my mother told me, everything I talked about with my friends, everything I heard at meetings and read in letters. Not in an office, but in a dialogue with the whole country I discovered ideas that will define Ukraine's new future.

In a year you will bear witness that Ukraine has been transformed. We will build a country in which everyone can lend a hand and an idea. No one will have to seek a better life abroad.

Pensions and wages will ensure a better life for all. Every citizen will have access to adequate medical care, every child a quality education. The government will work for the people. Corruption will be eliminated. All will be equal before the law. The criminals will be incarcerated.

The Ukrainian village, the cradle of our people, will be renewed. I see Ukraine as a country revered and respected by its own citizens and a country, which has the respect of the East and West. I see a Ukraine, as Oleksander Dovzhenko wrote, where people "live according to laws of the Creator and the people."

I know that the road to victory will be arduous. The regime tried to steal your right to choose. We defended your constitutional right. The regime wanted to steal billions from the budget. We forced them to account for the money. The regime is afraid of fair and transparent elections because they will bring about its end. Huge sums of money, administrative manipulation, have all been mustered to prevent the people from expressing their voice.

But we are not afraid of those in power; they are afraid of us. They are afraid of their own people, afraid of truth and liberty, which all of us hold so dear. I have no television stations, no procurators and no tax police. I rely on the strength of the people. I believe in your strength. I ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

I have made a decision. I am running for the presidency. Here is my declaration. I will win the elections. My victory is everyone's victory. Tell all when you return to your homes - I believe in Ukraine, I know my responsibility, and we will win together. Glory to you and glory to Ukraine!

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