Yushchenko introduces his platform, promising paradigm shift in Ukraine (07/18/04)

Yushchenko introduces his platform, promising paradigm shift in Ukraine

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko introduced his political platform on July 9, promising a paradigm shift in economic, political and social policy should he be elected president.

The current leader in the race for the presidential chair, Mr. Yushchenko was the first of the major contenders - including Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko - to release a detailed plan for his presidency. Mr. Yanukovych has promised to follow suit in the near future. However, the day after Mr. Yushchenko published the major policy paper, the prime minister voiced his own promises to the Ukrainian electorate in a public address in Mariupol.

In the introduction to his program, which Mr. Yushchenko is calling "Ten Steps Toward the People," the head of the Our Ukraine political bloc who decided to cast his hat into the ring without the nomination of a political organization, said he wanted Ukraine to be a strong and just country. He said he wanted its citizens to have the opportunity to fulfill their hopes and ambitions - to be employed and enjoy a fair wage - without being forced to move elsewhere. He said he wanted to ensure the rights of free thought, free speech, freedom of conscience and equality before the law.

Mr. Yushchenko's political platform is divided into 10 parts, which cover most every aspect of political, economic and social life in Ukraine.

In the economic sphere, Mr. Yushchenko, a former prime minister and current lawmaker, promised to create 5 million new jobs and increase foreign investment tenfold as well as to rid the government bureaucracy of corruption and eliminate the tax police within the State Tax Administration. He also said he would substantially reduce taxes and make the economy much more transparent.

Among the promises he made, Mr. Yushchenko gave notice to rich businessmen that political and legal loopholes would be closed, forcing them to take on a much broader share of the country's tax burden, which he indicated would greatly increase government revenues and allow him as president to fund more social programs.

In domestic politics, the presidential candidate promised to re-identify the priorities of law enforcement agencies and to offer more protection to citizens - and not only to those in power. He said he would dismiss corrupt prosecutors and state militia officers.

Mr. Yushchenko also said he would initiate administrative reform, liquidate many unnecessary government posts and fire corrupt judges. He would force all government personnel to sign and uphold an "honor code for government workers."

On the military front, the country's most popular politician said he would cut the number of officers in the armed forces and immediately reduce the number of conscripts by one-third. He said he would eliminate the draft entirely by 2010 and turn Ukraine's armed forces into a professional army.

In foreign affairs, the presidential candidate said he would seek friendly, stable and equally advantageous relations with Moscow. He underscored that the East and West would see a different Ukraine - "strong and reliable, one which fulfills its commitments and is capable of securing its national interests."

In the social and health portion of his platform, Mr. Yushchenko promised to raise maternity financial support by a factor of 10, upgrade the quality and quantity of medical clinics in villages, provide financial support for the purchase of medicines to children with disabilities and introduce a system of family doctors.

Mr. Yushchenko's platform also paid special attention to the rebirth of the Ukrainian village. Mr. Yushchenko promised to ensure that farmland would be sold only to those who would continue to work it. He said he would raise farm income to the national average and make financial resources more readily available to farmers. In addition, he promised to modernize life in the village, including making telephone lines and natural gas available in all rural communities and improving roads in the countryside.

The day after the publication of Mr. Yushchenko's political platform on July 9, his closest competitor in the race for the presidency, Mr. Yanukovych, was quick to enumerate his own list of promises to be implemented should he win the post.

During a stop in Mariupol in his home oblast of Donetsk, Mr. Yanukovych promised to raise farm sector profitability to 40 percent. He said he would institute policies that would at least double the average wage from where it stands today. He also said he would reduce the value-added tax (VAT) from 20 percent to 12 percent. President Leonid Kuchma has already decreed that VAT should be lowered to 17 percent beginning in 2005.

In addition, Mr. Yanukovych said he would simplify the tax administration and make it more transparent. He also said he expected to develop the financial and banking sectors, which would result in more financial and investment innovation.

He said he would raise minimum pensions and extend welfare payments to "the vulnerable strata of the population" and return bank deposits that were defaulted upon in the inflation crisis of 1992-1993 using revenues received from government privatization.

Addressing a major issue regarding agricultural development, Mr. Yanukovych said he believes that the introduction of a land market should begin as planned in January 2005 to assure farmers access to banking credits. He said that only a land market would allow farmers to establish collateral to secure loans to develop their agricultural businesses.

Mr. Yushchenko, who did not address that issue directly in his platform, came out on July 14 for delaying the implementation of a land market until private farmers became financially stronger. He called on delaying the introduction of the land market to January 2007, as had been proposed in a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada but rejected by President Kuchma earlier this year. Mr. Yushchenko explained that if the ban on the sale of farmland were lifted then the land would be snatched up and monopolized by a few individuals.

"If we don't prolong the moratorium on the sale of farmland now, we'll make the same mistake as we did with voucher privatization, when several families bought up everything for a pittance," explained Mr. Yushchenko.

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