VOX POPULI: People in Kyiv comment on Yushchenko-Yanukovych deal

What do you think of the Yushchenko-Yanukovych memorandum? Did President Yushchenko betray the maidan (independence Square, the hub of the Orange Revolution)? Those were the questions posed to passers-by in Kyiv on September 27 by free-lance correspondent Vladyslav Pavlov. Below are their responses.

Borys Dziuba, 65, linguist, voted for Viktor Yushchenko, was on the maidan during the Orange Revolution:

I'm so ashamed of Yushchenko. He showed us his personal weakness and his weak attitude towards idea of the state. On the maidan he put his hand on his heart, but he forgot that this heart belongs to the Ukrainian people. He forgot his promise that the bandits have to be sentenced after due process in court.

Illia Liashok, 21, student, voted for Viktor Yanukovych, did not participate in the public meetings on the maidan:

I don't like it. Yushchenko is good, but his team is very bad. On the contrary, Yanukovych has a better team. I like their peacefulness.

I think people made a mistake voting for Yushchenko. They forgot that when Yushchenko was president of the National Bank of Ukraine he stole money.

Lesia Odynets, 21, editor, voted for Yushchenko; stood on the maidan:

It is the perfect PR move! Yushchenko uses all the possible means to be a good politician. He has a very good PR staff.

No, it is impossible to say something [about whether he betrayed the maidan] after one day. It is a political move, so we have to wait a little bit. People have to be patient.

Svitlana Martynova, 42, housewife, voted for Yushchenko; stood on the maidan:

It is nonsense. Two men with such different views of life can't be together. We all remember how they dragged each other through the mud, so a true peace is impossible at the moment.

To a certain extent, I think he [Yushchenko] betrayed all the people who supported him on the maidan. It was a huge mistake to get rid of [Yulia] Tymoshenko. She is also a symbol of the Orange Revolution. I like her.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 9, 2005, No. 41, Vol. LXXIII

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