ELECTION NOTEBOOK (03/19/06)

ELECTION NOTEBOOK

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - With two weeks left in the election campaign, rival political parties aren't pulling any punches. In fact, some may be hitting below the belt.

During the March 15 session of the Verkhovna Rada, Socialist Party National Deputy Mykola Rudkovskyi took the podium and accused Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn of taking part in ordering the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze and blocking the investigation for five years.

"I am convinced that Volodymyr Lytvyn is liable to a criminal investigation and removal of his diplomatic immunity, considering that all the evidence linking his involvement to the crime is among the Verkhovna Rada investigation committee's official documents," Mr. Rudkovskyi declared.

At one point, Mr. Lytvyn interrupted Mr. Rudkovskyi's speech and advised him not to use the Parliament's podium to "spit all over a person, when there has already been a court decision."

A court had ruled in January that statements made by former Kuchma security officer Mykola Melnychenko accusing Mr. Lytvyn of taking part in Gongadze's murder were baseless.

"Toward which Europe are you going?" Mr. Lytvyn asked Mr. Rudkovskyi, mockingly referring to the Socialist Party's slogan, "Building Europe in Ukraine." He added, "If you want to build Europe in Ukraine, first learn to respect you own people."

Mr. Rudkovskyi called the court "prejudiced," stating that it neglected to review documents and materials produced by experts, the investigating committee and the Procurator General's Office.

As Mr. Rudkovskyi made his accusations, U.S. asylum winner Mr. Melnychenko sat in the Rada's loge. He later told reporters he was there to look Mr. Lytvyn in the eyes.

Mr. Melnychenko is a close ally of Oleksander Moroz, the leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine and Mr. Lytvyn's top rival for the Rada chairman's position.

In the 2006 elections, Lytvyn's People's Bloc and the Socialist Party are heated rivals battling for the same electorate: rural voters throughout Ukraine and central Ukrainians voters who support none of the three leading political blocs.
KYIV - The battle between the Party of the Regions and Our Ukraine bloc turned nasty when Regions campaign chief Yevhen Kushnariov accused the latter of producing a propaganda film against his party that contained subliminal images of a frightening skull.

At a March 14 press conference, Mr. Kushnariov displayed images of the blue skull, which he alleged was displayed five times during the program, "Menace, the Scary Truth."

Each time, the skull image was displayed for three flash frames against the audio sound of chattering teeth, Mr. Kushnariov said.

The Party of the Regions had two independent experts review the video and confirm the presence of the subliminal images, which Mr. Kushnariov said played on the subconscious of television viewers.

The party has submitted its concerns to the Central Elections Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he said.

"Menace, the Scary Truth," which aired on March 10 on the UT-1 public broadcasting network, explored the lurid criminal history of the Donetsk clans during the 1990s, indirectly linking them to the Party of the Regions.

It also featured Our Ukraine supporters in Donetsk attesting to attacks they continue to endure from Party of the Regions campaigners, as well as images of Regions cohorts setting orange flags and campaign literature on fire as recently as February 2006.

The politically motivated program ran under the broadcasting quotas that distribute television airtime to competing parties.
KYIV - Ukraine's political parties have spent more than $1 billion on advertising during the 2006 parliamentary campaign, said Oleksander Chekmyshev, the chair of the Rivnist Mozhlyvostey election monitoring organization.

The irony is that government funding of district election commissions, including salaries, is so inadequate that its employees will have to work in extreme conditions of discomfort and pressure, he said. District election commission workers earn $10 a day for their work.

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