THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 4, 20042No. 27
Ukraine marks Constitution Day
KYIV– President Leonid Kuchma saidon June 28, on the occasion of ConstitutionDay, that “the adoption of the fundamentallaw sealed for all time our independenceand the will of the Ukrainian nation to livein their sovereign state,” Interfax reported.Verkhovna Rada Chairman VolodymyrLytvyn said that since the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted on June 28, 1996,that date has come to symbolize nationalconsensus and “the superiority of nationalinterests over the ever-changing politicalsituation.” Mr. Lytvyn also said theConstitution needs to be improved and“enriched by the experience of the creationof a state.” Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych stressed that the Constitutionis not “an adamant dogma,” and that “thedecentralization of the power [in Ukraine]is necessary.” (RFE/RLNewsline)
Yushchenko to run as independent
KYIV– Our Ukraine leader ViktorYushchenko announced on June 28 thathe will run as an independent in thisfall’s presidential election, the UNIANnews service reported. Mr. Yushchenkosaid he decided to run as an independentbecause while all the parties in the OurUkraine Bloc support his candidacy, hisprogram also is supported by manyorganizations that are not associated withthe bloc. “The main election struggle willtake place not between representatives of particular parties but between the repre-sentative of the authorities and the repre-sentative of the nation,” Mr. Yushchenkoexplained. (RFE/RLNewsline)
Official calls paper’s story “speculation”
KYIV– Vasyl Baziv, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration,said on June 25 that the articles inTheIndependent suggesting that PresidentLeonid Kuchma was involved in the slay-ing of journalist Heorhii Gongadze are“speculation” in the run-up to the presi-dential election this fall, Interfax report-ed. “Making a ballot box of the headless journalist’s corpse is no less amoral thanthe beheading itself,” Mr. Baziv toldreporters. He added that the investigationshould be objective and honest, resultingin the punishment of the journalist’skillers. “The man who is most interestedin this is the president of Ukraine,” Mr.Baziv added. (RFE/RLNewsline)
Kuchma urges NATO to expand relations...
ISTANBUL– During his address onJune 29 at the NATO summit in Istanbul,President Leonid Kuchma called on theAtlantic alliance to broaden its relationswith Ukraine, Interfax reported. Mr.Kuchma said that Ukraine has undergoneimportant changes over the past five years,adding that its pace of economic growthhas been among the highest in Europe andthat the country is characterized by “thestability of its political situation and ethnictolerance.” He also said that, after a “periodof loud but ineffective declarations,” rela-tions between Ukraine and NATO areheaded in the right direction – “the way of practical actions.” The president assuredthe alliance that Ukraine intends to contin-ue participating in joint projects – in partic-ular the scrapping of ammunition and lightweapons – and to take measures to makeUkraine’s military standards compatiblewith those of NATO. (RFE/RLNewsline)
... promises to assure election monitoring
ISTANBUL– President LeonidKuchma on June 29 told participants at theNATO summit that Ukraine will “assure allnecessary conditions” are made forobservers’work during the country’s presi-dential elections this fall, Interfax reported.Mr. Kuchma noted NATO members’recentinterest in Ukraine’s domestic politics, inparticular the presidential election. Headded that Ukraine expects “just one thing”from outside election observers: “to reportobjectively about events in the country andbring this information to the broad interna-tional community.” (RFE/RLNewsline)
Ukraine pressed to share NATO values
ISTANBUL– NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on June29 reiterated his stance that Ukraineshould make greater efforts to absorbvalues shared by NATO members,Interfax reported. Among those values,according to Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, arethe superiority of law, free and fair elec-tions and media freedom. He stressed theimportance of NATO’s partnership withUkraine and praised the country’s mili-tary reforms. “Ukraine does a good job,”he said. “But do not forget that the fur-ther integration with NATO structuresmeans the protection and the observance[of the] values on which the alliance wasbuilt.” (RFE/RLNewsline)
Kuchma seeks specific path of cooperation
KYIV– President Leonid Kuchmaannounced on June 29 that talks betweenUkraine and the European Union regard-ing the signing of a joint action planshould yield a specific program of cooper-ation, Interfax reported, citing presidentialspokeswoman Olena Hromnytska. Mr.Kuchma said that Ukraine’s highest priori-
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NEWSBRIEFS NEWSBRIEFS
by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RLBelarus and Ukraine Report
Our Ukraine head Viktor Yushchenkohas chosen Verkhovna Rada vice-chair-man Oleksander Zinchenko as manager of his 2004 presidential campaign, Ukrainianmedia reported on June 14. According toMr. Yushchenko, Mr. Zinchenko’s maintask will be to coordinate the campaignstaffs of the parties constituting the OurUkraine bloc, as well as the forces thatwill form an election-campaign coalitionwith Our Ukraine.“The election-campaign manager willorganize the work of analytical services,special projects, and react appropriatelyto those events taking place during thepresidential race,” Mr. Yushchenko toldHromadske Radio on June 15. “In otherwords, [he will be in charge of] a rapid-reaction force.”Mr. Zinchenko’s path to the oppositionOur Ukraine bloc was a curious one. In1996 Mr. Zinchenko joined the SocialDemocratic Party-United (SDPU) led bycurrent presidential-administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk, one of the most bitterpolitical opponents of Mr. Yushchenko. In1998 Mr. Zinchenko became first deputychairman of the SDPU. He was elected aVerkhovna Rada deputy in 1998 and re-elected in 2002 (both times from the SDPUlist). In May 2002 he was elected a Radavice-chairman, under the “quota” of parlia-mentary posts ascribed by the pro-govern-ment parliamentary majority to the SDPU.Mr. Zinchenko was regarded as one of the most vigorous contributors to votingMr. Yushchenko out of his post of primeminister by the Verkhovna Rada in April2001. Mr. Zinchenko’s position in theSDPU became visibly upset in 2002 whenhe failed to reform the television channelInter, which is controlled by the party. Mr.Zinchenko resigned as Inter president inmid-2002 because of a standoff with Mr.Medvedchuk, who reportedly objected tohis plans to transform Inter into a channelthat could be less dependent on the politi-cal affiliations of its sponsors.In mid-2003 Mr. Zinchenko formallyasked the SDPU leadership to be releasedfrom the post of vice-chairman of theparty as well as from the duties of amember of the SDPU leading bodies –the Political Council and the PoliticalBureau. Mr. Zinchenko reportedly justi-fied his request by saying that he doesnot share the position of the party leader-ship on “many social and politicalissues” and differs with them as to “theunderstanding of ethical norms of life.”His request was immediately satisfied.In September 2003 Mr. Zinchenko wasexpelled from the SDPU, reportedly forfailing to back a constitutional reform billprepared by Mr. Medvedchuk in coopera-tion with the Communist Party and theSocialist Party. He has not joined any otherparty and so far remained in the post of vice-chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.In April Mr. Zinchenko headed an adhoc parliamentary commission that wentto Mukachiv in the Zakarpattia Oblast toinvestigate Our Ukraine’s allegations thatthe local authorities manipulated and falsi-fied the mayoral election in the town on
Yushchenko makes the first move in the presidential election campaign
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The Ukrainian Weekly, July 4, 2004, No. 27, Vol. LXXII
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2004 The Ukrainian Weekly
by Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor
ANovember 2003 document preparedby Russian “political technologists”working for Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the presidential administration, has beenleaked to Ukrainska Pravda (June 25).The report outlines how President LeonidKuchma could win a third term by dis-crediting his main opponent as a “nation-alist” and an inciter of inter-ethnic con-flict. Interestingly, one month after thestrategy was produced, the ConstitutionalCourt ruled that Mr. Kuchma could standfor a third term, arguing that his firstterm (1994-1999) did not count becauseit began before the 1996 Constitution.The third-term strategy was preparedsix months before pro-presidential forcestapped Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych as their candidate in April.This decision came one week after theParliament voted against constitutionalchanges that would have transferredsome executive powers to the prime min-ister.The opposition has repeatedly warnedthat the authorities may attempt to inciteconflict in two ways. In November 2003Our Ukraine deputy Mykola Tomenkopublicly discussed temnyky (secretinstructions from the presidential admin-istration) that outlined plans for incitinginstability and then imposing a state of emergency (Ukrainska Pravda,November 7, 2003). Plans to incite west-ern versus eastern Ukraine were widelydiscussed by opposition circles inNovember 2003, the same month thestrategy was prepared (Ukrainska Pravda,November 3, 12, 24, 2003). Anothersecret plan for a state of emergency, thisone put forward by Mr. Medvedchuk’sSocial Democrats (SDPU), was leaked toa Luhansk newspaper and then discussedin Ukraina Moloda (November 6, 2003).The first plan would be a state of emergency leading to an indefinite post-ponement of the elections. Such a sce-nario would be a desperate measuretaken because Mr. Yushchenko was lead-ing in the polls and likely to win elec-tions and thereby inherit PresidentKuchma’s powers (as constitutionalchanges had failed). The crisis duringthe April mayoral elections in Mukachiv(the authorities used skinheads to intimi-date and incite violence, committed elec-tion fraud, destroyed voter slips andencouraged Internal Affairs Ministrypersonnel to turn a blind eye on suchviolations) provides a glimpse of possi-
Russian and Ukrainian authorities resort to inter-ethnic violence to block Yushchenko
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Taras Kuzio is visiting professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs,George Washington University. The articleabove, which originally appeared in The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor, is reprinted here with permission from the foundation (www.jamestown.org). Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus and Ukraine specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.
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