========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT -
AUR
An International
Newsletter, The Latest, Up-To-Date
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis and Commentary
Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business,
Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the
World
UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTION
Sunday, September 30,
2007
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR - Number
873
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor,
SigmaBleyzer
WASHINGTON, D.C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28,
2007
INDEX OF ARTICLES
------
Clicking on the title of any article takes
you directly to the
article.
Return to Index by clicking on Return to
Index at the end of each article
pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, spurring emergency
elections.
By Fred Weir, Correspondent, The Christian Science
Monitor
Boston, Massachusetts, Friday, September 28, 2007
2
. UKRAINE'S ORANGE-BLUE
DIVIDESimilar to the red-blue political split in the US, it has brought
the
government to a standstill - forcing emergency elections Sunday.
By
Fred Weir, Correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor
Boston,
Massachusetts, Friday, September 28, 2007
3
. UKRAINIAN BAND OKEAN ELZY SINGER CALLS FOR UNITED
UKRAINE TO AVOID
CONSTANT ELECTIONSVakarchuk defends Orange Revolution ideals, asks
people to be patient
Kostis Geropoulos, New Europe Issue 749
Brussels,
Belgium, Wed, 26 September 2007
4
. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, RIVAL IN SHOW OF UNITY
Associated Press
(AP), Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, September 27, 2007
5
. UKRAINE LEADER EMBRACES EX-PM, URGES "ORANGE" VOTEBy Ron
Popeski, Reuters, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu Sep 27, 2007
6
. TYMOSHENKO EYES NEW ALLIANCE WITH PRESIDENTDaniel McLaughlin
in Lviv, Ukraine, Irish Times
Dublin, Ireland, Irish Times, Thursday, Sep 27,
2007
7
. UKRAINE VOTESCountry
faces enormous economic challenges as it heads to the
polls.
Commentary: By Bruce P. Jackson, The Daily Standard
Washington, D.C. Thursday, September 27, 2007
8
. UKRAINE'S CONTENDERS FIGHT OVER JADED POPULACEBy Roman
Olearchyk and Stefan Wagstyl, Financial Times
London, United Kingdom,
Thursday, September 27, 2007
9
. UKRAINE: HARVEST TIME FOR FARMERS' VOTESAnalysis: By Jim
Davis, Business Ukraine magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 24,
2007
10.
POLITICAL TURMOIL FAILS TO STUNT UKRAINE'S
GROWTHBy Conor Humphries, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Kiev, Ukraine,
Thursday, September 27, 2007
11
. PROGRESS ALONG THE ROCKY ROAD TO DEMOCRACYCommentary: Peter
Dickinson, Business Ukraine magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 24,
2007
12
. DEVOID OF ORANGE REVOLUTION
OPTIMISM, UKRAINEHEADS INTO FOURTH ELECTION IN THREE
YEARSAssociated Press (AP), Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sep 27
2007
13
. UKRAINE: PLAYING THE POPULIST
CARDBy Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, September 27, 2007
14
. UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CLANS GRID FOR AFTER-THE-
Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, 27 September 2007
15
. UNITED STATES HELSINKI COMMISSION CHAIR HASTINGS ANDCO-CHAIR CARDIN URGE POLITICAL STABILITY IN
UKRAINE'September 30 Elections Vital to Advancing Democracy'
U.S.
Helsinki Commission, Washington, D.C., Mon, Sep 24, 2007
16
. UKRAINE'S QUEST FOR MATURE NATION
STATEHOOD
ROUNDTABLE VIII, UKRAINE-EU RELATIONSOctober 16-17, 2007,
Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, DC
Steering Committee, Ukraine's Quest
for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable VIII, Ukraine-EU Relations,
New
York, New York, Friday, September 28, 2007
17
. ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE: ORANGE OR BLUE?
Europarl.europa.eu,
Brussels, Belgium, Thu, 27 Sep 2007
18
. UKRAINE: NEW POLLS HOLD NO PROMISE OF CHANGEUkrainians can
expect the discord to continue
By Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, September 27,
2007
19
. UKRAINE: UPCOMING
ELECTIONBriefing: Oxford Business Group, London, UK, Tue, 25 Sep
2007
20
. DANGER POINTS AND THE
UNDECIDED VOTEAnalysis & Commentary: By Oksana Bashuk
Hepburn
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, September 27, 2007
26
. UKRAINE: HERE WE GO
AGAINPolitical problems run deeper than another set of elections can
possibly fix.
Analysis and Commentary: by Ivan Lozowy, Transitions
Online (TOL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, 26 September 2007
election on Sunday, the unfulfilled promise of the Orange Revolution
and the real powerbrokers in Ukraine.
Opinion: By Andrey Kurkov,
Ukrainian Novelist
Der Spiegel Online magazine, Germany, Thu, Sep 27,
2007
pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich,
spurring emergency elections.
By Fred Weir, Correspondent, The
Christian Science Monitor
Boston, Massachusetts, Friday, September 28,
2007
LVOV, Ukraine - A little thrill swept through the thousands
assembled on
Lvov's main square when Yulia Tymoshenko, dressed in a flowing
pink robe
and her hair in her trademark peasant braids, took the
stage.
To warm up, the heroine of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" sang a
patriotic
song with one of the country's top rock groups.
Then she
launched into a passionate, 85-minute speech to convince skeptics
that
Ukraine remains on the path to democracy and integration with the
West,
despite the past three years of debilitating political crisis.
A
victory for her Fatherland Party (BYuT) in this Sunday's
emergency
parliamentary elections could bring a breakthrough, she insisted.
"I will do
what needs to be done, I promise you that," she said, to scattered
applause.
Ms. Tymoshenko is not alone in billing this campaign as a
battle for
Ukraine's soul, between the Western-leaning Orange parties led by
herself
and President Viktor Yushchenko, and the pro-Russian "Blue" Party
of
Regions headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.
But some voters
say they're exhausted, and increasingly skeptical, because
this is Ukraine's
fourth election in less than three years, and most surveys
suggest the lineup
in the 450-seat Supreme Rada is unlikely to change.
"It's impossible not
to feel disillusioned," says Nikolai Zhupylo, a social
psychologist with the
independent Socionika Center in Lvov. "There is a
growing part of the
population that will never again be interested in
politics. Now people are
more concerned with solving their own personal
problems."
All surveys
taken in early September, before a ban on publishing preelection
polls came
into effect, put Mr. Yanukovich's party in the lead with about a
third of the
votes.
Tymoshenko's BYuT comes second with up to 23 percent, while
Mr.
Yushchenko's Our Ukraine coalition trails with under 15 percent. Of 20
or
so small parties in the running, only the Communists appear poised to
hurdle
the 3 percent barrier for winning seats in the Rada.
'STRONG TEMPTATION' TO FIX
BALLOTS
Recent elections in Ukraine have been deemed clean
and fair by international
observers, but concern about voter fraud - thought
to have been banished by
the pro-democracy Orange Revolution - have
resurfaced during the current
campaign.
Under Ukraine's election
system, voters cast their ballots for a national
party rather than a
locally-based candidate. Thus, authorities in the
heavily Orange west and
Blue east have inducements to maximize their party's
showing by any means
possible.
"Half of Ukraine supports Orange, and the other half Blue, so a
tiny
additional margin added by cheating could make all the difference,"
says
Roman Koshovi, Lvov chairman of the Committee of Ukrainian Voters,
an
independent monitoring group. "The temptation to fix some ballots will
be
very strong on all sides."
Last week Ukraine's SBU security
service, which is controlled by Yushchenko,
accused regional authorities in
the eastern region of Kharkov of registering
almost 100,000 nonexistent
persons on the voter rolls.
Tymoshenko has alleged that recent amendments
to election laws introduced by
Yanukovich's government could deprive more
than 1 million Ukrainians of
their right to vote and enable corrupt local
authorities to stuff ballot
boxes. "Ukraine is again facing the threat of
massive falsification," she
warned.
All three big political parties
are already pitching tents and positioning
supporters on Kiev's central
Maidan square - where the Orange Revolution
unfolded - in order to launch
mass protests if Sunday's results show any
suspicious gains for either
side.
To avoid such turmoil, Ukraine's nongovernmental groups intend to
carry out
four separate nationwide exit polls, and the Organization for
Security and
Cooperation in Europe has sent 600 election observers to monitor
the
counting.
WHY ORANGE LOST
MOMENTUM
Many Ukrainians blame Yushchenko for fumbling the
opportunity handed to him
by the Orange Revolution, which vaulted him into
power with a mandate to
introduce sweeping market reforms, take Ukraine into
NATO and prepare it for
eventual membership in the European
Union.
Instead, the Orange coalition dissolved as Yushchenko quarrelled
with, then
fired, Prime Minister Tymoshenko. Parliamentary polls last year
brought
Yanukovich back as president. Most of the time since has been
consumed with
infighting between president and parliament.
Though
Ukraine's economy boasts an estimated growth rate of 7 percent this
year,
reforms are on hold pending resolution of the political deadlock.
A
recent survey by the Kiev-based Institute of Social and Political
Psychology
found that corruption is rampant, with over half of Ukrainians
reporting that
they regularly pay bribes to officials to get things done.
"A lot of
public money is supposedly directed at fixing up this city's
infrastructure,
but the results suggest that much of that money just goes
missing," says Igor
Gulik, editor of the liberal daily Lvivskaya Gazeta in
Lvov.
WHAT WILL NEW PARLIAMENT DO?
If
the Orange and Blue forces are evenly matched, experts say, much will
depend
on the ability of the fiery Orange populist, Tymoshenko, to cobble
together a
large enough parliamentary coalition to become prime minister; if
not, the
pro-Moscow technocrat Yanukovich is likely to return.
Both rivals of
Yushchenko, Tymoshenko and Yanukovich are already angling
for the main prize:
to unseat him when the next presidential polls roll
around in 2009. Some
experts suggest that it might be better to get that over
with sooner.
"I don't see the outcome of these elections solving
Ukraine's crisis of
power," says Anatoly Romaniuk, a political scientist at
Ivan Franko
University in Lvov. "If the crisis deepens, it will push Ukraine
toward
early presidential elections, and that might provide a clear
resolution and
a way
forward."
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http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0928/p04s01-woeu.html
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2
. UKRAINE'S
ORANGE-BLUE DIVIDE
Similar to the red-blue political split in
the US, it has brought the
government to a standstill - forcing emergency
elections Sunday.
By Fred Weir, Correspondent, The Christian
Science Monitor
Boston, Massachusetts, Friday, September 28, 2007
It's
similar to the red-blue political divide in America - except
it's
orange-blue. And there's a much longer history behind
it.
Ukraine's bitter west-east schism is reflected in the political
deadlock
between its "Orange" and Blue parties that has nearly paralyzed the
state
for the past year.
As the country of 50 million heads into
parliamentary elections Sunday
intended to break the stalemate, the two sides
remain separated by language,
religious traditions, societal histories, and
geopolitical preferences. Some
analysts suggest that, given such divisions,
political standoffs could
perpetually reoccur.
According to the
independent Kiev International Institute of Sociology,
people in Ukraine's
eight western provinces, who make up about a quarter of
the electorate, are
eight times more likely to vote for the "Orange" parties
headed by President
Viktor Yushchenko and former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko, which stand for
integrating with the European Union, joining
NATO, and keeping Moscow at a
distance.
In the three eastern provinces, also containing a quarter of
the electorate,
people are eight times more likely to vote for the "Blue"
Party of Regions,
headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, which wants to
make Russian
the second official language, forge closer economic ties with
Russia and
stay out of NATO.
"The electoral forces supporting the two
sides are almost equal, ensuring
that any parliamentary majority will be
small and fragile," says Oleksander
Shushko, an analyst with the independent
Institute for Euro-Atlantic
Integration in Kiev.
"These deep divisions
in the country ensure that the political standoff will
keep returning, and
the best way to deal with it is to hold more elections."
AN EAST-WEST SPLIT WITH DEEP ROOTS
The western
part of Ukraine, known as Galicia, was part of the Catholic
states of
Austria-Hungary and Poland for hundreds of years before Soviet
dictator
Joseph Stalin forcibly annexed it to the Soviet Union after World
War II.
Decades of brutal Soviet repression have left powerful anticommunist
and
anti-Russian feelings that still linger here.
Oleksandr Gumeniuk is a
veteran of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which
fought a desperate guerrilla
war against Soviet forces in the forested
Carpathian mountains near here -
with covert help from the US - for more
than 10 years after the end of World
War II.
Though the USSR vanished 16 years ago, Mr. Gumeniuk and a
dwindling
handful of survivors from that shadowy conflict remain one of the
most
explosive issues on a list of flashpoints that profoundly divide
Ukrainians
and have kept the country in a state of rolling political crisis
for the
past several years.
While many here in the Ukrainian-speaking,
nationalist west think the
anti-Soviet veterans should be given military
pensions and treated as
Ukrainian patriots, their demands provoke fury in the
heavily Russified east
of Ukraine, where most accepted Soviet rule and
millions served in the Red
Army.
"Ukrainian independence today is a
direct consequence of our struggle," says
Gumeniuk, head of a local veterans'
group, who was captured by the Soviet
secret police and spent 12 years in a
Siberian prison camp after the war.
"We just want to be recognized. History
should record that we fought for
Ukraine's freedom."
Three years ago,
when news came that then-presidential candidate Mr.
Yanukovich of the Blue
side may have stolen the election from the Orange
champion Viktor Yushchenko,
thousands of people in Lvov boarded buses and
headed for the capital, Kiev,
to protest.
"I was one of the first to arrive in Kiev, and the streets
were already full
of people passionately supporting Yushchenko," says Anatoly
Romaniuk, a
political scientist at Ivan Franko University in Lvov. "For many
of us, it
was the moment when we would finally begin to build a truly
independent and
democratic Ukraine."
The Greek-Catholic Church, an
amalgam of Orthodox rites and Catholic dogma
that was banned during Soviet
times has since revived, now holding the
allegiance of more than half of
religious believers in western Ukraine, says
Andriy Yurash, a religion
specialist at Lvov State University.
Along with two Ukraine-based
Orthodox sects, the Greek-Catholic Church came
out in full support of the
Orange Revolution. "During the Orange Revolution
the church held daily
services in the main square of Lvov to pray for its
success," says Mr.
Yurash.
In Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, the predominant Russian
Orthodox
Church, which is led by the patriarch in Moscow, opposed the
Orange
Revolution and has given its official blessing to Yanukovich in the
current
elections.
"It is gradually becoming clear to us that this
split between east and west
Ukraine has very deep civilizational roots and
will not be easily overcome -
if ever," says Yurash.
WHILE MANY ARE DISILLUSIONED,
SOME STILL HOPE FOR
RECONCILIATIONThough Mr. Yushchenko was vaulted into the
presidency in fresh elections
following the Orange Revolution, the hope that
he might find ways to heal
Ukraine's divisions has fizzled out amid
squabbling in the Orange camp and
persistent political
crisis.
Following parliamentary polls last year, Yanukovich's party came
roaring
back with a plurality of the Supreme Rada's 450 seats and, after a
lengthy
Blue versus Orange struggle, a dispirited Yushchenko was compelled to
name
Yanukovich prime minister. Opinion surveys suggest the current elections
may
do little more than reproduce the same lineup.
Some experts fear
popular exhaustion with democracy may play into the hands
of extremists, such
as the radical nationalist Svoboda party, whose support
is growing rapidly
around Lvov, or the old-line Communist Party, which is
still strong in the
east.
Ruslan Koshulinsky, Svoboda's deputy chairman, says people in
Lvov
increasingly want to see the half-hearted measures of Yushchenko
and
Tymoshenko swept aside.
"In a spiritual sense, we are still under
Russian occupation," he says. "We
respect freedom, but steps must be taken to
unite the [Ukrainian] ethos, or
we will never be independent."
But,
surprisingly, some of the toughest characters from Ukraine's tragic
past
insist that the only route to salvation lies through compromise
and
reconciliation.
"In other parts of Europe people who were on
opposite sides of the
barricades in civil conflicts have long since shaken
hands and moved on,"
says Gumeniuk. "When is it going to happen
here?"
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LINK:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0928/p04s02-woeu.html?page=1
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[
return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring
Service]
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3
. UKRAINIAN BAND OKEAN ELZY
SINGER CALLS FOR
UNITED UKRAINE TO AVOID CONSTANT
ELECTIONS
Vakarchuk defends Orange Revolution ideals, asks
people to be patient
Kostis Geropoulos, New Europe Issue
749
Brussels, Belgium, Wed, 26 September 2007
As tired Ukrainians
voters go to the polls on September 30 for the fourth
time in three years,
Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, front singer of the Ukrainian
band Okean Elzy, who is
also on the list of Our Ukraine bloc (Nasha
Ukrayina), told New Europe "the
main task of Ukraine is to unite everybody
no matter what the colour of flag
they have" to avoid another political
stalemate after the parliamentary
election.
What Ukraine needs is young blood in politics, he said. "In the
nearest past
we saw that some political leaders do not treat agreements
between different
parties as something saint. Today they sign it, tomorrow
they resign, after
that the sign it one more time.
"That is the
morality of the politicians and it's not a problem of one
party; it's a
problem of this generation of politicians," he said in Athens
on September
24, the first stop of his musical tour titled "Ya yidu do domu"
(I'm going
home).
"At this time I don't see a great difference between politicians
in all the
political camps. And that's why our task is to take to the
politics new
coming leaders who will solve this problem and unite all the
people no
matter on what language they speak, no matter on what church they
go, no
matter what historical past they had. We are all Ukrainians and we
need to
be united," Vakarchuk said.
The leading band singer and ardent
'Orange' supporter was one of the first
people to gather with thousands of
young Ukrainians in Kiev's Maidan Square
during the 2004 Orange
Revolution.
Despite the mistakes of 'Orange' teams and people's
disappointment in the
following years, Vakarchuk defended the ideals of the
Orange Revolution.
"The lessons of history teach us the revolutions never
yield immediate
results. We have many, many examples where at first the
revolutions were
treated by people as a panacea for all problems but then
came some
disappointment.
"It was the same in Ukraine with the Orange
revolution. Certainly your
demands for the revolution are very high and then,
if it doesn't work out,
you are disappointed, but what I think is that in
spite of this
disappointment, we have done a great job because the mentality
begun to
change. Before that we were a typical post-Soviet
society.
"That was a society partly breaking the rules of the Soviet
country, but not
breaking the Soviet mood. And after the Orange Revolution,
people began to
understand that from this time they were the masters of their
future and
that is very, very important and that may be the main goal of
the
revolution.
"Talking about political and economic changes, they
certainly don't come
immediately after the revolution," Vakarchuk said.
"Now we have this unstable situation. That is why we have
different
elections because there is internal fight in Ukraine for the
future."
The Okean Elzy singer laughed when New Europe pointed out that
during a
July journalists' trip to Ukraine a 75-year-old woman, Maria Tsymbal, in
the
village of Viktorivka, said she would vote for the Yulia Timoshenko
bloc
because of its leader's notorious hairstyle.
"Yes, people like
leaders. It's normal for every country," he said. "But the
problem is that
sometimes the parties give you the same things in their
programmes. The
problem is not that people don't know the content of these
problems, the
problem is this content is the same."
He said that Regions Party, Yulia
Timoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine block, are
more-or-less centrist parties with
left or right leaning tendencies. He said
that unlike Europe there is also a
second dimension in addition to right or
left and that is pro-European or
pro-Russian.
Vakarchuk said the party he supports, Our Ukraine, wants to
build a strong
country that participates in European structures. He explained
that while
most Ukrainians are familiar with the EU, they are confused over
NATO.
"About the EU they are more certain. About NATO the situation is
even funny
because if you ask them: 'Do you like NATO?' They say, 'no.' But
if you ask
them: 'Do you like North Atlantic Treaty?' Sometimes they say,
'yes.'"
He said the issue of NATO in Ukraine is very complicated.
"Firstly, there
were 50 years of Soviet propaganda. It's absolutely normal
that for Soviet
people who were born at that time NATO was treated like an
enemy.
"It was the same thing like for Americans when the Warsaw Treaty
was treated
like an enemy. It is normal. But after 1991 what
happened?
In some countries like the three Baltic countries or Central
European
countries like Poland or the Czech Republic the propaganda stopped
and
people were allowed to have a lot of information about then real
situation
in the North Atlantic Treaty and that's why in some years after
that they
managed to take the right decision," Vakarchuk
explained.
"In our country we have lack of information about NATO. It
doesn't matter if
the information negative or positive but there is a lack
and people do not
know different things.
"Sometimes I have meetings
with students...and I ask them a question: Do you
know if the NATO forces are
present in Iraq or not? And 95 percent of
students with high education, they
think that NATO is present in Iraq as an
organisation. Only five percent
thinks that is not.
"And when I say to them that they are absolutely
incorrect and only the
United States separately or British armies are present
there and not NATO
they are very surprised.
"If students are
surprised, imagine other people...We are not ready for a
professional
discussion. We need to have much more time top learn about
NATO. But it is
very strategic thing about Ukraine."
Regarding the EU, Vakarchuk told New
Europe it is not as controversial from
the point of view of Ukrainian
structure. "European Union is clear because
it is a union of economic and
political union of western countries," he
said.
He noted that joining
the EU and NATO are fundamentals of Ukraine's foreign
policy. "This
discussion needs to be treated as a civilisation choice.
"That's why I
think the first problem for us is the problem of NATO and only
the second is
the problem of the European Union because we are very far from
the European
Union.
"I'm absolutely honest and clear about that and it's not a
question of some
politicians from Europe like (EU External Relations
Commissioner) Benita
Ferrero-Waldner or somebody else who need to say to us
that it is an unreal
situation.
"We need to understand it
ourselves...We are Europeans and that's why we
need to solve such unpleasant
problems like visa problems," he said.
He lashed out at western embassies
denying Ukrainians visas for convenient
excuse. "In our country some people
are very angry about what some embassies
of European Union countries do,
especially Schengen countries about visa.
Sometimes the behaviour of these
embassies is not the behaviour of
partners," Vakarchuk said, adding
that the EU should step up and solve this
problem.
He stressed that it
is in the interest of the whole Europe to have a strong
Ukraine. "Europe must
be interested in a strong Ukraine and if somebody is
not interested, it's
because of internal European problems and when Europe
will be absolutely
strong by itself, the next step will be to take Ukraine
in," he
said.
Regarding relations with Russia, Vakarchuk said Moscow often tries
to use
gas prices to influence Ukraine. "It concerns not only Ukraine, it
concerns
all of Europe especially Eastern and Central Europe," he
said.
"In the highest level, Russian politicians they don't accept the
100 percent
independence of Ukraine. They understand the political
independence of
Ukraine because they understand that the time has come and we
are a separate
country. But they do not want to accept the whole
independence.
"That is why they try to influence us with economic rules,
but the stronger
they do it, the stronger we become. I'm very happy that two
years ago Russia
gave us market prices for the gas because the earlier they
do it the earlier
we will become stronger and we manage to do something
without these
dictations," he said.
The Okean Elzy lead singer
downplayed concerns about divisions between
Ukraine's east and west. "We are
an ethnical country," he said. "Other
problems are historical and maybe
sometimes political but these problems can
be solved with the help of new
leaders," he said.
And the Ukrainians are going to the polls this Sunday
to do just
that!
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LINK:
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/78121.php
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[
return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring
Service]
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4
. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT,
RIVAL IN SHOW OF UNITY
Associated Press (AP), Kiev,
Ukraine, Thursday, September 27, 2007
KIEV, Ukraine - President Viktor
Yushchenko and sometimes ally Yulia
Tymoshenko called for unity Thursday,
staging a televised meeting just days
before Ukraine's crucial parliamentary
elections.
The two politicians, who joined forces during the tumultuous
2004 Orange
Revolution, have repeatedly indicated they are trying to mend
fences.
Top officials with their political parties had agreed that
whichever of
their two parties won the most votes in Sunday's election would
name the
prime minister.
In an apparent effort to woo liberal-leaning
voters, Yushchenko warmly
greeted Tymoshenko and he tenderly kissed her hand
in the televised meeting.
"We have only one option and that is forming a
democratic coalition,"
Yushchenko said.
Polls have suggested a
three-way split among the country's main parties,
raising the prospect of
protracted coalition talks.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, along with Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovych,
are all calling for changes in the constitution to break the political
paralysis.
The pro-Western Yushchenko and the more Russian-leaning
Yanukovych have
been wrestling for dominance since 2004, when Yushchenko led the Orange
Revolution - massive street protests denouncing fraud during the
presidential election in which Yanukovych was initially declared the
winner.
The Supreme Court threw out the results, and Yushchenko won a
rerun.
Tymoshenko became his prime minister until he fired her in 2005 amid
widespread disillusionment.
In March 2006, Yanukovych's party gained
the most seats in parliamentary
elections, propelling him back into the
prime minister's post and ushering
in a Cabinet that has opposed Yushchenko
and brought forth the current
political paralysis.
Despite Thursday's
meeting and their similar politics, it remains unclear
whether the fragile
relationship between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko will
endure.
In a
statement released earlier by Yushchenko's press service, he again
conjured
the image of the Orange Revolution and the thousands of protesters
jamming
Kiev's Independence Square in calling for solidarity with his former
allies.
"All the forces of democracy, including those that stood
shoulder to
shoulder on Independence Square have drawn serious conclusions
from
our most recent history," Yushchenko said according to the press
service.
The task "we're faced with today is to send a clear signal to
the people
that the democrats are ready to act together and to implement
national
priorities
together."
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5
. UKRAINE LEADER EMBRACES EX-PM,
URGES "ORANGE" VOTE
By Ron Popeski, Reuters, Kiev,
Ukraine, Thu Sep 27, 2007
KIEV - President Viktor Yushchenko, newly
reconciled with "Orange
Revolution" heroine Yulia Tymoshenko, embraced her
on Thursday and urged
liberals to set aside past quarrels and unite to win a
weekend parliamentary
election.
The early election on Sunday is
intended to end months of political deadlock
pitting Yushchenko against the
rival he defeated in the 2004 upheaval, Prime
Minister Viktor
Yanukovich.
Yushchenko was shown on television embracing Tymoshenko, the
prime minister
he sacked from his first "orange" government, and making it
plain she could
return to office if voters returned an "orange"
majority.
"We have only one option and that is forming a democratic
coalition. Period.
And I mean period," Yushchenko said.
The "orange"
camp, he said, had to "agree on an effective and fast policy
for people ...
so that voters understand that victory would justify all
their
expectations."
Hoarse and sporting her trademark braid, Tymoshenko looked
moved. She
said the alliance was a logical step after the 2004 rallies when they stood
together in Kiev's Independence Square.
"What we started together in
the square was only the beginning," she said.
"It is certain the democratic
forces will win ... I support your thinking
300 percent."
Sunday's
election is certain to produce a close finish and spawn long,
difficult
negotiations to form a stable majority in the 450-seat assembly
able to form
a government.
Polls put Yanukovich's Regions Party, its support based in
Russian-speaking,
eastern Ukraine, in the lead with 30 percent support. His
communist allies
are also likely to win seats.
ORANGE HORDES
But the combined tally of
"orange" groups - Tymoshenko's bloc followed by
the pro-presidential Our
Ukraine party - is right behind, backed in the
nationalist west and the
centre.
No other group among 20 on the ballot is likely to clear 3
percent of the
popular vote to enter parliament. Some polls give an outside
chance to a
bloc led by a centrist former parliamentary speaker, Volodymyr
Lytvyn.
Yanukovich, blunt in addressing crowds, denounces Tymoshenko as
reckless
while sparing the president from criticism.
On Wednesday, he
told television viewers in eastern Ukraine: "Everything
that happened after
the Orange Revolution has been a nightmare ... It is
clear to us that the
orange hordes want once again to use their populism to
dupe the Ukrainian
people."
Both Yanukovich and Tymoshenko plan mass rallies in central Kiev
for Friday,
the final day of campaigning.
Yushchenko took office in
early 2005 after mass pro-Western "orange"
protests helped overturn a rigged
presidential poll initially won by
Yanukovich, backed at the time by
Russia.
He appointed Tymoshenko prime minister and embarked on an
ambitious plan to
move Ukraine closer to the West. But the two fell out and
she was dismissed
within eight months.
Yanukovich rebounded to become
prime minister after his party took first
place in last year's election,
leaving advocates of the revolution divided
and
disillusioned.
Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called the election
after accusing
Yanukovich of an illegal power grab.
This campaign has
removed nearly all distinctions of orientation towards
Moscow or the West.
Both sides pledge to uphold national interests and boost
living
standards.
Yanukovich, whose government presided over growth of 7.1
percent in 2006,
describes himself as pro-European.
Many analysts,
remembering four months of coalition talks after last year's
election,
suggest Yushchenko may opt for a "broad coalition" between Our
Ukraine and
the prime minister's party to bridge Ukraine's east-west gap.
Tymoshenko
denounces such a pact as "betrayal" and the president backed
away from the notion as the campaign
closed.
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6
. TYMOSHENKO EYES NEW
ALLIANCE WITH PRESIDENT
Daniel McLaughlin in Lviv,
Ukraine, Irish Times
Dublin, Ireland, Irish Times, Thursday, Sep 27,
2007
UKRAINE: Beneath the broad trees that line Lviv's main boulevard,
the old
men played on, regardless. Nothing interrupted their chess or their
dominoes: not the falling chestnuts that bounced around them nor the sensory
bombardment of a Yulia Tymoshenko campaign rally.
At one end of the
boulevard stands Lviv's grand opera house, at the other,
the square that was
taken over yesterday by Tymoshenko's final appeal to
voters in her western
Ukrainian stronghold to deliver victory in Sunday's
general
election.
If the old men had looked up from their games, they would have
seen a huge
stage flanked by screens and loudspeakers, fluttering banners
and booths
handing out Yulia merchandise to all - from toddlers to
pensioners - in this
city of 650,000 people.
Her party's symbol, a
red heart on a white backdrop, was everywhere, on
flags, T-shirts, stickers,
postcards, balloons and, until a tousled rocker
in a white suit appeared to
warm up the crowd, it was displayed on screens
that glowed through the
mist.
Tymoshenko would cut a striking figure on any political scene, let
alone the
turgid post-Soviet stage, and she has presence to match her
looks.
Her speech in Lviv, delivered in a voice husky from weeks on the
hustings,
was clear, impassioned and witty, in contrast to the dry and
sometimes
dithering efforts of President Viktor Yushchenko and the
monotonous drone of
prime minister Viktor Yanukovich.
Tymoshenko focused on deriding Yanukovich's Regions Party - which leads
opinion polls on the back of overwhelming support in largely
Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine - and calling for a ruling alliance with
Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party.
"With one voice, we must vote against
this anti-Ukrainian party, these
anti-Ukrainian politicians," said
Tymoshenko of the bloc led by Yanukovich,
who capitalised on disputes among
his rivals to bounce back from defeat in
the 2004 "Orange
Revolution".
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were at loggerheads after he fired
her from the
post of prime minister and eventually accepted Yanukovich as
her
replacement - but she vowed yesterday to do her utmost to forge a
working
alliance with the president.
She also vehemently denounced
suggestions that Yushchenko's party could form
a "grand coalition" with the
Regions Party, something she said would be a
betrayal of the Orange
Revolution, which overturned Yanukovich's fraudulent
election
"victory".
Tymoshenko attributed the orange team's shambolic
post-revolution efforts to
govern to "too much political optimism and
romanticism", but asked for
another chance with an imprecation for "everyone
who loves Ukraine to unite
as one team".
However, as dozens of white-
and-red balloons swirled up over Lviv, and
Tymoshenko waved her goodbyes,
many people left for home still weary of
Ukraine's politics.
"We were
all for Yushchenko and Tymoshenko in 2004, but nothing improved,"
said Roman
(44) who refused to give his surname.
"Our politicians promise everyone
the earth but, when they get power, they
just squabble among themselves."
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7
. UKRAINE
VOTES
The country faces enormous economic challenges as it
heads to the polls.
COMMENTARY: By Bruce P. Jackson, The Daily
Standard
Washington, D.C. Thursday, September 27, 2007
THIS SUNDAY'S
parliamentary election in Ukraine shares at least one thing in
common with
next year's Presidential election in the United States. During
overlong
campaigns, in the parade of political personalities and the
blizzard of
distortions and half truths, it is nearly impossible to remember
what either
election is all about.
Although our candidates use the campaign to show
off what they imagine to
be their attractive qualities (toughness,
trustworthiness, and often only
good looks), the 2008 American election is
about the foreign policy crisis
which this country has
entered.
Basically, the average American is questioning his country's
role and
purpose in international politics. The war in Iraq is the proximate
cause of
this loss of national self-confidence, but the underlying question
of what
the United States should do and not do both at home and abroad has
been
simmering since the end of the Cold War.
In a nutshell, our
Presidential debate is between those who think the United
States is like
Winston Churchill's England in 1940: beleaguered, but brave
and fundamentally
on the right side of history.
And others who think the United States
should come to resemble Sweden;
well-adjusted, graciously multi-lateral, and
content to spend more time at
home. But you would never know that to listen
to our candidates this year.
In Ukraine, it is even harder to identify
what underlying question will be
addressed in the upcoming
election.
Some of the confusion lies in the truly staggering amount of
political
shouting and personal vitriol which passes for campaigning in
Ukraine, but
the fact that the elections were triggered by presidential fiat
and not by a
constitutional schedule further confused the issue.
And
none of Ukraine's candidates have gone very far out of their way to
explain
to the voters how complex and difficult the challenges any
government in Kiev
will face are.
Various theories have been advanced to explain the
prolonged political
crisis in Ukraine, all of them at best partially true and
most completely
false.
[1] The original explanation was that Ukraine's
frequent, indecisive
elections were part of the process of building a
Ukrainian nation.
While there may be some superficial truth to the
perception that people from
Lvov, Odessa, and Dnipropetrovs'k are not overly
fond of each other,
everyone believes (even politicians) they are part of a
Ukrainian nation and
are fiercely patriotic.
[2] About a year ago, a
second theory appeared which held that the elections
would be a decision on
whether Ukraine would be a pro-Russian state or a
pro-European state. This
theory is demonstrably false and intentionally
misleading.
The culture
and history that Ukraine shares with Russia is a matter of
historical fact,
and history cannot be rewritten by election or referendum.
Similarly, the
intimacy of Ukraine's relations with Europe is established by
history,
geography, and shared economic interest.
Ukraine will always be close to
and independent of both Russia and Europe,
and there is nothing any of
Ukraine's parties can do about it. We can be
confident that this election is
not about violating the iron laws of
geopolitics.
[3] The final theory
and the one with the greatest following today is that
this parliamentary
election is about political stability, and there is some
truth to this. We
all hope that the next government of Ukraine can, well . .
.
govern.
The government of Yulia Timoshenko performed poorly on the
economy and was
dismissed after only seven months. The government of Victor
Yanukovich did
better on the economy and joining the WTO, but failed to
maintain the trust
of its coalition partners and was also
dismissed.
Indeed so many ministers, judges, and parliaments have been
dismissed since
2004, only Khmelnytskyy still holds his original position on
St. Sofia
Square.
Certainly, Sunday's election is about political
stability, but stability is
only a condition, not an objective. It seems to
me that for the Ukrainian
voter the choice of the next prime minister and the
coalition that provides
his government a political mandate is fundamentally a
choice about Ukraine's
economic future.
Ukraine is on the threshold of
entering the World Trade Organization, which
is the gateway to the global
economy. Europe is prepared for the first time
in at least a century to
consider opening a free trade zone with Ukraine,
something the European Union
did with Turkey 40 years ago.
Moving Ukraine into international markets
and opening European markets for
Ukrainian goods would make a far greater
difference for the average family
in Ukraine than the distant possibility of
NATO membership or whether
Ukraine's bureaucrats speak Ukrainian or Russian
or both.
Today, major Russian companies are listed on the London Stock
Exchange,
where they can attract investment and raise capital. No major
Ukrainian
company is listed on any European or American exchange.
Over
the last ten years, Ukraine has attracted a small fraction of the
foreign
direct investment its neighbors, Poland and Slovakia, were able to
bring in.
This factor alone has curtailed growth, depressed salaries and
cost Ukrainian
workers job security.
In a few short years, students and workers from the
Baltics, Poland, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria will
travel freely
throughout the European Union and the United States without
visas.
But the next generation of Ukrainian students will be denied
these
educational opportunities, and its workers will be prohibited
from
exercising the mobility of their labor.
As a result, over the
next generation, Ukrainian families will be
significantly poorer than they
should be--unless, of course, the next
government in Kiev gets serious and
gets to work.
These are the stakes on Sunday. The Ukrainian voters have
to choose the
party list which they believe will best be able to get their
wives and
husbands and children out of the economic trap into which Ukraine
and
all of Eastern Europe fell after the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
Much of the campaign ignored the issues that affect the lives of
ordinary
citizens: jobs, education, and growth.
The real question that
will or at least should be decided on Sunday is who
is most capable of
driving through the economic reforms and opening the
international markets
that are essential if the sons and daughters of
Ukraine are to prosper in the
21st
century.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce
P. Jackson is President of the Project on Transitional Democracies,
a
bi-partisan non-profit organization based in Washington,
DC.
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8
. UKRAINE'S CONTENDERS FIGHT OVER
JADED POPULACE
By Roman Olearchyk and Stefan Wagstyl,
Financial Times
London, United Kingdom, Thursday, September 27,
2007
When Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's prime minister, hits the Black Sea
port
of Odessa in the last days of campaigning before Sunday's
parliamentary
elections, the crowd greets him with cheers, applause and a
mass of blue
flags.
President Victor Yushchenko has called elections
early, only 18 months after
the last parliamentary vote, to try to resolve
his bitter three-year power
struggle with Mr Yanukovich.
Speaking in
the city's Greek square, Mr Yanukovich urges voters to reject
his two main
rivals: Mr Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, the firebrand
ex-prime minister,
who together led the 2004 Orange Revolution.
His voice hoarse after weeks
of speech-making, he says: "We need to unite
and once and for all say No to
this Orange horde. . . . to wipe them out of
politics."
The 3,000
supporters respond with a shout. But all is not what it seems.
Prominent
among those with the blue flags of Mr Yanukovich's Regions party
are students
who say they were paid to attend.
Alongside stand elderly people
transported from the countryside, happy to
participate in exchange for a
day out. The Regions party denies making
such payments, saying the
claims are "black PR".
On the same day as Mr Yanukovich's campaign,
hundreds of students and rural
pensioners are gathered outsi de Odessa's
Opera house waving orange flags to
welcome Mr Yushchenko.
The students
at both events say the going rate is $10 - quite an incentive
in a country
where the average wage is less than $200 a month. Mr
Yushchenko's bloc made
no comment about the alleged payments.
The Russian-speaking city of
Odessa has in the past been a hotbed of support
for Mr Yanukovich but years
of political infighting have caused voters to
become disillusioned and
apathetic.
Odessa is a significant city for election candidates, with a
population of
1m against Ukraine's overall 46m, an estimated 20m-25m of whom
vote.
Across Ukraine, politicians are struggling to generate enthusiasm.
Voters
are not only jaded by three years of political turmoil but also
frustrated
with business oligarchs manipulating politicians, and angry that
rapid
economic growth is not, as they see it, benefiting ordinary
people.
Back in Kiev, however, pre-election tensions rose this week. In
an apparent
attempt to emulate the Orange Revolution of 2004, Mr Yanukovich's
party took
control of Kiev's main square, setting up tent camps guarded by
hundreds of
supporters to protest against electoral fraud.
Opinion
polls, however, suggest Mr Yanukovich's Regions party could still
win 30-35
per cent of the vote and remain the largest parliamentary
grouping.
Mr
Yushchenko's Our Ukraine People's Self Defence bloc is fighting hard
to
retain the 14 per cent it won last year but may be losing support to
Ms
Tymoshenko, who could see the share of her party, BYuT, rise to 25-27
per
cent.
She is concentrating her attacks on Mr Yanukovich, hoping to
use electoral
success to secure the prime ministership and persuade the
president to
recreate the Orange alliance.
Ukraine's political
landscape reflects an east-west divide. Mr Yanukovich, a
former lorry driver,
hails from the industrialised east, where support is
stronge st for close
ties with Moscow, for caution in relations with the
west and for wider
official use of the Russian language alongside Ukrainian.
Mr Yushchenko,
a former central banker, stands for rapid integration with
the European
Union, Nato and the global economy. He is strongest in the
west, where
anti-Russian sentiment flourishes.
Ms Tymoshenko is a maverick, who
supported Mr Yushchenko in 2004 but then
fell out with him, partly owing to
personality clashes and partly over her
populist anti-big-business
policies.
Now she has toned down her rhetoric and built up her contacts
in the EU and
the US, trying to supplant Mr Yushchenko in the west's
affections.
All three main leaders have attempted to renew their appeal
with help from
top US political advisers. At times the campaigning has
changed in tone from
previous years, with less vitriol and more positive
messages, such as
promises of economic growth.
All three parties
have retained a strong dose of populism, competing with
pledges to raise
pensions, salaries and social payments.
But, as the vote has neared, Mr
Yanukovich has resorted to divisive old
tactics to shore up his support in
eastern Ukraine. In recent speeches he
has promised a combined referendum on
Nato membership (which he
opposes) and on granting official status to the
Russian language.
With a third of voters undecided, some fears of
localised election fraud and
smaller parties picking up support, the result
is unclear. As Renaissance
Capital, the investment bank, says in a report,
"The political campaign has
brought no clarity on the likely
outcome."
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9
. UKRAINE: HARVEST TIME FOR
FARMERS' VOTES
ANALYSIS: By Jim Davis, Business Ukraine
magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 24, 2007
Ukrainian
politicians are always sure to turn their attention to the
agrarian sector
when elections are near - albeit temporarily
This year's crop of electoral
promises is bountiful on the Ukrainian steppe,
but just which way the
agricultural vote is headed is as uncertain as
tomorrow's weather
forecast.
Ukrainian agriculture has never fully recovered from the
horrors of
collectivisation under Stalin in the 1930s, but remains of
enormous
strategic importance for all parties.
Even today, 16 years
since independence and eight years past the time that
then-president Leonid
Kuchma decreed the extinction of all remaining
collective farms, most major
political parties continue to talk about the
village and agriculture as if
one might be synonymous with the other.
COURTING THE VILLAGE VOTE
Although the
Our Ukraine website sets out the bloc's agricultural policies,
perhaps a
recent visit by the president to Cherkasy gave greater clarity to
the
presidential party's views.
Yushchenko's rhetoric naturally had a
familiar ring as he told the crowd:
"Wheat for Ukraine is like oil for
Russia. I see it as the nation's
strategic course."
Just as at all
agricultural meetings, the president pushed his political
agenda with a
statement that the government, "constantly interferes" in the
agricultural
sector.
He called many of its grain policies, "remarkably absurd and
negative," and
reprimanded the cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych
for using
non-market methods.
He went on to say a state that does not
promote commercial interests in
agriculture often has to import grain. He
further derided the government's
administrative and restrictive measures as,
".unprofessional and
irresponsible."
Our Ukraine's website gets into
much greater specifics with talk of
"renewing Ukraine's villages.transparent
registration of property rights on
land. decreasing land taxes for
villagers."
As with most campaign manifestos, the site has a laundry list
of goodies,
including a promise of UAH 20,000 in state aid and social housing
for
university graduates who agree to work not less than three years
in
villages.
In addition, there would be a 20% monthly salary bonus
for village teachers,
doctors, cultural and social sphere employees; and
every village can count
on a village dispensary or medical-aid station with a
car.
Finally, the site says that Our Ukraine would assure that every
pupil living
three kilometers away or more from school would get paid bus
transport and
every village school would get Internet access by
2010.
Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defence
Bloc, is
even bolder with his acknowledgements, telling a recent Vasilkiv
news
conference that the moratorium on land sales must be abolished. He also
said
pointedly that in spite of leftist opposition to land sales,
".nevertheless
it is on sale."
He added: "It is necessary to put
agricultural land up for sale on an open
and fair market and pass the
corresponding laws that will secure the peasant
from predatory buying of
[agricultural] lands." A few years ago, a statement
of this type would have
been a scandal; today it is considered to be
relatively normal campaign
rhetoric.
REGIONS ACCUSED OVER
GRAIN
The Party of Regions' platform statement on
agricultural is very broad in
nature and rings many of the bells that resound
with agriculturalists.
However, the Regions party is considered more
industrially oriented and
bears the burden of having over the last year taken
what many in the farming
community would consider very negative decisions
about grain exports.
Echoing the historical concentration on the village
as the center of
farming, the Regions manifesto calls for new effective forms
of management,
wider implantation of rent and land mortgage policy, plus
support of native
producers and products.
It goes on to call for
modern equipment provision on a leasing basis;
formation of land and mortgage
banks; support for private farmers, and
solving the price disparity between
farm and industrial production.
TYMOSHENKO
TARGETS THE RURAL VOTE
Perhaps unique among Ukraine's
politicians, Yulia Tymoshenko has a talent
for picking issues and pleasing
crowds. Her website and campaign materials
make much of her support for
agriculture, but where she lists specific
priorities, agriculture hardly
receives mention.
However, in her frequent visits to villages in
out-of-the-way places, she
seems to know the right buttons to push to get
farmers and villagers
excited.
During recent village visits, she has
claimed that residents pay four times
more for imported gas than
locally-produced gas, saying that a solution
would only require a decision at
governmental level. This suggestion of what
would in effect be subsidised gas
prices for farm villages is a very popular
item on the rural
hustings.
Tymoshenko continues to play the populist card when it comes to
the sale of
land, telling villagers in one case: "Today they try to start a
negative
plan for Ukraine, which, obviously, was worked out by
non-Ukrainians, after
which they intend at first to distribute land, then
cheapen it and sell it
so that common people could never again own this land
in Ukraine."
"We consider that it is necessary to give land to peasants.
If they lease it
out, they must get the payment they deserve from
leaseholders," she added.
Tymoshenko has also promised that peasant
farmers must be recipients of
cheap credit at interest rates of 3-4%, which
she claims to be already the
case in western Europe.
On other village
visits, she has made much of the fact that average salaries
in the
agricultural sector are below the national average. She proposed
levelling this disparity with lower taxes for agricultural
workers.
In some regions where the dairy farming tradition is strong,
Tymoshenko has
complained that large dairies, which she refers to as
"monopolists," control
the dairy industry. They buy milk from farmers for
"kopecks.A litre of milk
is cheaper than a litre of ordinary water," she
recently told one crowd.
When it comes to working the crowds who attend
her frequent village
meetings, Tymoshenko is clearly skilled and she hopes to
pick up a large
number of votes in spite of the fact that she is preaching an
economic
policy that many see as being out of step with current Ukrainian
realities.
COMMUNISTS - MORE OF THE
SAME
The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) remains true
to its traditional
principles, with government control of agriculture and
high subsidisation of
peasant farmers forming the policy bedrock.
The
CPU agricultural manifesto begins with a statement that at least 50%
of
agricultural production would be subject to government order with funds
to
support such orders earmarked at no less than 10% of the gross
national
product.
The CPU wants soft credit facilities, with interest
rates not to exceed 5%
for support of the development of the country's
agro-industrial complex.
Unsaid, but clearly implied, is that these soft
credits would go only to
state-owned enterprises, as was historically the
case.
State ownership of, ". land, mineral wealth, the atmosphere,
forests, water
resources and other natural resources within the territorial
boundaries of
Ukraine" remains a key part of the Communist agenda, with
special emphasis
on opposing the sale of agricultural land.
SOCIALIST - PIVOTAL NO
MORE?
Like the Communists, the Socialists have added no new
strings to their
political bow and still argue for a return to a greater role
for government
in the economy and increased ownership of essential elements
of the nation's
productive capacity.
In particular, the buying and
selling of agricultural land is anathema to
the Socialists, and control of
priority branches of the economy remains part
of the Socialist manifesto, but
according to polls it seems unlikely that
they will get the chance to
implement their well-worn agricultural agenda
following the elections.
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10
. POLITICAL
TURMOIL FAILS TO STUNT UKRAINE'S GROWTH
By Conor
Humphries, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, September 27,
2007
KIEV - Ukraine's political scene has weathered three years of mass
protests,
fights in parliament and the president ignoring the government.
The business
world, meanwhile, has had an uncannily smooth ride.
Far
from complaining that politicians aren't tending to the economy, many
are
grateful they're too busy squabbling to get in the way.
"It has really
had zero effect," Kiev-based magazine publisher Jed Sunden
said of the
ongoing political crisis. "The disagreements ... have the
positive effect of
limiting the government's caprices," said Sunden, the
American general
director of KP Media and a veteran of the local business
scene.
Political turmoil has led to a third national election in
three years, which
will be held Sunday. But the country's economy is
booming, with chic cafes
vying for space with designer clothes shops on the
capital's streets.
Growth rates are set to be more than double those of
the European Union at
around 6.5 percent for this year, estimated Yekaterina
Malofeyeva of the
Renaissance Capital investment bank.
Apartment
prices in Kiev have more than doubled in two years, while direct
foreign
investment was up 50 percent in the first six months of this year.
"I
don't see any reason for a slowdown in the economy," Malofeyeva said.
"People in Ukraine are very much used to the levels of political risk. "The
government is weak, disorganized, so it can offer relatively few surprises,"
she said. "Things are predictable and in this sense rather
stable."
Campaigning ahead of Sunday's elections, which are seen as
unlikely to solve
the protracted crisis, has focused on how to share out of
the proceeds of
the boom, boosted by high prices for the country's metal
exports.
Despite the rapid growth, the average wage remains 250 dollars
per month,
according to official statistics, just over half of the level in
neighbouring Russia and a fraction of those in the European Union, which
Ukraine eventually wants to join.
"All parties have social
development at the top of their agenda," said
Yevhenia Akhtyrko, an
economist with Kiev's International Centre for Policy
Studies. "Everyone is
competing to promise the most."
Part of the reason for the largesse is
the fact that many in the country
have tired of the endless political
battles between pro-Russian Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovych and
western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko.
The political strife dates
back to the "Orange Revolution" in 2004, when
hundreds of thousands of
Yushchenko supporters took to the streets to
overturn an election rigged in
favour of Yanukovych.
Yushchenko's victory helped convince foreign
investors that Ukraine was on
the way to eventual European integration,
sparking an inflow of investment,
Malofeyeva said.
"Knowledge of
Ukraine has expanded much more than before," she said.
"People see Ukraine as a country with political and economic problems, but
one that is moving in the European direction."
The picture is not
all rosy, however.
Small businesses complain of stifling bureaucracy and
rampant corruption,
while rapid changes in power mean it is difficult for
businessmen to secure
the necessary contacts with those in power to quickly
resolve conflicts,
Malofeyeva said.
Big business, meanwhile, is
bracing for the possible return to the prime
minister's office of the
firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko -- fearing a repeat of
her campaign to revise
shady privatisation deals from the regime of
Yushchenko's
predecessor.
And then there are the unlucky few who have to deal with the
thousands of
political activists, often living in hastily pitched tents, who
surround
government buildings at regular intervals.
"The unrest is
very negative: we get fewer businesspeople, less tourists
come," said Larisa
Trofimenko, General Director of the Kiev Hotel,
unfortunately located at the
heart of the government district, overlooking
the parliament. "As soon as
the political situation calms down, the hotel
fills up, people are calm
again."
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11
. PROGRESS
ALONG THE ROCKY ROAD TO DEMOCRACY
COMMENTARY: Peter
Dickinson, Business Ukraine magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 24,
2007
With less than a week to go before Ukraine goes to the polls, there
remains
much muttering and resentment that an election is being held at all.
There
is, however, more cause for optimism than many believe
At first
glance the election has all the makings of a serious setback for
Ukrainian
democracy.
A worrying percentage of the population remain adamant that
they will not
be voting at all, while others seem to be viewing their vote as
a social
duty
to their regional chieftains rather than a moral obligation
or opportunity
to stand up for their personal beliefs or initiate change for
the better.
The old mantra that the political classes are all the same
has gained new
currency and campaign promises are largely regarded with
unconcealed
disdain.
There is little here that needs explaining, given
the steady stream of
disappointments that followed the euphoria of 2004.
However, the fact
remains that amid all the moans and groans, the fires of
Ukrainian democracy
continue to burn despite numerous attempts to quash the
flames with
bucketfuls of cynicism and sabotage.
Three years since the
Orange Revolution shook the populace out of its
apathetic slumber, the idea
that Ukraine's great democratic breakthrough
could somehow be reversed now
lies in tatters.
POLITICAL CLIMATE
CHANGE
At every level there have been indications of an
emerging democratic culture
which holds promise for the country's European
ambitions.
The election campaign has been well covered by the
increasingly professional
and unhindered Ukrainian media, and the various
parties have been accorded
their fair share of airtime without the mysterious
electrical blackouts and
blatant propaganda of yesteryear.
Meanwhile,
the institutionalised spoiling tactics and administrative
manipulation of
previous campaigns have made random but mercifully brief
appearances, much
like the fading symptoms of a once-sick patient well on
the road to
recovery.
Whereas in 2004 Viktor Yushchenko found himself barred from
landing at
airports throughout the country and his activists were harried and
harassed
wherever government support was considered sufficient to allow it,
this
year's campaign has seen opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko
holding
massive public rallies in city centres throughout the government
strongholds
of south-eastern Ukraine, an unthinkable development just a few years
ago.
We will still doubtless be treated to all sorts of polling day
tricks and
accusations, but the very fact that such irregularities are now
seen as
potent political weapons by all sides of the political spectrum is
evidence
in itself that fraud and falsification are no longer regarded as a
valid
part of post-Soviet politics in today's Ukraine.
The historical
fissures that scar the Ukrainian landscape remain a factor in
any political
debate, but the move away from Soviet-style them and us
rhetoric towards
policy issues that has marked this campaign suggests that
the ugly politics
of ethnicity is losing its potency as a tool to divide and
polarise the
Ukrainian population.
Ukraine has yet to reach the level of political
maturity where ideas can
genuinely triumph over personalities, but this is
nevertheless progress
worth noting.
TIME FOR THE POLITICIANS TO CATCH UP
If they are to entertain hopes of staying in office, Ukraine's
politicians
must now reinvent themselves in line with the national
dynamic.
Viktor Yanukovych will have to do a lot more than learn how to
smile and
refrain from swearing in public if he wants the electorate to take
seriously
the spin that he is somehow a new man.
Likewise, his party
will have to add substance to the oft-cited refrain that
they are interested
in embracing international business practices and moving
out of the
shadows.
Attempts by the Regions-led coalition to return to the practices
of old led
directly to the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada this year and if
this
lesson is not taken on board there is no reason to assume that the
exercise
could not be repeated.
Despite their long and loud
protestations, the governing coalition
eventually accepted the president's
decree and faced up to the inevitability
of new elections. They now need to
demonstrate that other lessons have also
been learnt.
The shaky Orange
alliance will have to overcome its childish infighting and
perceived populism
if it is to regain power and, crucially, hold onto it for
any meaningful
period of time.
Yulia Tymoshenko has responded to criticism over empty
promises by focusing
much of her bloc's campaign on concrete policy
objectives that have been
painstakingly spelled out for voters and others
have found themselves forced
to follow her lead or be left behind in the
process.
Ultimately, as they decide whether to vote or not, Ukrainians
should bear in
mind that a healthy distrust of their political classes is
part and parcel
of just about every functioning democracy in the world. It is
a sign of a
strong, open society, not an indication that the situation is
hopeless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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12
. DEVOID OF ORANGE
REVOLUTION OPTIMISM, UKRAINE
HEADS INTO FOURTH ELECTION IN THREE
YEARS
Associated Press (AP), Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sep
27 2007
KYIV - Ukrainians vote this weekend in the fourth national
elections in
three years, attempting to break a political deadlock that pits
seekers of
cautious change against bold reformers, Russian against Ukrainian
speakers,
guardians of Slavic heritage against champions of European
integration.
The cast of characters vying for control is the same as
during the 2004
Orange Revolution: the Western-leaning President Viktor
Yushchenko; his
archrival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych; and the
glamorous opposition
crusader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Gone, however, is the
hope that swept the nation three years ago when
thousands of protesters
gathered in the bitter cold of Kyiv's main square
and stood up for democracy
and reform.
In its place is a widespread sense of the futility of the
political process.
"I am disappointed in everybody - they have no
programs, they have no
shame," said Zinaida Ivanova, a 70-year-old retiree
who supplements her
monthly pension of about $100 by selling cigarettes in
downtown Kyiv.
The Sunday, Sept. 30 election "is not going to liquidate
the deep crisis,"
predicted Vadim Karasyov, head of the Kyiv-based Institute
on Global
Strategies.
Polls suggest a three-way split between the
country's main parties, leading
to the prospect of protracted coalition
talks. After the vote, all three
political leaders are calling for changes
in the Constitution to break the
political paralysis.
Ukraine's
Constitution, hastily revised during the Orange Revolution,
divides
executive powers between the president and prime minister - leaving
it
unclear who has the power to do what.
Last year, Yanukovych's allies
blocked Yushchenko's choice for foreign
minister from attending Cabinet
sessions for several weeks, provoking his
resignation. In the spring,
Yushchenko fired his prosecutor general, a
Yanukovych ally. But police loyal
to the prime minister prevented the
prosecutor's removal.
Yushchenko
and Tymoshenko want Ukrainians to decide in a referendum who
should hold
more power, the president or the premier. Yanukovych, meanwhile,
wants to
change the constitution to make Russian the second official
language and
block any NATO bid.
But it seems unlikely Ukraine's bickering politicians
will find it any
easier to rewrite the constitution than to govern
together.
Ukraine's voters will pick from 20 parties, but no more than six
are
expected to pass the 3 percent threshold needed to win seats in the
450-member Verkhovna Rada.
Of those six, just the parties led by
Yushchenko, Yanukovych and Tymoshenko
are expected to gain enough seats to
form the base for a potential governing
coalition.
Yushchenko's
ambition to bring Ukraine closer to the European Union and
implement
pro-market reforms suffered a major blow in 2006, when his
plummeting
popularity opened the way for the once discredited Yanukovych to
take over
as prime minister.
Since then, neither has been able to impose his vision
for Ukraine, with
Yushchenko putting his dreams of quickly joining the EU on
hold and
Yanukovych moderating his pro-Russian stance.
Tymoshenko
could hold the key to the hopes of Western-looking, self-styled
reformers.
She aims to unite with Yushchenko's forces in Parliament and
return as prime
minister - a post she held briefly until Yushchenko
dismissed her government
in September 2005.
Smaller parties such as the communists and the
socialists are likely to
drive hard bargains for their support, if they get
in.
International observers praised last year's elections as Ukraine's most
democratic ever, but some fear this vote will not be as free and fair. It is
being run by the government of Yanukovych, whose 2004 presidential election
victory was declared fraudulent by a court.
The Orange Revolution
that swept Yushchenko to power despite the Kremlin's
open backing of
Yanukovych sent shock waves through Russia and the rest of
the former Soviet
Union.
The image of Yushchenko - his face disfigured by dioxin poisoning
- battling
on for victory inspired millions around the world. Yushchenko's
victory led
some to predict that a tide of non-violent revolutions would
turn out a
number of governments with strong links to the Soviet
past.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of other former Soviet
republics tightened controls on opposition groups and planned for ways to
prevent their own political upheavals.
In Ukraine, Yanukovych has
staged a stunning comeback since the days when he
suffered the double stigma
of being linked to a rigged election and seen as
a Kremlin
tool.
Aided by Western consultants, Yanukovych reinvented himself. He
began
courting the West, distanced himself from Moscow and praised the very
mass
protests that denied him the presidency in 2004.
As Yushchenko's
fortunes dimmed, Yanukovych's grew brighter. Korrespondent
magazine called
the prime minister Ukraine's most powerful politician of
2007.
In the
current race, Yanukovych, 57, has promised to raise pensions and the
current
average wage of $258 (?190), increase child support benefits and
improve
health care. His message: The Orange forces of Yushchenko and
Tymoshenko can
only quarrel, but his team means business.
Tymoshenko, the former prime
minister and heroine of the Orange Revolution
who wears her blonde hair in a
halo braid, has led an aggressive campaign
dubbed "the Ukrainian
breakthrough."
The steel-willed politician - sometimes described as "the
only man in
Ukrainian politics" - describes herself as the only leader able
to rein in
corrupt businesses and end what she called "the carving up of
Ukraine."
The 46-year-old vows to tackle corruption, raise living
standards, build
homes for young families and help Ukraine quickly catch up
with the rest of
Europe.
She has also vowed to annul the sales of a
number of major enterprises,
which she contends were stolen from the
state.
That drive alarmed investors when she was prime minister. But
Tymoshenko
insists she will pursue recovery of state property to resell it
in honest
auctions.
Yushchenko's team has struggled. Faced with
sinking support, his bloc has
sought to rebrand itself by paring an
embattled business tycoon and other
unpopular figures from its list of top
candidates. It has replaced them with
what it portrays as energetic
reformers.
The days when the 53-year-old Yushchenko, a former central
banker, might be
seen as a martyr to democracy are long gone. This time
around, he has not
managed to inspire much enthusiasm.
His bloc
promises to strip lawmakers of immunity from prosecution, with a
bespectacled president proclaiming from billboards that "there is one law
for all."
Voters don't seem impressed. People are too preoccupied
with their
pocketbooks, analysts say, to worry about loftier
concerns.
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13
. UKRAINE: PLAYING THE
POPULIST CARD
By Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, September 27,
2007
KYIV - If Ukrainians are to believe the promises being made by the
parties
participating in the country's early parliamentary elections, their
lives
should improve regardless of who wins.
The major players in the
September 30 polls have all made generous pledges
to the electorate. The
question is how they plan to overcome the
mathematical impossibility of
paying for all that has been promised.
There are three clear frontrunners
among the 20 parties and blocs registered
for Ukraine's September 30
parliamentary elections -- the ruling Party of
Regions led by Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych, and the pro-presidential
Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense
bloc and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc -- two
former allies in the 2004 Orange
Revolution.
Opinion polls suggest that none of the three forces is set to
win an
outright majority in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada. They also indicate
that,
as in the March 2006 elections, the Party of Regions' performance
will
likely be matched by Our-Ukraine-People's Self Defense and the
Yulia
Tymoshenko Bloc combined.
DIFFERENCE MAKERS
If such predictions turn out
to be true, the fate of a future ruling
coalition may hinge on the
performance of two other parties that pollsters
envision being in the next
parliament: the Communist Party and the Lytvyn
Bloc.
Most polls
forecast that the Socialist Party, which obtained 5.7 percent of
the vote in
2006, will not overcome the 3 percent threshold for
parliamentary
representation this time around.
In contrast to the 2004 presidential and
2006 parliamentary elections,
traditionally divisive foreign-policy thorns
like Ukraine's potential NATO
membership or domestic irritants like making
Russian the second state
language have been conspicuously muted or even
eliminated as campaign
issues.
Instead, the election frontrunners have
focused on outdistancing one another
in promises of socioeconomic
windfalls.
Four expenditure items are present in the election manifestos
of each of the
three frontrunners: substantial payments to families bringing
new Ukrainians
into the world and monthly child support as a way to reverse
the country's
demographic decline; an increase in student allowances and
stipends; the
development of rural areas; and a considerable increase in
military spending
as part of the effort to develop a professional
army.
UNFULLFILLABLE
PROMISES?
In addition, each party has added its own unique
promises to the mix. For
example, the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense wants
to increase the
minimum wage and the average monthly wage by some 60 percent
in 2008.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc vows to return, within two years, more
than $25
billion of savings lost by Ukrainians as a result of the collapse of
the
Soviet Union in 1991.
The Party of Regions pledges to provide
workers with apartments upon the
conclusion of 20 years working for the
state.
The Communists want to increase the minimum pension level to 70
percent of
the average monthly wage, a measure that would cost the state an
extra $20
billion per year. The Lytvyn Bloc proposes a dramatic wage hike
that would
cost an extra $60 billion per year.
Four Ukrainian economic
experts commenting in the September 22-28 issue of
the Kyiv-based weekly
"Zerkalo nedeli" took the election promises at face
value and tallied them
up.
Promises made by the Party of Regions would cost $40 billion, while
those by
the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense
bloc
were estimated at $20 billion each.
The most generous were the
Communists, whose election program entails an
extra $60 billion in spending,
and the Lytvyn Bloc, which would need no less
than an extra $90 billion to
follow its program to the letter.
Adding a dose of reality to the
situation, the four experts noted that
Ukraine's consolidated budget revenues
in 2007 were expected to be just $40
billion.
ZEAL OVER IMMUNITY
A somewhat more realistic
-- and no less populist -- goal is the solemn vow
of both the current
parliamentary opposition and the ruling coalition to
cancel parliamentary
immunity from prosecution, which is widely seen in
Ukraine as a shield for
corrupt politicians.
But even on this tricky constitutional issue, the
Ukrainian political class
could not avoid inflating the situation in an
effort to garner cheap
applause.
The proposal to strip lawmakers of
immunity initially came from President
Viktor Yushchenko and the Our
Ukraine-People's Self-Defense.
But this sound idea was subsequently
blunted by the ruling coalition through
their calls for the abolition of
immunity not just for legislators, but also
for the president, the prime
minister, and other high-ranking officials,
including judges.
Making
the initial idea appear even more incongruous, the ruling coalition
held a
controversial parliamentary session earlier this month (which was
condemned
as illegal by the opposition) during which it voted to abolish
immunity for
parliamentarians and the president.
For whatever reason, the prime
minister and other government officials were
ignored in the coalition's rush
to contribute to the elimination of
corruption in the country.
But it
would be wrong to condemn Ukrainian politicians for exploiting
the
gullibility of the electorate to achieve political goals. As long as
voters
fail to hold politicians accountable for their promises, such
practices will
continue -- and not just in Ukraine.
However, what
remains of utmost importance in Ukrainian politics is the
continued
perception among Ukrainians that, following the 2004 Orange
Revolution,
elections offer them genuine political choice.
such circumstances, one
day Ukrainian voters may also develop a taste for
distinguishing between
empty pledges and practical
ideas.
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14
. UKRAINE'S POLITICAL
CLANS GRID FOR AFTER-
THE-PARLIAMENTARY-VOTE PROTESTS
FEATURE:
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA)
Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, 27 September 2007
KIEV - The first vote in
Ukraine's election Sunday has yet to be cast - but
irrespective of who wins,
the country's warring political clans intend to
object strenuously to the
result.
On Thursday afternoon on Kiev's Maidan Square, site of Ukraine's
dramatic
pro-democracy Orange Revolution in late 2004, campaign workers in
green
military tents were girding for the long haul, a good 60 hours before
voting
opens.
"We are here because the Oranges (opponents of the
pro-Russia Regions
Ukraine party) will do anything to win," said Halina
Kotovska. "We will
fight for Democracy - and stay right here until the votes
are honestly
counted."
During the 2004 mass marches, some 15,000
pro-Democracy activists took up
residence in tents and public buildings in
central Kiev to protest a rigged
presidential election.
Hundreds of
thousands of Kievites took to the streets as well, forcing the
government to
hold a repeat vote, eventually installing reform president
Viktor
Yushchenko.
Modern Ukrainian protesting on Thursday was, by comparison,
modest. The
warmly-dressed Regions faithful in the Maidan encampment was
hugely
outnumbered, and quite ignored, by Kievites going about their daily
business. Police presence was negligible.
Two hundred metres from the
Maidan down Kiev's main street the Khreschatyk,
some seventy students milled
next to ten camouflaged dome tents pitched in
front of the Kiev city
administration. They had pitched their tents to
protest the protest,
students explained quite seriously.
"Those people on the Maidan are
pitching tents in the centre of our capital,
how does that look to foreign
visitors?" asked Oksana Vorobei. "So we are
demonstrating to force our mayor
to force the protestors on the Maidan to go
away, and then we will go away
too."
The Kiev mayor is a Regions supporter - and Regions, with its pro-
Russia
and pro-oligarch programmes, is unpopular with many liberal- leaning
Kievites, especially students, who generally support market reform and
closer Ukrainian relations with Europe.
Vorobei, like Kotovska,
denied she was being paid to demonstrate - a common
practice in Ukrainian
demonstrations this election season, allowing some
activists to earn as much
as twenty dollars a day.
All of which would be a tempest in Ukraine's
political teapot, except that
the country's powerful political clans, all
apparently preparing to
challenge the results of the upcoming vote, first by
mobilising street
protests, and then in courts.
Oleksader Moroz, the
speaker of the last parliament and notorious for
deserting an Orange
coalition in 2006 and thereby bringing the pro-Russia
Regions to power, on
Thursday declared his party lawyers already had
prepared suits contesting
the outcome of the election, and that the
challenge could be filed as early
as the Monday morning after the Sunday
vote.
Ukrainian election law
allows any party gaining 3 per cent or more of the
popular vote seats in the
legislature, but Moroz's Socialists, once the
country's political
kingmakers, now stand at about 2.5 per cent, according
to the most recent
polls. "We will challenge the results in any case," Moroz
said, according to a Korrespondent magazine article.
More worryingly
for hopes of Ukrainian political stability, Viktor
Yanukovich, Prime
Minister leader of Regions, earlier this week alleged his
pro-Europe
opponents "are buying every single vote with money", and warned
that the
only way Regions could lose big, is if the competition cheats.
But
Yanukovich main opponent, the anti-corruption Yulia Tymoshenko of the
eponymous Block of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT), in campaign speeches this
week has been promising just that: a Regions tumble at the polls, because
Yanukovich's party allegedly lacks widespread popularity.
And if
Regions cheats, or even if there is a sign of Regions cheating, of
course
she will go to the courts, Tymoshenko told the Interfax news
agency.
Ukrainian political analysts almost without exception are
predicting weeks
if not months of political gridlock, once the Sunday
election is complete.
"We are are not going anywhere anytime soon," Kotovska
said.
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15
. UNITED STATES HELSINKI COMMISSION CHAIR
HASTINGS
AND CO-CHAIR CARDIN URGE POLITICAL STABILITY IN
UKRAINE
'September 30 Elections Vital to Advancing
Democracy'
U.S. Helsinki Commission, Washington, D.C., Mon, Sep
24, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman
of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki
Commission)
and Co-Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), issued the
following
statement regarding Ukraine's parliamentary elections that will be
held on
Sunday, September 30.
A longstanding political dispute
between President Viktor Yushchenko and
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich -
rooted in weak constitutional
delineations of their powers - resulted in a
political crisis in April and
May. After weeks of tense standoff,
agreement was reached calling for early
elections to be held on September
30.
"Since the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukraine has continued to
make real
democratic gains. And yet, one cannot turn a blind eye to
the serious
political uncertainty that has unfolded within the past
year.
"Prolonged instability is neither in Ukraine's best interest nor in
the
interest of the region and it is our sincere hope that, following the
elections, its political leaders can find solutions that will advance
political stability and democratic development.
"The consolidation of
democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine will further
strengthen its
independence and sovereignty, enhancing Ukraine's aspirations
for full
integration with the West and serving as a positive model for other
former
Soviet countries.
"It is our hope that these elections are free and
transparent in keeping
with Ukraine's OSCE commitments. We wish the
people of Ukraine much
success and look forward to continuing to strengthen U.S.-Ukrainian
bilateral
relations," said Hastings and Cardin.
In July, Congressman
Hastings, Senator Cardin and House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-MD) led a
Congressional delegation to Ukraine for the 16th
Annual Session of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's
(OSCE) Parliamentary
Assembly.
During the trip, the delegation met with Ukraine's President
Viktor
Yushchenko and other prominent Ukrainian officials, where they
received
assurances that Ukraine would not backtrack on the path to
political reform
and good governance.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission
plans to hold a briefing focusing on Ukraine's
September 30 parliamentary
elections in October, details for the event to
follow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the
Helsinki
Commission, is a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in
the
implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The
Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine from
the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of
State, Defense and Commerce.
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========================================================
16
. UKRAINE'S QUEST FOR
MATURE NATION STATEHOOD
ROUNDTABLE VIII, UKRAINE-EU
RELATIONS
October 16-17, 2007, Ronald Reagan Building,
Washington, DC
Steering Committee, Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation
Statehood
Roundtable VIII, Ukraine-EU Relations,
New York, New York,
Friday, September 28, 2007
Dear
Friend of the UA Quest RT Series,
You are
respectfully invited to be a participant in the eighth annual
roundtable of
the Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood series,
to be held at the
Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in
Washington, DC on Oct 16-17,
2007. This year, the forum will be
entitled "Ukraine-EU
Relations".
The two day conference will bring together government and key
non-
government representatives of Ukraine, the EU and the US as well
as
experts from the world of academia to examine and evaluate
Ukraine's
capacity to "thrive alongside" its great Western neighbor as well
as its
readiness, if asked to join, to eventually "thrive inside" the
European
Union.
To facilitate the said examination, the event will run
four regular sessions
featuring eight panels, six highlight focus sessions,
two working lunches
and two conference receptions. In total, nearly seventy
speakers are
expected to address the conference proceedings. The list of
invited
speakers is provided below.
Former participants of the UA
Quest Roundtable series include:
UA: B. Tarasyuk, O. Rybachuk, Y.
Yekhanurov, A. Kinakh, V. Yanukovych,
I. Plyushch, A. Yatseniuk, V.
Pustovojtenko, A. Hrytsenko, I. Mitiukov, Y.
Pavlenko, Y. Chervonenko, H.
Nemyria, Y. Lutsenko, R. Shpek
EU & RU: P. Naimski, G.
Jeszensky, J. Sherr, E. Koelsch, G. Burghardt,
A. Gross, C. Hartzell, J.
Steinoff, R. Kacer, Y. Liuk, H. Wujec, V. Usackas,
M. Riekstins, P. Zurawski
vel Grajewski, V. Igrunov, A. Lebedev
US: M. McConnell, C. Levin, P.
Wolfowitz, J. McCain, R. Lugar, Z.
Bzrezinski, R. Holbrooke, P. Dobriansky,
D. Fried, A. Wayne, D. Kramer,
C. Weldon, S. Levin, M. Hinchey, B. Taylor, C.
Pascual, S. Pifer, W. Miller,
J. Herbst, K. Smith, W. Courtney, B. Futey, M.
Kaptur, N. Lowey, C. Smith,
A. Cohen, M. Williams, C. Wallander, A.
Aslund.
You are welcome to attend all of the specified plenary
sessions. Your
presence will certainly enhance the proceedings you may
choose to join.
In addition, you are welcome to partake in Roundtable's
traditional
evening receptions. There is no registration fee for the
Roundtable but
donations are encouraged to help cover the considerable
expenses
necessary for such a Roundtable.
TWO-DAY PROGRAM SUMMARY:Tuesday, October 16
(Day One); Wednesday, October 17 (Day Two)
DAY ONE: Oct 16, Tuesday,
Registration & Coffee: 8:00-9:00am
Opening Remarks: 9:00 a.m., Last
Session: 5:00 p.m.
Conference Reception: 7:00 p.m.
DAY TWO: Oct 17,
Wednesday, Registration & Coffee: 8:00-9:00a.m.
Opening Remarks: 9:00
a.m., Concluding Remarks: 5:00 p.m.
Patron Reception: 7:00 p.m.
ENTIRE PROGRAM OUTLINE: The entire
Ukraine's Quest
for Mature Nation Statehood, Roundtable VIII, Ukraine-EU
Relations
program outline can found at the following link:
http://usukrainianrelations.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=56REGISTRATION DUE BY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER
10Due to the time constraints involved with organizing such
a large forum,
we kindly ask that you respond by Wednesday, October 10,
2007
concerning your acceptance to participate.
SUGGESTED DONATIONS: There is no registration fee
for the
Roundtable this year but donations of 50 US dollars per day
are
encouraged to help cover the considerable expenses necessary for
such
a Roundtable. If donating, please make out your check to:
"CUSUR-UA Quest
RTVIII" or use the system online when you
register to make a
donation.
ONLINE REGISTRATIONS
AVAILABLE AT:http://usukrainianrelations.org/index.php?option=com_performs&formid=1&Itemid=84Fill
out the online registration and submit online or print out registration
form
and fax to 212 473 2180 or print-out registration form and mail.
All
completed registration forms [and donations] need to be sent online,
by fax
or by mail to: Center for US Ukrainian Relations
43 St. Mark's Place, New
York, NY 10003
For further information, kindly contact Marta Kostyk, UA Quest
RTS
Technical Coordinator, by phone: (212) 473 0839, fax: (212) 473
2180,
or e-mail:
cusur1014@gmail.com, at your
convenience.
QUEST ROUNDTABLE VIII
STEERING COMMITTEE:
William Miller, Co-Chair; Bob Schaffer,
Co-Chair
Oleh Shamshur, Co-Chair; Walter Zaryckyj, Program
Coordinator
MEMBERS STEERING
COMMITTEE:Olexandr Aleksandrovich; Ilan
Berman
Nadia Diuk; Olga Fishel
Katie Fox; Nadia Komarnycky
McConnell
Elizabeth Knight; Ilko Kucheriv
Nico Lange; Orysia
Lutsewych
Lewis Madanick; Marta Matselioukh
John Micgiel; Jan
Neutze
Steven Nix; Ulyana Panchishin
Jan Pieklo; Herman
Pirchner
Jeff Smith; Morgan
Williams
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INVITED SPEAKERS:Bob Schaffer
(AFMC)
Paula Dobriansky (US Under Secretary of State)
Oleh Shamshur (UA
Ambassador to the United States)
Andrii Veselovski (Dep. Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Ukraine)
Orest Deychakivsky (CSCE)
Hryhoriy Nemyria
(BUT)
Ellen Bos (Andrassy University)
Nelson Ledsky (NDI)
Steven Nix
(IRI)
Bohdan Futey (US Court of Federal Claims)
Fred Kempe (Atlantic
Council)
Kostyantyn Hryshchenko (RPU/APM)
Borys Tarasyuk
(OU/IEAC)
Pawel Zalewski (FRC/Sejm)
David Kramer (DAS/EEA/DOS)
Adrian
Karatnyckyj (Orange Circle)
Oleksandr Todiychuk (MOU/UA-EC)
Igor Chalupec
(PKN-Orlen/Fmr. Pres.)
Friedemann Muller (Inst. for Int'l & Sec.
Affairs)
Keith Smith (CSIS); Tom Spellman (Halliburton)
John Micgiel
(Columbia University);
Janusz Reiter (PL Ambassador to the US)
Morgan
Williams (SigmaBleyzer, US-Ukraine Business Council)
Yuri Yekhanurov (Fmr. UA
Prime Minister);
David Sweere (Kyiv-Atlantic Farms)
Urszula Gacek (Senat
Rzeczpospolitej)
Anders Aslund (Peterson Institute)
Nadia McConnell
(USUF)
Mykhajlo Volynets (CITU/UA)
Robert Fielding (AFL-CIO/UA)
Marek
Matraszek (CEC)
Keith Crane (RAND)
Jan Bugajski (CSIS)
Klaus Scharioth
(DE Ambassador to the US)
Vitkor Nikityuk (UA DCM to the US)
Ilko
Kucheriv (DIF)
Joao De Vallera (Ambassador of Portugal to the United
States)
Jan Pieklo (PAUCI)
Yuri Sergeyev (UA Ambassador to the
UN)
Audrius Bruzga (Lithuanian Amb. to the US)
Steve Pifer (CSIS)
Nico
Lange (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung)
Roman Shpek (UA Delegation to EU)
Michael
Gahler (FRC/Euro-Parliament)
Ariel Cohen (Heritage Foundation)
Herman
Pirchner (AFPC)
Zbigniew Brzezinski (Senior Counselor/CSIS)
F. Steven
Larrabee (RAND)
leksandr Biletsky (European Movement/UA)
Oleksandr Sushko
(CPCFPU)
Vooldymyr Dubovyk (CIS/ONU)
Yuri Scherbak (Kyiv Mohylian
University)
Hryhoriy Perepylytysa (Dipl. Academy/UA)
Lewis Madanick (Open
World/LOC)
Bohdan Sokolovski (State Secretariat)
Bogdan Klich
(Euro-Parliament)
Steven Sestanovich (Columbia University)
Ilan Berman
(AFPC)
Yevhen Kaminsky (IWE/NASU)
James Sherr (Sandhurst)
Celeste
Wallander (Georgetown Univ.)
William Courtney (CSC/Dyncorp.)
Angelos
Pangratis (Dep. Head of the EC Delegation to the US)
William Miller
(WWIC)
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Robert Bensh (Cardinal
Resources)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPONSORS:American Foreign
Policy Council; Atlantic Council of the United States
Center For US-Ukrainian
Relations; Congressional Ukrainian Caucus
Columbia University/ECEC;
Democratic Initiatives Foundation
Embassy of Ukraine to the United States;
Harvard University/BSSP
International Republican Institute (IRI); Johns
Hopkins University/SAIS
National Democratic Institute (NDI); New York
University /LAP
UA Center for Strategic Studies; U.S.-Ukraine Business
Council
(USUBC); US-Ukraine Foundation
(USUF)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT:
Marta Kostyk, US Quest RTS Technical Coordinator
Center for US Ukrainian
Relations, 43 St. Mark's Place, NY, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 473 0839, fax: (212)
473 2180, E-mail:
cusur1014@gmail.comhttp://usukrainianrelations.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=56http://usukrainianrelations.org/index.php?option=com_performs&formid=1&Itemid=84-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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17
. ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE:
ORANGE OR BLUE?