Gloom descends upon Lviv as nationwide results are released (04/05/98)

Gloom descends upon Lviv as nationwide results are released

by Marta Dyczok
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

LVIV - Gloom has descended upon Lviv in wake of Sunday's election. Though voters here cast their ballots for democrats, they were dismayed to learn the results from other regions of Ukraine.

Despite the generally depressed atmosphere in the city, the election itself and its results in the Lviv Oblast are interesting, possibly heralding future political trends. Once again breaking with national patterns, this democratically inclined western region did not elect any Communists to the Verkhovna Rada or city council. It came as no surprise to Ukraine watchers that Rukh was the most popular party, winning 34.28 percent of the popular vote. Viktor Pynzenyk's Reform and Order Party came in second with 13.6 percent of the vote, followed by the right-wing National Front bloc, which earned support from 10.4 percent of the voters.

Of the 12 Lviv Oblast seats to the national legislature, Rukh took four, while Reform and Order won two, as did the National Front. The Christian Democrats, Agrarians and National Socialists each took one seat. The remaining deputy's chair went to independent candidate Yurii Kryvoruchko, a former student leader.

Among the Rukh winners were deputy vice-chairman Oleksander Lavrynovych and regional leader Oleksander Hudyma, who co-initiated the Rukh/NDP coalition on the local level. Rukh member Mykhailo Kosiv defeated former Rukh radical Stepan Khmara, who broke away to form his own Conservative Republican Party. Without a seat in Parliament, the future of that breakaway party has become uncertain.

Mr. Pynzenyk, a well-known reformer did win his own parliamentary seat, but his new party did not get 4 percent of the vote necessary to gain formal representation as a party in the mixed voting system employed in this election.

Locally, democratic forces did well. For the first time since independence, the city of Lviv is now clearly in their hands.

Showing political acumen still lacking on the national level, the local Rukh and National Democratic Party formed a bloc, Our City, and swept almost half the municipal seats. "Many are afraid of this move because they fear this will lead to the creation of a single, powerful centrist party," said Mr. Hudyma one of the bloc's initiators, speaking on election day.

"Please note that this initiative was taken by younger leaders of both parties - not the older national leaders," he added. This successful strategic move may set the pattern nationwide in future elections.

As The Ukrainian Weekly was going to press, municipal results were availbale for 82 of 90 seats. Forty-four have been taken by the Our City bloc, with another six going to the Reform and Order Party. The 17 independent candidates represent a variety of interests, ranging from the city's bureacracy (for example, housing official Yevhen Voloshyn), to business circles, emerging local media moguls and the medical establishment.

Popular Lviv mayor, Vasyl Kuibida of Rukh, won re-election with an estimated 70 percent of the popular vote. This was predictable, as on election day most people expressed their verbal support for Ukraine's youngest mayor, who is 39.

Iryna Kateryna was the first voter to show up at polling station No. 4 in the Halytskyi electoral district of Lviv. At 7:15 a.m. it was still dark outside and election officials were scrambling to get the five, multi-colored ballots ready for voters. "I voted for Rukh," she said, " although there was a lot to read and I didn't know all the candidates." The two federal electoral ballots listed 30 names and parties, and were printed on longer-than-legal-size paper.

"For mayor I voted for Kuibida," said the early morning voter, "because he has done a lot for the city." During his previous term he solved the city's chronic transportation problem by legalizing private mini-buses and cleaned up the city by increasing the number of public garbage cans.

As in other parts of the country, many people came out to vote. Lviv Oblast registered the sixth highest voter turnout - 76.96 percent. Polling stations were over-crowded, and election officials strained to make things run smoothly. A total of 1,188 international and local observers carefully monitored the emerging democratic process and noted that, save for minor violations, the vote went off without a hitch.

There was a real sense that people were taking the election seriously and believed that their vote was important. After attending Sunday liturgy, 63-year-old Lviv native Ivan Syvynyn made his way to his polling station on Panas Myrnyi Street in the Novyi Lviv suburb. "I'm going to vote for candidates who are ready to defend the interests of the Ukrainian people," he said confidently.

A citywide depression began setting in, however, when election results were announced and Lviv residents saw the much-feared "return of the Reds" in the east.