Six opposition parties unite in new bloc led by Tymoshenko (07/15/01)

Six opposition parties unite in new bloc led by Tymoshenko

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Leaders of six opposition parties united on July 10 in a new political bloc led by former Vice Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, marking the informal start of the race for parliamentary elections long before the vote next March.

"We united to win in elections to the Verkhovna Rada and create, at last, a capable parliamentary majority devoted to Ukraine and the nation, to form a government of the people's trust, to dismiss the president, who has discredited himself and to clean the state of criminal elements, corruption, gangsterism, self-will and totalitarianism," the leaders said in a declaration signed on July 10.

The bloc adopted the name of an opposition coalition of leftist and democratic parties that had organized months of street protests earlier this year, the Forum for National Salvation. The new bloc was apparently created to renew opposition efforts after the original protests failed to attract wide popular support, as a result of which President Leonid Kuchma was considered to have won the confrontation.

The street protesters focused their anger on the death of an opposition journalist, Heorhii Gongadze; they have long urged President Kuchma's ouster.

Before the signing ceremony, Ms. Tymoshenko appealed for a minute of silence in memory of all "victims of the present regime," including politicians, journalists and ordinary people suffering from weak government support.

Ms. Tymoshenko, a former national deputy and ex-vice prime minister premier in charge of the energy sector, became a prominent opposition leader since being ousted by the president in January over allegations of corruption.

She was charged in the gas scheme and with falsifying documents and tax evasion. Most of the alleged crimes were committed in 1996-1997, when Ms. Tymoshenko headed a key energy supplier, the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine.

Ms. Tymoshenko denied any wrongdoing and claimed the case was orchestrated by political opponents. She filed a complaint against the procurator general.

"If these facts presented by the Procurator General's Office are crimes, Leonid Kuchma should appear in the case as the organizer," said Hryhorii Omelchenko, an opposition lawmaker and Tymoshenko supporter.

Ms. Tymoshenko said that since prosecutors started an investigation of her activity several months ago, she has started every morning by giving evidence to prosecutors - a situation which "became absurd."

The Forum for National Salvation said the bloc is open for other political powers to join it, hoping to attract former Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko.

Mr. Yuschenko was the first prime minister in Ukraine to introduce active reforms and managed to produce a 6 percent economic growth in 2000. He was dismissed after a vote of no-confidence by the Parliament in April.

"Our cooperation in the future is obvious; we are persons who implement the same government program and have the same ideals," said Ms. Tymoshenko, who served as Mr. Yuschenko's deputy in the government.

"I'm sure that waiting with unification and the pre-election campaign is impossible - that's why we made the first step, and I'm sure that we'll cooperate with Viktor Andriyovych (Yuschenko) in one way or another," Ms. Tymoshenko said.

Mr. Yuschenko, however, is expected to announce his own bloc in the coming days. Speaking during visit to his home region of Sumy this week, Mr. Yuschenko said he will create a bloc open for everybody who shares "Ukrainian democratic ideas," and that the bloc will be defined not by political leaders but by the principles that unite them.

"I myself will formulate the principles that I would like to see in such a bloc," Mr. Yuschenko was quoted as saying by the Den daily.

The day after Ms. Tymoshenko created her bloc, some critical reports in local newspapers said it was seen as the formal collapse of the opposition coalition, the Forum for National Salvation, which had handed down its name to Ms. Tymoshenko's grouping.

However, one of the coalition's leaders, Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, dismissed the criticism, saying that the forum had decided to create several non-competing election blocs.

"We consider it the right step," Mr. Moroz told the Segodnya daily.

The parties that joined the Forum for National Salvation include the Sobor Party, Social-Democratic Party, Republican Party, Conservative Republican Party, Christian Democrat Party and the Batkivschyna Party.

To win votes, the nationalistic part of the bloc will woo the electorate in Ukraine's western regions, while the centrist Batkivschyna party will work in the south and east - Ms. Tymoshenko's stronghold.

Ms. Tymoshenko said she would accept a proposal to join the government if her bloc wins the elections "to have more chance of influencing processes, resulting in positive, qualitative and quick results." She said it was "too early," however, to speak about her presidential ambitions.

"Let's get past the parliamentary race and see what our team is able to do, how the political field will be constituted, and the team will determine [the next step] after the elections," Ms. Tymoshenko explained.

"However, a political power like ours will fight for the chance to be in power and build its strategy, because we understand very well that nobody [else] can do this in Ukraine," she added.

One of the forum's leaders, Anatolii Matvienko, said the bloc will not abandon its previous strategy of street demonstrations.

"The opposition in civilized countries doesn't go into the streets, but has legally allotted time on television broadcasts," Mr. Matvienko said, adding that the Ukrainian opposition has no access to the people through media outlets. "The streets, will remain in the arsenal of our actions, but we will also act through the media."

The bloc's next action is scheduled for July 20, which will include a several-week-long sports rally that will travel across western Ukraine to popularize the bloc. Also, a group of public organizations will support the forum by gathering in Kyiv in September.

| Home Page |