ANALYSIS: Kuchma aide to head election bloc (12/02/01)

ANALYSIS

Kuchma aide to head election bloc

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

President Leonid Kuchma on November 23 said he approves of the intention of presidential administration chief Volodymyr Lytvyn to head the For a United Ukraine election bloc.

Mr. Kuchma called Mr. Lytvyn "a professional and a decent, honest man," adding, "today such people are few on the political scene."

The leaders of the four parties constituting the For a United Ukraine bloc - Valerii Pustovoitenko (National Democratic Party), Serhii Tyhypko (Labor Ukraine), Mykola Azarov (Party of the Regions), and Mykhailo Hladii (Agrarian Party) - said earlier this month that Mr. Lytvyn gave his consent to lead their bloc.

According to Ukrainian political commentator Vyacheslav Pikhovshek, by heading the pro-presidential bloc in the March 31, 2002 parliamentary election, Mr. Lytvyn is paving the way for his own future presidency.

"By proposing Lytvyn [as head of the bloc], Kuchma not only proves the fact that nobody is guaranteed a place near the president for a long time, but also confirms his principle: the person proposing an idea is responsible for its implementation," Mr. Pikhovshek said in his program "Epicenter" which aired on 1 + 1 Television on November 18.

Mr. Pikhovshek observed that Mr. Lytvyn is the latest person remaining from the close entourage formed by Mr. Kuchma in 1994 - the beginning of Mr. Kuchma's first presidential term.

According to Mr. Pikhovshek, Mr. Lytvyn has his own people placed in rival political forces, for example, Roman Bezsmertnyi and Petro Poroshenko, who are campaign managers in former Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's Our Ukraine election bloc.

According to Mr. Pikhovshek, For a United Ukraine is emerging as a new "party of power" for which the state administration will most likely work in the election campaign. "I am sure nobody doubts that Lytvyn will go on leave [from the presidential administration] before the elections at least to formally calm his opponents. But does his being on leave mean anything to state officials? Perhaps they will be instructed that his leave is no more than a formality," Mr. Pikhovshek commented.

Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.

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