More parties hold congresses in run-up to March elections (01/27/02)

More parties hold congresses in run-up to March elections

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

A congress of former Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's election bloc Our Ukraine approved its election list on January 16, Ukrainian media reported. First on the list is Mr. Yuschenko, followed by four national deputies: Oleksandr Stoyan, the head of the Trade Union Federation of Ukraine; Hennadii Udovenko, the leader of the National Rukh of Ukraine; Yuriy Kostenko, the leader of the Ukrainian Popular Rukh; and Viktor Pynzenyk, the leader of the Reforms and Order Party.

Additional names on the list are: National Deputy Lilia Hryhorovych, the head of the Union of Ukrainian Women; National Deputy Oleksander Slobodian; Ivan Zayets, the vice-chairman of the Ukrainian National Rukh; former Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk; former Vice Prime Minister Mykola Zhulynskyi; Slava Stetsko, the head of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists; Les Taniuk, vice-chairman of the National Rukh of Ukraine; Our Ukraine political coordinator Roman Bezsmertnyi; Viacheslav Koval of the National Rukh of Ukraine; Serhii Sobolev of the Reforms and Order Party.

The congress also approved a list of Our Ukraine candidates running in single-seat constituencies. This list included Taras Chornovil, a son of charismatic Rukh leader Vyacheslav Chornovil, as well as lawmakers Roman Zvarych and Oleksander Zhyr.

"We are for honesty in politics, for honesty in matters connected with the governing of the state," Mr. Yuschenko said during the congress, adding, "we should do everything to restore the people's trust in the authorities."

Mr. Yuschenko also told the congress that Our Ukraine pledges "to free the country from everything that hampers its development," and said his bloc seeks to change Ukraine's "ruthless, bureaucratic and corrupt" executive power system.

Asked by journalists about possible allies in the future Parliament, Mr. Yuschenko named the Unity bloc, led by Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko and the pro-presidential For a United Ukraine, led by Volodymyr Lytvyn.

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The fiercely anti-presidential Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc on January 18 approved its election list, according to the Ukrainska Pravda website. Former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Sobor Party leader Anatolii Matvienko top the list. Third on the list is Hryhorii Omelchenko, which Ukrainska Pravda called a "sensational" development. Lawmaker Omelchenko, who is known for his relentless fight against corruption in Ukraine, has in the past written a slew of letters to Procurator-General Mykhailo Potebenko and President Leonid Kuchma asking them to instigate criminal proceedings against Ms. Tymoshenko and former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc election list also includes lawmaker Vasyl Onopenko, former Soviet political prisoner Levko Lukianenko, lawmaker and former ambassador to the U.S. Oleh Bilorus, and Oleksander Turchynov, Ms. Tymoshenko's comrade from the Fatherland Party.

Some independent Ukrainian media deliberately refer to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc by using its specially adapted Ukrainian acronym BYuTy, which sounds similar to the English word "beauty." This interlingual play on words, of course, underscores the fact that the bloc is led by the politician who is famous not only for her moral fortitude but also for her attractiveness and sex appeal.

Ms. Tymoshenko told the January 19 issue of Dzerkalo Tyzhnia that this week she begins election trips across Ukraine. Asked by the weekly how she can travel after she gave a written pledge to the Procurator-General's Office not to leave Kyiv, Ms. Tymoshenko said that she has recently filed a lawsuit questioning the legality of the procedure that stripped her of her parliamentary immunity. A court has accepted her lawsuit and this, according to Ms. Tymoshenko, means that she will retain her parliamentary immunity until the court's final verdict. This also means, Ms. Tymoshenko argued, that the Procurator-General's Office had no right to demand from her a written pledge that she will not leave Kyiv.

Last week, Ms. Tymoshenko publicly invited the leader of the Social Democratic Party (United), Viktor Medvedchuk, to participate in a televised debate with her, STB Television reported. Ms. Tymoshenko pointed out that the SDPU leader recently has been portrayed as a real man in his television commercials. "If you are a man, come and join me in a televised duel," Ms. Tymoshenko challenged. She added that the debate could be broadcast on the private Inter Television.

Mr. Medvedchuk reacted almost immediately with an open letter saying that he does not accept the ideology of the Ms. Tymoshenko-led bloc, which is against President Kuchma. Mr. Medvedchuk added that he would like to speak on television to communists and representatives of the Our Ukraine and For a United Ukraine election blocs.

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At a congress on January 15, the SDPU approved its election list and manifesto, Interfax reported. The top five on the list are SDPU Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk; Tamara Proshkuratova, a teacher from Cherkasy Oblast; SDPU Vice-Chairman Oleksander Zinchenko; Volodymyr Ryabika, the head of the National Committee of Youth Organizations; and Mr. Kravchuk, the first president of independent Ukraine.

Mr. Medvedchuk told the congress that an SDPU caucus in the future Parliament will seek to create a centrist majority that could include the For a United Ukraine bloc, the Green Party, the Democratic Union and the Yabluko Party.

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The Social Democratic Party on January 19 approved its election lists. The first five on the list are: SDP Chairman Yuri Buzduhan, Viktor Antonov, Svitlana Harmasheva, Svitlana Hodovana and Oleksander Zayets.

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The Democratic Party-Democratic Union election bloc approved its election lists on January 19. The top five are: Democratic Union Chairman Volodymyr Horbulin, Democratic Party Chairman Bohdan Shyba, Ukrainian Kozaks leader Ivan Bilas, television news moderator Viacheslav Pikhovshek, and businessman Volodymyr Severniuk. The founder of the Democratic Union, Oleksander Volkov, will seek a parliamentary mandate in a single-seat constituency.

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The Agrarian Party of Ukraine approved its election list on January 17. The first five on the list are: Peasant Party Chairman Serhii Dovhan, Illya Tsaberiabyi, Ivan Dotsenko, Andrii Sklarenko and Anatolii Drobotov. The party canceled its earlier resolution to cooperate with the Communist Party of Ukraine in the election campaign.

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The election bloc calling itself the Team of the Winter-Crop Generation (Komanda Ozymoho Pokolinnya) approved its election list on January 17. The fop five on the list are: Valerii Khoroshkovskyi, Inna Bohoslovska, Mykola Veresen, Valerii Voshchevskyi, and Ostap Protsyk. The "winter-croppers" declared in their manifesto that they are going into politics "with Ukraine in their hearts" in order to "provide inspiration through their own example as to how to conduct honest politics."

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The New Generation of Ukraine Party approved its election list on January 16, Interfax reported. The first five on the list are: NGU Chairman Yurii Mroshnychenko, Viacheslav Kredisov, Olena Romina, Oleh Hlii and Volodymyr Barabash. The party, which was established in 1999, claims to have 3,500 members.

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