NEWSBRIEFS (04/07/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Yulia to Our Ukraine: join opposition

KYIV - Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the eponymous election bloc, told journalists on April 2 that the results of the parliamentary election mean a "crushing defeat" for the authorities, the UNIAN news service reported. She said that For a United Ukraine obtained some 12 percent of the vote mainly due to pressure, threats and vote rigging. She also said there is every chance to unite democratic forces in the Verkhovna Rada. Ms. Tymoshenko noted that Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Socialist Party and her bloc could pool efforts to form a democratic parliamentary majority and change the government. "All this again depends on a decision by the Yushchenko bloc. If he tries to seek compromises with a political force that is no longer present in society, that is with the government's team, these plans unfortunately will fail," 1+1 Television quoted her as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM doubts coalition with Communists

KYIV - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh said on April 2 that he is "absolutely certain" that "official cooperation" between the For a United Ukraine bloc and the Communist Party in a parliamentary majority in the new parliament is "unreal and impossible," the UNIAN news agency reported. He added, however, that both groups could cooperate on individual issues. Kinakh also said the new Parliament has no "real chances" to amend the Constitution of Ukraine in line with the April 2000 referendum. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leader to leave jail for Rada

KYIV - Andrii Shkil, the leader of the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO), was elected a national deputy to the Verkhovna Rada in a single-mandate constituency in Lviv Oblast, the UNIAN news service reported on April 2. Mr. Shkil has been in jail for more than a year, facing charges of organizing violent clashes with police during an anti-presidential protest in Kyiv on March 9, 2001. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko cites setback to democracy

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko said on April 1 that the Ukrainian parliamentary ballot the previous day was held according to a "donor scenario," under which votes were taken from some parties and blocs and added to others, STB Television reported. He added that Our Ukraine's observers registered some 10,000 violations at polling stations and will prepare lawsuits within the next five days. "There is an impression that Ukrainian democracy will be set back by about four years," Mr. Yushchenko noted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CIS, Russian monitors: vote was fair

MOSCOW - Some 200 CIS observers said in statement on April 1 that the March 31 parliamentary elections in Ukraine were "free, transparent, democratic and legitimate," ITAR-TASS reported. According to the UNIAN news service, a similar opinion was expressed by election monitors from the Russian State Duma. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Candidate killed on eve of ballot

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - Mykola Shkribliak, the vice-chairman of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and an election candidate from the Social Democratic Party (United), died of gunshot wounds on March 30, resulting from an attack the previous night by unidentified gunmen, Ukrainian media reported. Oblast Chairman Mykola Vyshyvaniuk commented that the killing was of "a clearly political character." Rival parties publicly condemned the killing. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko feared vote rigging

KYIV - Viktor Yushchenko, the leader of the front-running Our Ukraine election bloc, told journalists on March 28 that he feared parties loyal to President Leonid Kuchma hold too much sway over the media and local electoral committees, and alleged that too many ballots have been printed for the March 31 parliamentary election, Reuters reported. "It seems to me that, as Stalin once said, 'The most important thing in the election is not who the electorate voted for, but who counts the votes,' " Mr. Yushchenko noted. "I fear that the authorities can falsify the election. And there is a lot of evidence for this." Mr. Yushchenko also said Russia has interfered in the election campaign in Ukraine by commenting on "which Ukrainian political force is more or less dear" to it, the UNIAN news agency reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lithuanian president visits Kyiv

KYIV - Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus on March 28 paid a one-day visit to Kyiv, where he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian media reported. The two presidents signed a declaration providing for the establishment of the Council of the Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine, which is to convene at least once a year and address the most topical issues of bilateral and regional cooperation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Web radio service launched

KYIV - Panorama Radio Service - an Internet project sponsored by the Open Society Institute (Budapest), the International Renaissance Foundation (founded by George Soros), the Global Conflict Prevention Fund (Great Britain), and the Canadian Foundation - was launched in March, UNIAN reported on March 28, quoting the project's manager, Vadym Kastelli. Panorama is not going to broadcast news directly but put up its bulletins as audio files on the Internet at http://rsp.kiev.ua. Local radio stations can take the files for broadcasting free of charge. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New press secretary is named

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has appointed 26-year-old Aliona Hromnytska as his spokeswoman, Ukrainian media reported on March 22. Since 1999 Ms. Hromnytska has worked with the private ICTV Television where she was responsible for reporting on the activities of the presidential administration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bloc leader cites 'Yugoslav scenario'

KYIV - Bohdan Boiko, the head of the National Movement of Ukraine election bloc (a Rukh splinter group), recently claimed that the opposition - Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party - is planning, with U.S. assistance, to stage a coup according to the "Yugoslav scenario," Inter Television reported on March 12. Mr. Boiko told journalists that the opposition is going to declare the official results of the March 31 election falsified and create a separate Parliament based on an alternative vote calculation. According to Mr. Boiko, a key role in this plan will be played by the Razumkov Center of Political and Economic Studies, which he claimed is run by sociologists trained in U.S. military institutions. "We have not planned a joint participation in exit polls on the day of the election," Razumkov Center Director Anatolii Hrytsenko commented. Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party have formerly declared their intention to organize an alternative vote count in the election. Viktor Yushchenko said Mr. Boiko's allegations are "paranoid," adding that "there have to be fools in the world, otherwise the clever will not stand out." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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