Singer Oksana Bilozir addresses community in her role as national deputy (02/16/03)

Singer Oksana Bilozir addresses community in her role as national deputy

by Roma Hadzewycz

EAST HANOVER, N.J. - Ukraine's top pop diva, Oksana Bilozir, appeared here at a public meeting with Ukrainian American community members on Monday, February 10, to share her thoughts as a member of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada.

As she was fresh from the debut concert of her North American tour, performed on Saturday, February 8, in Brooklyn, N.Y. (see concert notes on page 13 of this issue), Ms. Bilozir's appearance here at the Ramada Hotel was eagerly awaited by fans and community members who wanted to hear more from a person who is both a national artist of Ukraine and a national deputy from Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc.

Ms. Bilozir underlined that Our Ukraine was in fact the major victor in the most recent parliamentary elections as it gained 25 percent of the vote. "This was our first victory," she stated, promising that there would be more to follow.

"Viktor Yushchenko is our chance" for a better future for Ukraine, she noted, referring to Ukraine's presidential elections in 2002.

The next few months, she continued, "will determine the future of Ukraine ... and we will elect our own true president in our Ukraine."

She spoke of Mr. Yushchenko's recent visit to Washington, where he was engaged in a series of high-level meetings with Bush administration officials, policymakers and members of Congress, and noted that the Our Ukraine leader's message was to underscore the distinction between the largely discredited current government of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, who are deserving of the support of the United States.

Ms. Bilozir referred also to the fact that Ukraine is now controlled by three clans - those from Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kyiv - whose oligarchs are in leading positions in the government, the presidential administration and the Parliament. "Today there is a crisis in Ukraine that stems from its utterly corrupted leadership," she stated, adding that what is most needed in the next elections is a thorough housecleaning of Ukraine's authorities.

On the bright side, however, there are developments that indicate a beneficial merger of national democratic factions in Ukraine, as several political groupings are currently negotiating for a union with Our Ukraine, Ms. Bilozir explained.

Responding to a question about why certain members of Our Ukraine had defected to pro-Kuchma forces in Parliament, Ms. Bilozir explained that these were due no doubt to pressure and blackmail. Nonetheless, she said, Our Ukraine remains a powerful force.

The open format of the community meeting allowed audience members to pose questions on a variety of subjects, all of which Ms. Bilozir answered in a forthright and personable manner. Afterwards, many lined up to speak in person with the performer/national deputy and to get her autograph on CDs of her music.

Ms. Bilozir was introduced to the audience of well over 100 people by Ivan Burtyk, chairman of the New Jersey Coordinating Council of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, which organized the event. Sponsors of the evening were the Self Reliance New Jersey Federal Credit Union and the Ramada Hotel.

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