NEWSBRIEFS (12/21/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Socialists for single opposition candidate

KYIV - The Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) has issued an appeal to Our Ukraine, the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc to agree on a single presidential candidate by mid-May, the Ukrainska Pravda website (http://www2.pravda.com.ua) reported on December 15. "Fielding a single candidate from the opposition is necessary because this is expected by the overwhelming majority of Ukraine's voters [and also] simplifies the positioning during the election campaign and actually makes the [2004 presidential] ballot a referendum on confidence in the authorities and the opposition," the appeal reads. The SPU declares its readiness to support any of the four opposition leaders - Viktor Yushchenko, Petro Symonenko, Yulia Tymoshenko or Oleksander Moroz - during the election campaign, provided that the four opposition parties agree on a single presidential candidate. Meanwhile, the leader of the Communist Party, Mr. Symonenko, has ruled out such an agreement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Symonenko: single candidate unrealistic

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko was quoted in the December 13 issue of Kievskie Viedomosti as saying it is "absolutely unrealistic" to name a single candidate from the opposition in the 2004 presidential election, Interfax reported. Mr. Symonenko opined, however, that the opposition four - the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine - could nevertheless cooperate in "two directions" in the upcoming election campaign. "The first is to ensure together the transparency of elections and control at polling stations. The second is to try not to allow the authorities' candidate to qualify for the runoff," he said. Mr. Symonenko added that the Communist Party will select its candidate for the presidential race at a congress scheduled tentatively for May. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Medvedchuk urges center-left alliance

KYIV - Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party-United and head of the presidential administration, has called via his website (http://www.medvedchuk.org.ua) for a "broad center-left coalition" in order to "preserve the political stability and the moderate political course" in Ukraine. "The principal threat to democracy is coming today not from the left, but the right political wing," Mr. Medvedchuk argued. Our Ukraine lawmaker Taras Stetskiv said Mr. Medvedchuk's appeal is intended "to split the opposition and push [Our Ukraine leader Viktor] Yushchenko to the right extremist wing," the Our Ukraine press service reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Georgian presidential hopeful visits

KYIV - Mikhail Saakashvili, leader of Georgia's National Movement and a candidate in the January 4 presidential election in Georgia, signed a cooperation accord between his organization and Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine in Kyiv on December 13, Interfax reported. Mr. Saakashvili, who was on a private visit, pledged that if he is elected president, Ukraine will be a priority in Georgia's foreign policy. "I cannot come up with a prescription [presumably to oust President Leonid Kuchma]," Reuters quoted Mr. Saakashvili as saying in Kyiv. "There are a few of our frightened friends who think we will export something. I do not have a model for this," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Court says Rada may elect president ...

KYIV - Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruled on December 11 that a clutch of constitutional amendments providing for the election of a president in 2004 by the Verkhovna Rada and a one-year extension of the term of the current parliament until 2007 is in line with the Constitution of Ukraine, Interfax reported. The bill, drafted by a group of deputies from pro-presidential caucuses, proposes that the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada elect the president in 2004 with a majority vote of 300 and that parliamentary elections in 2007 be held on a proportional basis from party lists in a single, nationwide constituency. In November, the Constitutional Court ruled that a separate constitutional-reform bill, prepared by the presidential administration, also does not contravene the Constitution. That earlier bill proposes that a new Verkhovna Rada, elected for five years under a fully proportional party-list system in 2006, elect a president. Changes to the Constitution of Ukraine require 300 "yes" votes in the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... rules on presidential immunity

KYIV - Also on December 11, the Constitutional Court announced its ruling on a request by a group of lawmakers for judicial interpretations of constitutional provisions that deal with presidential immunity and impeachment, Interfax reported. The court said the president of Ukraine enjoys immunity from prosecution, meaning that no criminal proceedings may be instigated against the president during his or her term in office. The court also concluded that impeachment, which is essentially a non-judicial procedure, is the only way the Ukrainian president may be held accountable for misdeeds. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Soviet-era residency permits abolished

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 11 passed a law "on the freedom of movement and free choice of residence" to replace the Soviet-era system of residency permits (propysky) with a more liberal residence-registration system, Interfax reported. Under the new regime, individuals are obliged to register a change of residence within 10 days following their arrival at a new address, requiring the submission to an appropriate registration office of a written statement, a passport, tax documents and a certificate showing that the previous registration has been canceled. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada to check funding of NGOs

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 10 voted 289-5 to set up an ad hoc commission to investigate the legality of "foreign interference in financing election campaigns in Ukraine through non-governmental organizations [NGOs] that are supported by foreign states' grants," Interfax reported. The Our Ukraine and Socialist Party parliamentary caucuses did not take part in the vote. The commission consists of 13 lawmakers and is headed by Valerii Mishura from the Communist Party. A draft bill to set up the commission was prepared by Petro Symonenko (Communist Party), Ihor Sharov (Labor Ukraine), Valerii Pustovoitenko (National Democratic Party), Yulia Tymoshenko (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) and Mykola Hapochka (People's Choice). According to a survey by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center, foreign grants account for 58 percent of the budget of nearly 100 non-governmental "analytical centers" in Ukraine. Major foreign providers of grants to Ukrainian NGOs include the Renaissance Foundation (the Soros Fund in Ukraine), Freedom House, the Poland-America-Ukraine Cooperation Initiative, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the World Bank, according to Interfax. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian journalist found hanged

MELITOPOL - Volodymyr Karachevtsev, an Internet reporter and the head of an independent journalists' union in Melitopol, Zaporizhia Oblast, was found hanged from the handle of his refrigerator on December 14, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported on December 16, citing the vlasti.net website for which Mr. Karachevtsev worked. "Forensic experts found that death was due to mechanical asphyxia caused by hanging," the website reported. "We have a lot of questions. First, the wife of the deceased said Volodymyr's death was not accidental. Second, it is not clear how an adult ... could be hanged on the handle of a refrigerator." Local police are investigating the incident. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy's house fire cited as suspicious

KYIV - The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has appealed to the Procurator-General's Office, the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate the circumstances under which Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc National Deputy Yevhen Kyrylchuk's house and car caught fire in Lutsk, northwestern Ukraine, on December 15, Interfax reported. The appeal calls the fire an "act of political terror," adding that it took place after Mr. Kyrylchuk convinced a public forum in Lutsk to oppose proposed constitutional amendments that would allow the Verkhovna Rada, rather than voters, to choose Ukraine's next president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet recommends a week off

KYIV - The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on December 17 recommended that Ukrainian businesses, institutions, and organizations make the week of January 1-7, 2004, an official holiday, thus allowing people to celebrate the New Year and Christmas freely (Christmas falls on January 7 in accordance with the Julian calendar), UNIAN reported, citing Vice Prime Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv accepts loan to fight AIDS

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma accepted a $60 million World Bank loan on Wednesday to fight AIDS and tuberculosis in Ukraine, which is the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe. Ukraine has the highest HIV infection rate in the region. An estimated 500,000 people - 1 percent of the population - are infected. The Health Ministry of Ukraine said that more than 60,000 Ukrainians are officially registered as HIV-positive, but the United Nations estimates the actual infection rates to be 10 times higher. Tuberculosis cases in Ukraine have doubled in recent years to almost 700,000, and the death rate from the disease is mounting, Interfax reported. Ukraine's post-Soviet economic meltdown and the degradation of its state-run health care system have contributed to the spread of both diseases. (Associated Press)

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