50,000 gather to hear Yushchenko formally announce his candidacy (07/11/04)

50,000 gather to hear Yushchenko formally announce his candidacy

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Nearly 50,000 people - one of the largest gatherings in Kyiv in recent years - listened on July 4 as Viktor Yushchenko announced his candidacy for the presidency of Ukraine from a hillside overlooking the Pecherska Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), as his supporters waved thousands of orange pennants imprinted with the single word, "Tak" (Yes).

The banners they stood beneath, identifying them as hailing from points all across the country - from Donetsk and Luhansk to Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk - was evidence to some, as the newspaper Ukraina Moloda stated, that while the former prime minister's strength is in the western part of the country, he can count on voter support in the east as well.

Utilizing "change" as the theme for his speech, Mr. Yushchenko underscored that not only had the current leadership failed to raise the country from poverty in the post-Soviet era, it was the greatest obstacle to Ukrainians seeing a better day.

"In reality there is only one conflict in Ukraine today, between those in power and the people," explained Mr. Yushchenko on a bright and mild summer day as the golden domes of the churches of the Pecherska Lavra glistened in the distance. "The government is sowing the seeds of division in society," he added.

The current front-runner for the presidency and the most popular politician in Ukraine for nearly four years, Mr. Yushchenko promised Ukrainians a program led by a qualified team, which would give them pensions and wages that would "ensure a better life for all," access to adequate medical care and quality education. He said he would rid the country of corruption and incarcerate the criminals.

The former prime minister noted that the few positive moments in recent Ukrainian history have occurred under his direction, including the introduction and the stabilization of the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, while he was chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine and the repayment of a good portion of back wages and pensions begun when he was prime minister.

"In a year you will bear witness that Ukraine has been transformed," explained a restrained Mr. Yushchenko as thousands cheered. (For the full text of the speech, see page 3.)

The previous day Mr. Yushchenko, along with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, took advantage of the beginning of the registration process for candidates in the October 31 presidential election and submitted his registration papers. By Sunday night various political congresses and conventions had placed five other names in nomination, including the Communist Party, which announced that party chief Petro Symonenko was its choice for president; the Progressive Socialist Party, which picked its leader, Natalia Vitrenko; the Yedyna Rodyna political association, which threw the name of its head, Oleksander Rzhavskyi, into the ring; the Slavic Party, whose choice was its leader, Oleksander Bazyliuk; and the Liberal-Democratic Party, which nominated Ihor Dushyn, its chairman.

Ukraine's election law states that registered candidates must pay a 500,000 hrv fee when filing their registration and then collect 500,000 signatures from all the oblasts of Ukraine by September 20. The country's registered political parties have until July 27 to nominate their candidates for the office of president. Candidate registrations must be received no later than August 6.

While Mr. Yushchenko used a traditional "grand opening" approach to herald the beginning of his campaign, Mr. Yanukovych decided on a much more subdued, business-like approach. However, he did have the media at his heels to get his message out in several public appearances - an opportunity not available to Mr. Yushchenko, inasmuch as there is a virtual blackout of his image on most national television networks, which are tightly controlled by forces close to the prime minister. In fact, three of the six networks showed only brief footage of Mr. Yushchenko's campaign launch. None cared to note the size of the crowd, much less show the huge audience that had gathered to hear him speak.

In stark contrast, on July 7 in various television news broadcasts, Mr. Yanukovych explained the approach he would take in his campaign, which would be markedly different from the style the Yushchenko forces hoped to utilize. Mr. Yanukovych said he would not so much run a campaign as simply continue his work as prime minister, which he said would be "the best way to show the Ukrainian people what to expect with me as president."

On July 6 Ukraine's Central Election Committee announced it had officially registered Messrs. Yushchenko, Yanukovych, Moroz and Rzhavskyi. A day later it rejected the application of the Slavic Party candidate, Mr. Bazyliuk.

That same day Mr. Yushchenko signed a document in which he vowed to run a fair and transparent campaign and called on Prime Minister Yanukovych to make the same vow.

Messrs. Yushchenko and Yanukovych, who lead all opinion polls in that order - with Mr. Yushchenko at about 26 percent and Mr. Yanukovych at about 18 percent - have spent most of their energy in the last few weeks trying to paste together broad coalitions to strengthen their national organizations.

On July 2, the day before the start of the campaign season, Mr. Yushchenko signed an election coalition agreement with Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the eponymous rightist-oriented political bloc, to form the Syla Narodu (Power of the People) political coalition.

The two political leaders, who have had strong political ties since Ms. Tymoshenko was the first vice prime minister in the Yushchenko government in 2000, said they would also join their forces to form a single Syla Narodu parliamentary faction. In addition, they said they had agreed on how state and government posts would be divvied up should Mr. Yushchenko win the October presidential election, explaining that they would be apportioned among the numerous political parties that make up each bloc based on the percentage of the vote each received in the March 2002 parliamentary elections.

The two political leaders also announced a "Manifest for Victory of the People" in which they called for joint programs to "cleanse the country of criminal clans and political banditry," according to various news releases.

Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko said at the time that they still hoped that Mr. Moroz, whom the Socialist Party would name as its candidate two days later, would join them to further broaden the coalition.

Mr. Yanukovych announced on July 8 that he, too, was developing coalition partners, which he said could reach 50 political parties and non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Yanukovych made his remarks after signing an election coalition agreement with the National Democratic Party and its leader, Valerii Pustovoitenko. Mr. Pustovoitenko was prime minister of Ukraine in 1997-1999 and has been a staunch supporter of President Leonid Kuchma over the years. The document is to be the foundation for a political platform that Mr. Yanukovych is preparing, which would define the coalition's stand on foreign, domestic and social policy issues.

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