ANALYSIS: Yushchenko begins 'people's election campaign' (08/22/04)

ANALYSIS

Yushchenko begins 'people's election campaign'

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Belarus and Ukraine Report

Speaking on Radio Liberty on August 3, Oleksander Zinchenko, manager of Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko's presidential election campaign, said that this campaign will be different from that of his main rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. "The people's president will have a people's election campaign," Mr. Zinchenko asserted.

Mr. Zinchenko did not provide many enlightening details regarding this type of campaigning. He claimed, however, that Mr. Yushchenko has "hundreds of prepared campaigners in every town and village."

The presidential campaign for Mr. Yushchenko formally began on July 4 when the Central Election Commission registered him as a presidential hopeful. It is apparent to everybody in Ukraine that Mr. Yushchenko cannot count on the propagandistic resources of the majority of the electronic media in the country. Indeed, the only television channel sympathetic to Mr. Yushchenko's presidential bid - 5 Channel owned by Mr. Yushchenko's political ally Petro Poroshenko - has recently reported that its programs were removed from several cable distribution networks in eastern and southern Ukraine. Other television channels - whether state-owned or private - remain generally biased in favor of Prime Minister Yanukovych's presidential bid.

Under such circumstances it appears that the only efficient way for Mr. Yushchenko to promote his presidential platform is to hold as many face-to-face meetings with voters in the regions as possible. Therefore, on August 3, Mr. Yushchenko started his presidential campaign tour of Ukraine in Odesa Oblast. The Yushchenko campaign staff, judging by press reports, has been prepared for such an eventuality. But some aspects of the mechanics of his campaign provoke anxieties on the part of his sympathizers, who fear that this campaign may lack the impetus and energy it needs to be fully efficient.

Mr. Yushchenko started his presidential campaign with an impressive rally of some 50,000 people, who saw him off submitting registration documents to the Central Election Commission in Kyiv on August 4. Credit for such a remarkable start was generally given to Oleksander Zinchenko, whom Mr. Yushchenko appointed as his campaign manager in mid-June. Mr. Yushchenko was generally praised for this nomination, which he reportedly made under pressure from some Our Ukraine activists who have became dissatisfied with the performance of Roman Bezsmertnyi, head of the Our Ukraine staff.

However, further developments - primarily an inconspicuous start for Mr. Yushchenko's regional tour of Ukraine - have somewhat diminished faith in Mr. Zinchenko's capabilities to sufficiently organize the Yushchenko election campaign. First of all, some observers maintain that Messrs. Zinchenko and Bezsmertnyi have not shared their responsibilities within the Our Ukraine bloc as smoothly as was expected.

According to the Kyiv-based weekly Zerkalo Nedeli, there is a multi-layered system of responsibilities in Our Ukraine as regards its leader's presidential bid. The highest "legislative authority" in the bloc is a Coordinating Committee that consists of Mr. Yushchenko (chairman), Yulia Tymoshenko (first deputy), Mr. Zinchenko (manager of the election campaign), Mr. Bezsmertnyi (head of the bloc's staff), as well as prominent Our Ukraine leaders and activists Yurii Kostenko, Mykola Martynenko, Anatolii Matvienko, Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Pynzenyk, Ivan Pliusch, Borys Tarasyuk and Oleksander Turchynov. Every member of this committee is simultaneously a coordinator of Mr. Yushchenko's campaign in specific regions.

It is noteworthy that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - a staunch political ally of Our Ukraine in the presidential election campaign - has to take care of the most populous Ukrainian regions. Mr. Turchynov coordinates the Yushchenko campaign in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Kirovohrad, Sumy and the Volyn Oblast, while Mr. Matvienko is responsible for the Khmelnytskyi and Kharkiv oblasts.

Mr. Zinchenko personally leads the "executive" arm of Mr. Yushchenko's presidential campaign: press services, speechwriters, election experts and the administrative apparatus of the bloc. He is also responsible for working out a campaign strategy, negotiating with potential political allies and maintaining relations with the media.

Messrs. Zinchenko and Bezsmertnyi reportedly share equal responsibility for staging rallies, advertising Mr. Yushchenko's presidential bid, coordinating Mr. Yushchenko's representatives in regional election commissions, and solving legal problems in the campaign. Mr. Yushchenko is the only one allowed to directly comment on the political campaign; following a prior agreement with him, Ms. Tymoshenko and Messrs. Zinchenko, Poroshenko, Martynenko, Kostenko, Pynzenyk, and Tarasyuk can as well.

According to Zerkalo Nedeli, Mr. Bezsmertnyi's sole responsibility is financing all campaign actions and measures, which he does in cooperation with Our Ukraine's "cashier," lawmaker and businessman Davyd Zhvania.

Because of this complicated distribution of political and organizational responsibilities in the Yushchenko bloc, his presidential campaign has not yet settled into a smooth rhythm or acquired a satisfying scope. Zerkalo Nedeli suggests that many local leaders of Mr. Yushchenko's campaign treat working on it only as a convenient opportunity to spend campaign money.

At the same time, the weekly emphasizes that Mr. Yushchenko's people have not yet been able to tap his main asset in the campaign - the enthusiasm of ordinary citizens who are ready to work for him without any expectation of payment or other compensation.

Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.

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