Experts tell RFE/RL Ukrainian Service that Kuchma is seen as a lame duck (09/12/04)

Experts tell RFE/RL Ukrainian Service that Kuchma is seen as a lame duck

RFE/RL

PRAGUE - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who has ruled his country with an iron fist for more than 10 years, is no longer a premier player in Ukrainian politics, according to politicians and analysts who appeared on the RFE/RL Ukrainian Service's "Evening Liberty" program on August 26.

Amid mounting rumors in Kyiv of Mr. Kuchma's imminent resignation ahead of the presidential election in October, the main question of the roundtable program was: "When will it happen, and what will it mean for Ukraine?"

"Evening Liberty," a daily 45-minute in-studio discussion moderated by RFE/RL Ukrainian Service Director Alexander Narodetsky, featured the coordinator of the national majority and head of the Democratic Initiatives group in Parliament, Stepan Havrysh; Oleh Rybachuk, the chief of staff for parliamentary deputy, former prime minister and leading opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko; and Andriy Yermolayev, head of the Sofia Social Research Center in Kyiv.

All three rejected the notion, reported widely in the Ukrainian press last week, that President Kuchma planned to leave office prematurely as part of a pre-election strategy to strengthen the candidacy of his chosen successor, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

In spite of their different political views and allegiances, Messrs. Havrysh, Rybachuk and Yermolayev agreed energetically and unanimously that Mr. Kuchma would never leave office before he had to and would hang on to power until the election, scheduled for October 31.

The participants also agreed that President Kuchma's remaining term in office was of little political significance and that the main question now was what would happen to his legacy. Mr. Kuchma has said he will not stand for a third term in the forthcoming election.

In a lively exchange of views on the merits of his legacy, pro-government supporter Mr. Havrysh held that the president's successor must continue the work begun by Mr. Kuchma to energize economic development and move Ukraine closer to the West while improving relations with Russia.

Mr. Rybachuk disagreed strongly, arguing that a complete change of course is needed to weed out persistent problems of corruption, crime and patrimonialism - the blending of money and power - that are paralyzing economic development, which benefits only a chosen few.

He added that free speech is being stifled with persecution of independent media and that Ukraine's international image is suffering from the fact that several criminal charges are pending against Mr. Kuchma.

Mr. Yermolayev noted that the biggest challenge will be to overcome political apathy. He called for a mobilization of the public to get people engaged and committed to building a civil and democratic society.

"Evening Liberty" is the RFE/RL Ukrainian Service's most popular program. A transcript (in Ukrainian) and audio of the August 26 show can be found on the Ukrainian Service's website at www.radiosvoboda.org/article/2004/08/bd0e5362-5636-4b4a-ab77-7af8ad9b520f.html.

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service broadcasts nearly seven hours of programming a day Monday through Friday, and three hours every Saturday and Sunday, with programs produced in Prague and the service's Kyiv Bureau, and transmitted to listeners via shortwave, satellite and AM and FM signals provided by local affiliate stations in Ukraine. Ukrainian Service programming is available also via the Internet, at the service's website www.radiosvoboda.org and at www.rferl.org.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe; the Caucasus; and Central and Southwestern Asia funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

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