Yushchenko discusses priorities of his administration (01/09/05)

Yushchenko discusses priorities of his administration

by Andrew Nynka
Kyiv Press Bureau

Kyiv - Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yushchenko announced that his first priority after the inauguration will be to form a government with a new prime minister at its head and noted that guiding Ukraine toward membership in European institutions would be a major focus.

"Society should see new faces. This is a basic rule. Especially in this case, when top positions are at stake," Mr. Yushchenko said during a 50-minute interview with the Channel 5 television station.

Many of Mr. Yushchenko's comments to the press since the December 26 election have focused on describing his administration's first 100 days in office and the policies on which he will focus during that time.

Talks have begun with allies about forming a new government and a quarter of the government posts would go to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Mr. Yushchenko said on December 29.

"The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc will have a 25 percent share in forming ministries, agencies, committees and heads of regional administrations," Mr. Yushchenko said, adding that he would nominate Ms. Tymoshenko for the post of prime minister.

However, in subsequent interviews Mr. Yushchenko has backed away from naming a specific person and has instead alluded to a small circle of possible candidates for the post.

In addition to Ms. Tymoshenko, Mr. Yushchenko has mentioned Verkhovna Rada Deputy Petro Poroshenko, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs leader Anatolii Kinakh and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz. "Maybe two or three other names," Mr. Yushchenko added.

"I think that within several weeks you will witness one very interesting political development. As a result of this process, possibly, many of those people who we have mentioned will lose the titles of, say, leaders of this or that party," Mr. Yushchenko said during his interview with Channel 5.

Volodymyr Lytvyn, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, said he believed a new government would be in place by the end of January. Speaking after a meeting with Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel, Mr. Lytvyn also gave some indication of a possible date for Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration.

"Basing on the position expressed by the chairman of the Central Election Committee, and the terms for considering possible appeals to the court, we have every reason to expect the inauguration of the elected president between January 10 and January 14," Mr. Lytvyn said.

Mr. Yushchenko has spent the past week observing Christmas, which is celebrated here on January 7, together with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in the Carpathian Mountains. In addition to spending time with their families, the two politicians have also held a number of working meetings and have skied together.

Jubilation on New Year's Eve

Messrs. Yushchenko and Saakashvili also appeared together on New Year's Eve on Kyiv's Independence Square before a jubilant crowd of several hundred thousand people.

"I am a president and because of my official position I couldn't come here, but my heart was on the Khreshchatyk I must say that these last few days I have felt like a native of Kyiv," said Mr. Saakashvili, who attended university in the city.

"I wish you a happy new year with your new president," he said as he stood together with Mr. Yushchenko on a stage erected during the Orange Revolution. The stage has since been dismantled. "You have a super president; he is a good friend of mine and a great politician," he said, just moments before an immense display of fireworks overhead lit the cold night sky.

The president-elect, who has stated repeatedly that he intends to move Ukraine closer to Europe, also spoke with various media over the past week about relations with Russia.

"We must understand that you can only go to the West once you have normalized relations with your neighbors. I am confident that Europe will never admit anyone who brings with them a bag full of problems. We must understand that it is our task to solve them, not someone else's," Mr. Yushchenko said, alluding to the relationship between Ukraine and Russia.

Specifically, Mr. Yushchenko said that Russia's overt support for pro-regime candidate Viktor Yanukovych during the presidential election now compels him to focus more closely on Ukraine's relationship with its northern neighbor.

"We all understand that Russia is Ukraine's permanent neighbor," Mr. Yushchenko said. "The politics between our countries, which was under the direction of the earlier government, could be characterized as dark, clan-oriented politics, which frustrated, twisted and deformed many of Ukraine's interests in this region."

"We must honestly discuss all of these questions and lessen this destructive influence on our relationship which has taken place these past few months," Mr. Yushchenko stated.

Following a divisive campaign that saw leaders in eastern Ukraine talk of autonomy, Mr. Yushchenko also said he would reassure citizens there and throughout Ukraine who have said his presidency could divide Ukraine.

"My government and I personally will pay more attention to Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv. We will have a direct dialogue with the people. Let us discuss all the issues that are worrying those people. I am confident that our position, if it is brought to them directly, will be accepted. It will be accepted," said the 50-year-old politician.

In the first attempt since the election to help reconcile tensions between his supporters and those of Mr. Yanukovych, the newly elected president dispatched Ms. Tymoshenko to Donetsk, where she appeared on the Ukraina TV television channel on December 30. In a confrontational hour-and-a-half interview, Ms. Tymoshenko fielded a number of antagonistic phone calls but assured people that Mr. Yushchenko's administration would work to unite the country.

"I do not know a single person who can imagine Ukraine without Lviv, for example, or without Donetsk or Kharkiv or Luhansk. We would all become incomplete if we break up our country," Ms. Tymoshenko said while wearing an orange Shaktar Donetsk soccer jersey.

"I am one of those Ukrainians who want Ukraine to stay united, whatever the circumstances," she added in Russian. "I want Ukraine to become a full-fledged player on the international arena - a country that has an influence and which stands up for its interests."

Mr. Yushchenko, who gave a brief press conference with Mr. Saakashvili at the base of ski run during his stay in the mountains on January 5, said three or four steps are necessary to bring Ukraine into Europe.

"This includes obtaining market economy status, membership in the World Trade Organization, creation of a free trade zone with European Union countries and beginning EU membership negotiations, first as an associate member and then full membership," Mr. Yushchenko said.

Ukrainian-Georgian declaration

The two Eastern European leaders also signed a joint declaration on January 5, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The people of Ukraine and Georgia "have demonstrated to the whole world that freedom and democracy, the people's will and fair elections are much stronger than government mechanisms, however tough they might be," they said in the declaration.

The declaration, which was signed in the western Ukrainian ski resort town of Tysovets, also stated that Ukraine and Georgia "will continue moving towards the building of a united democratic Europe and development of good relations with neighboring countries."

Earlier in the week, the president-elect also spoke on the topic of corruption in Ukraine. "Corruption has deeply penetrated government structures, the financial system, the system of ownership and so on. This is a problem that prevents the country's movement toward progress," he said.

"I know that today 98 percent of Ukrainian business was formed in the conditions of the crooked, distorted legislation that existed between 1993 and 1996. But today 98 percent of businesses provide jobs, pay taxes and demand one thing from the state - that it protect them in line with the law," Mr. Yushchenko said.

Asked during the interview with Channel 5 if he knew who poisoned him, Mr. Yushchenko replied, "I know, privately. I have no feeling, no need for revenge. I want these people to be brought to account as the law requires - nothing more."

Addressing what he said was the second most important priority for Ukraine, Mr. Yushchenko said: "We want to show that the social priorities, about which so much has been said over the past few years, can be achieved within a year. So a radical change of social policy, and making sure that every citizen feels it, I would say this is our second most important priority. I am talking about pensions, various social programs, wages and pensions."

Mr. Yushchenko has also repeatedly touched on the outgoing presidential administration and hinted that he is interested in moving the Presidential Administration Building, currently located on Kyiv's Bankova Street, but said there may be no time to do so. "The building needs to be washed with holy water," Mr. Yushchenko said during his Channel 5 interview.

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