"UKRAINE REPORT-2003"
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
HAPPY NEW YEAR, JANUARY 1, 2004
[Gregorian Calendar]
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, JANUARY 7, 2004
[Ukrainian Christmas, Julian Calendar]
HAPPY NEW YEAR, JANUARY 13, 2004
[Ukrainian New Year, Julian Calendar]
"So what's our situation? Twelve years after the independence referendum,
more than seven years after the adoption of the Constitution we have to
admit that we have failed to build a law-governed, democratic state.
"Moreover, the prevailing trend is backward. What makes the situation even
worse is that in all these twelve years this nation has been unable to
develop protective mechanisms against the dictate of several men. What is
it - a junta? a dictatorship? The term doesn't matter. What does matter is
the fact that this country has found itself at a crossroads again.
"Unfortunately, not at the threshold of great changes, but at the brink of
an abyss. And now 48 million of us, who have no right to a decent life, to
defend our rights, are going to be deprived of the last right - to influence
the situation in the country by electing the head of state." [article
twelve]
"UKRAINE REPORT-2003, Number 118
U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF)
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, morganw@patriot.net
MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2003
INDEX OF ARTICLES:
1. UKRAINE WARNED OVER EFFORTS TO CHANGE CONSTITUTION
BY US, FRANCE AND GERMANY
By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, Dec 27, 2003
2. OPPOSITION IN UKRAINE BLOCKS PARLIAMENT'S LAST
SESSION OF THE YEAR
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, December 26, 2003 .
3. UKRAINIAN COMMUNISTS SUGGEST REFERENDUM TO
CANCEL PRESIDENCY AND INTRODUCE A PARLIAMENTARY
REPUBLIC IN UKRAINE AND ON OTHER ISSUES
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA SEEKS BOOST TO POWER
WITH NEW DEAL REGARDING UPCOMING ELECTIONS
By Olena Horodetska, Reuters, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thur, December 25, 2003
5. OPPOSITION EXPLAINS ITS POSITION TO FOREIGN DIPLOMATS
FROM US, ITALY, FRANCE, JAPAN and GERMANY
www.GLAVRED.INFO, Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec 26, 2003
6. COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE EXPLAINS THEIR RECENT
PARLIAMENTARY VOTES ON CHANGING CONSTITUTION
www.PRAVDA.com.ua, Kyiv, Ukraine, 26.12.2003
7. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VETOES NEW EU ADAPTATION LAW
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
8. HONORED JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN CENTRAL UKRAINE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 25 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 25, 2003
9. RUSSIA'S PUTIN AND UKRAINE'S KUCHMA SIGN PACT
ON USE OF AZOV SEA AND KERCH STRAIT
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, December 24, 2003
.
10. RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH STATES TIES WITH VATICAN
HAVE WORSENED, CITES PAPAL TRIP TO UKRAINE IN 2001
Associated Press, Moscow, Russia, December 26, 2003
11. PRESIDENT KUCHMA ANNULS MAYORAL ELECTION
IN WESTERN UKRAINE TOWN OF MUKACHEVE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
12. NO AIR TO BREATHE
Such a version of the Constitution will simply doom all hopes
for positive changes in this country.
By Yulia Mostovaya, Zerkalo Nedeli [Mirror-Weekly]
International Social, Political Weekly
Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, December 20-26, 2003
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. UKRAINE WARNED OVER EFFORTS TO CHANGE CONSTITUTION
BY US, FRANCE AND GERMANY
By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, Dec 27, 2003
The US, France and Germany have warned Ukraine that efforts to change its
constitution before a presidential election next October could harm the
country's hopes of integrating with the European Union and Nato.
The countries' ambassadors delivered the warning on Thursday, after
Ukraine's parliament gave preliminary approval to draft amendments that
would shift power from the president to the prime minister and parliament.
The changes would ensure allies of President Leonid Kuchma, who hold a
majority in parliament, would retain power until at least 2006.
John Herbst, the US ambassador, said any changes to the constitution should
follow "democratic standards" and involve all leading political forces.
"Attempts to change the constitution 10 months before elections raise
concerns," Mr Herbst said.
Germany's ambassador made similar remarks, while France's envoy said the
western diplomats' appearance on the day their countries celebrated
Christmas showed their strong interest.
The ambassadors were speaking after meeting leaders of Ukraine's opposition,
who had tried to disrupt the vote. Voting equipment and microphones were
damaged in the rowdy protests.
A final vote to adopt the amendments is expected by next March.
Mr Kuchma's allies and the Communist party, which also voted for the draft,
have in turn accused the US of supporting the opposition and of attempting
to duplicate Georgia's recent pro-western revolution in Ukraine.
The vote came as Mr Kuchma moved to patch up a dispute with Russia that had
been holding back a planned economic union between Russia, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan and Belarus.
In a meeting on Wednesday in Crimea, Mr Kuchma and Vladimir Putin, Russian
president, announced they had agreed to share control over the shipping
canal between the Azov and Black seas. Russian resentment of Ukraine's claim
to the canal erupted into a border dispute in October, when Mr Kuchma sent
troops to guard a small island in the area.
The dispute was an obstacle to ratification of the economic union agreement
in the Ukrainian and Russian parliaments. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118, ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=========================================================
2. OPPOSITION IN UKRAINE BLOCKS PARLIAMENT'S LAST
SESSION OF THE YEAR
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, December 26, 2003 .
KIEV (AP)--Ukrainian opposition lawmakers on Friday blocked the parliament's
last sitting of the year, part of a protest to demonstrate their disapproval
of what they consider antidemocratic moves in the legislature.
The 450-seat single-chamber parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, gave initial
approval Wednesday to amendments to the election law that would allow the
president to be elected by the legislature rather than popular vote. The
opposition, comprising socialists and lawmakers on the opposite, pro-reform
end of the political spectrum, tried unsuccessfully to block the vote using
sirens and other noise, and it has kept up the noisy protest each day.
The opposition sees the amendments as President Leonid Kuchma's attempt to
extend his rule or turn over power to a hand-picked successor.
According to the amendments, proposed by Kuchma's chief of staff Viktor
Medvedchuk, the president will be elected by popular vote next October, but
would serve only a two-year term instead of the usual four years. Starting
in 2006, the parliament would elect the president, who would serve for five
years and still be limited to two terms under previous laws.
Kuchma is barred by law from seeking a third term, and no one has yet
officially entered the 2004 race. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a Kuchma
appointee, is expected to run against former prime minister Viktor
Yushchenko and Communist party leader Petro Symonenko. Medvedchuk is
also expected to run. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=========================================================
3. UKRAINIAN COMMUNISTS SUGGEST REFERENDUM TO
CANCEL PRESIDENCY AND INTRODUCE A PARLIAMENTARY
REPUBLIC IN UKRAINE AND ON OTHER ISSUES
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
Kiev, 26 December: The leader of the Ukrainian Communists has spoken about
the need to conduct a nationwide referendum on political reform.
"We, the Communists, believe that it is necessary to put the following
question up for a referendum, `Do you support liquidation of the post of
president and introduction of a parliamentary republic in Ukraine?'," the
Communist leader [Petro Symonenko] said, answering questions from
journalists today.
He said that the Communist Party of Ukraine "has always spoken for
resolution of the problems most significant for the future of the nation and
the state through such democratic mechanism as a popular referendum." "I
will recall that we, the Communists, proposed a referendum when the issue of
land sale was on the agenda. Now we would like a referendum to be held on
the status of the Russian language and on the issue of joining NATO or the
WTO.
The Communist Party also proposed holding a referendum on the issue of
creation of the Single Economic Space [with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan],
following the example of the European countries defining their attitudes to
the issue of joining the EU," Symonenko said. [Passage omitted: background
on events in parliament] (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
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Issue Number Four for Year 2003 Just Issued. Best Magazine in English
http://www.artukraine.com/travel/wumagazine.htm
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
=========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA SEEKS BOOST TO POWER
WITH NEW DEAL REGARDING UPCOMING ELECTIONS
By Olena Horodetska, Reuters, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, December 25, 2003
KIEV (Reuters) - A day after forcing through changes to Ukraine's
constitution, President Leonid Kuchma sealed a legislative alliance on
Thursday aimed at outflanking opponents gaining strength ahead of elections
next year.
But the opposition blocked parliament's agenda for a third straight day and
vowed to fight Kuchma and his allies in the legislature and on the streets.
Kuchma, accused by rivals of using the amendments to stay in power beyond
the presidential polls, expressed delight at Wednesday's vote despite
frenzied scenes in the assembly. It was the only way, he said, to make
Ukraine a modern state.
"I have no intention of concealing my satisfaction," Kuchma said of the
vote, conducted in a corner of the chamber after opposition deputies
disabled the electronic counting system and sounded sirens and whistles to
disrupt proceedings.
"It was the first, preliminary but very important result of our joint
efforts. It is very good that we have crowned the 2003 year with such a
result."
The sealing of the new legislative alliance amounted to formal recognition
of Kuchma's strong support from his allies in parliament and the cabinet and
intended to show he retained full control in his final year in power.
In his comments at the signing ceremony, the president made it clear he
intended to keep the opposition far away from the process of lawmaking.
"The parliamentary majority will have a single structure which is very
important for productive work," Kuchma told a signing ceremony outside Kiev
attended by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, parliament's speaker and
pro-government deputies.
"Our coalition, the heart of the political reform, should work more
efficiently. This is the task for all sides of the agreement for 2004."
Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn abandoned Thursday's parliamentary session when the
opposition, led by ex-prime minister Viktor Yushchenko, blocked the agenda
for a third day.
Activists denounced Wednesday's vote as illegitimate, met diplomats and
launched appeals to human rights bodies.
"We will fight them in parliament and in the street," opposition deputy
Oleksander Turchinov told Reuters. "We will not allow this farce to continue
in parliament."
The changes approved on first reading would, if confirmed again by a
two-thirds majority next year, provide for a country-wide vote for president
in October 2004.
But the president's powers would be reduced and his term cut to two years.
Parliament would elect the president from 2006.
Kuchma, first elected in 1994, says he has no intention of running again
next year when his two legal terms are completed.
Yushchenko, far more popular than any pro-Kuchma candidate, says the
president will exploit the changes to keep his job and the accompanying
immunity from prosecution.
The opposition suggests Kuchma could use backroom deals to ensure an ally or
business associate runs next year. Even if a rival won, they say, his powers
would be limited and a Kuchma ally, elected by a compliant assembly, could
take over in 2006.
Kuchma, who survived without difficulty a wave of protests denouncing
alleged corruption last year, told his allies that the reform was part of
"political modernisation following the best European examples of democratic
societies."
And he told his allies they were good enough to win next year on their
record.
"As for the elections, may the best man win as they say in sport," he said.
"But let me just add a rhetorical question -- we are surely not among the
worst?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Reporting by Olena Horodetska, editing by Rex Merrifield; Reuters
Messaging: olena.horodetska.reuters.com@reuters.net; +380 44 244 9150)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
=========================================================
5. OPPOSITION EXPLAINS ITS POSITION TO FOREIGN DIPLOMATS
FROM US, ITALY, FRANCE, JAPAN and GERMANY
www.GLAVRED.INFO, Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec 26, 2003
The Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc and the Socialist Party have
expounded to foreign diplomats their position regarding the parliamentary
voting on the draft law on constitutional amendments that provide for
abolishing of elections of the president of Ukraine by popular vote in 2006.
In particular, Viktor Yuschenko, Yosyp Vinsky and Yulia Tymoshenko met with
United States Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, Italian Ambassador Jolanda
Brunetti, French Ambassador Philippe de Suremain, Japanese Ambassador
Kishichiro Amae, and German envoy Johan Schmidt.
At this, the opposition leaders provided the diplomats with materials
indicating that the parliamentary vote on constitutional amendments
abolishing elections of the president of Ukraine by popular vote in 2006 was
illegitimate.
On the same day the opposition leaders called on the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe to convene an emergency session in January 2004 to
consider the political situation in Ukraine and condemn illegitimately
adopted amendments to the Constitution.
According to earlier reports, the Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc and
the Socialist Party have been blocking parliamentary activity since Tuesday
in protest against elections of the president of Ukraine by the parliament
as envisaged by the political reform draft law that had been preliminarily
adopted by the parliament on Wednesday. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
=========================================================
6. COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE EXPLAINS THEIR RECENT
PARLIMENTARY VOTES ON CHANGING CONSTITUTION
www.PRAVDA.com.ua, Kyiv, Ukraine, 26.12.2003
The Communist Party of Ukraine explains the motives behind their support of
pro-Kuchmian constitutional bill on December 24.
In a statement distributed Friday, leader of the party Petro Symonenko said
the Communists voted for limitation of president's powers, for strengthening
of the role of the people's deputies and government, formed by lawmakers,
and their joint liability before the people of Ukraine.
The Communists say they also voted against prolongation of powers of current
deputies, dismissing this as a form of political payola, against election of
president by the present composition of Supreme Rada in 2004, and national
election of president in 2004.
Earlier, members of Our Ukraine alleged that many Communists at all did not
know, for what voted.
The statement stresses that Communist MPs voted for election of president by
Supreme Rada elected under proportional electoral law in 2006.
The party, says the leader, "will demand unreservedly, as it declared
earlier, adoption, signing by president, and publication of a law on
election of people's deputies on proportional basis before the final vote on
amendment of the Constitution."
This is the "compulsory condition," Symonenko insists. The Communist Party,
as "the only powerful alternative" has to fight both against the power and
opposition.
"The upcoming presidential elections 2004 may force criminal
pro-presidential clans to lose power. Realizing this they are constrained to
bitterly fight for any chance to secure and save their loots," runs the
statement.
"The pro-presidential forces are countered, as a matter of fact, by the same
criminal bourgeois clans on behalf of the rightist nationalist parties and
blocs, who impudently, tooth and nail strive to power, fulfilling the
hundreds of millions American dollars that Uncle Sam has pumped into their
leaders," Symonenko says.
"The Communists understand that both conservation of pro-Kuchmian forces and
coming to power of pro-Yushchenko national liberals are equal threats to the
working people of Ukraine," reads the statement.
"On behalf of the Communists of Ukraine, I address all the honest people and
warn: arrival or conservation of power of any criminal clans (be it
Kuchmists or Our Ukraine's nationalists) will result in further
strengthening of the anti-national regime," Symonenko warns.
"Changing and ammending the Constitutions initiated by the Communists,
should be a first step toward transition from authoritarianism to national
democracy, from presidential monarchy to parliamentary-presidential to
parliamentary republic, and abolition of the institute of presidency in
Ukraine. We, the Communists, are convinced of the rightness of the way
we've chosen," ends the Friday statement of the Communists. (END)(ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=========================================================
7. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VETOES NEW EU ADAPTATION LAW
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
Kiev, 26 December: Ukrainian President Kuchma has vetoed the law "On the
nationwide programme for adapting Ukrainian legislation to the legislation
of the European Union". According to the parliament's official web site,
Kuchma sent his proposals regarding this law to parliament on 24 December
2003.
The Ukrainian Supreme Council [parliament] adopted the law on the nationwide
programme for adapting the Ukrainian legislation to the legislation of the
EU on 27 November 2003. The law stipulated that the adapting the legislation
is a priority component of Ukraine's integration into the EU, which, in
turn, is a priority direction of Ukraine's foreign policy.
The programme set out the mechanism of Ukraine reaching compliance with the
third Copenhagen and the Madrid criteria of attaining membership in the EU.
The mechanism provided for adapting laws, creating appropriate institutions
and other additional measures needed for efficient lawmaking and
implementing laws. [Passage omitted: more on this] (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
=========================================================
8. HONORED JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN CENTRAL UKRAINE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 25 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 25, 2003
Kiev, 25 December: An attack was made against a deputy editor-in-chief of
the magazine Pamyatky Ukrayiny, honoured journalist of Ukraine, Oleksandr
Nezhyvyy, in the town of Fastiv (Kiev Region) at about 0400 [0200 gmt] in
the morning of 25 December. Nezhyvyy is a council member of the Fastiv town
branch of the [opposition] Ukrainian People's Party.
The party's press service has told UNIAN that the journalist was doing his
early morning jog at that time. Members of the party's town branch said that
the attack was not accidental. They said that on 25 December the Fastiv town
court was going to consider a complaint by his son, the head of the party's
town branch, Ivan Nezhyvyy, against the Fastiv town executive committee,
which decided to ban collecting signatures in the centre of the town in
favour of electing the Ukrainian president by universal ballot.
A week before the attack, a car hit the head of the of the Fastiv town
branch of the [opposition] Fatherland party, also "accidentally", the press
service said.
Ivan Nezhyvyy said that he has been "constantly followed by plain clothed
civilians in the past several weeks" and that last week he was warned about
possible physical violence for his oppositional political activities. (END)
(ARTUIS)
=========================================================
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========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
========================================================
9. RUSSIA'S PUTIN AND UKRAINE'S KUCHMA SIGN PACT
ON USE OF AZOV SEA AND KERCH STRAIT
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, December 24, 2003
KIEV (AP)--Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart
Leonid Kuchma signed a framework agreement Wednesday on mutual use of a key
shipping route in an attempt to settle a long-standing dispute between the
two ex-Soviet republics.
At a meeting in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Kerch, the two presidents agreed
on use of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, which "historically" are joint
territorial waters, Kuchma's office said. They also decided to create a
consortium on the joint use of the Kerch Strait.
The agreement creates a "proper basis" to "start cooperation in various
spheres, considering the balance of interests of both countries," Putin said
in televised comments. "The Kerch Strait should serve both Russia and
Ukraine equally," Kuchma said.
The agreement means the sea will be considered an internal body of water by
both countries. Kuchma said the sea would be divided according to borders,
and stressed he and Putin "agreed on principles of delimitation."
However, how the Azov will be divided wasn't immediately clear. Russia wants
to draw the dividing line on the seabed and rejects Ukraine's push to
delimit its surface, fearing that would allow Ukraine to control shipping
routes.
Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine have been
locked in a dispute on the Azov, which has busy shipping routes and rich
fishing resources. Some experts say there are also potentially rich oil
fields on the sea floor.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine flared in October after Russia began
building a dike from the Russian mainland to Ukraine's Tuzla Island. The
move drew angry protests from Ukraine , which suspected Russia of trying to
seize control of the Kerch Strait that links the Black and Azov Seas.
Following tense high-level talks last month, Russia stopped construction
about 100 meters from Tuzla but demanded that Ukraine withdraw its border
guards from the island. Ukraine drew Moscow's ire by beefing up its presence
on Tuzla instead.
Also, Putin and Kuchma signed a joint order to commission the governments of
Russia, Ukraine , Belarus and Kazakhstan to complete creation of the common
market. Earlier this year, leaders of the four ex-Soviet republics signed a
separate four-way agreement to create a common economic space akin to the
European Union that envisions the free movement of goods, capital and labor
as well as common tariffs and customs.
The move toward recovering the economic reach of the Soviet Union is
considered essential for many of the ex-Soviet republics, who for the most
part remain hamstrung by struggling manufacturing sectors and inadequate
market reforms, making them unappealing partners for the more prosperous
West. (END) (ARTUIS)
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UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
=========================================================
10. RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH STATES TIES WITH VATICAN
HAVE WORSENED, CITES PAPAL TRIP TO UKRAINE IN 2001
Associated Press, Moscow, Russia, December 26, 2003
MOSCOW (AP)--The head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that Pope
John Paul II's visit to Ukraine two years ago worsened relations between the
two churches, a further indication of the steep hurdles that must be
overcome before a papal visit to Russia.
"The possibility in principle of a papal visit to Russia as a meeting
between the heads of the two churches has never been denied by our side,"
Patriarch Alexy II said in an interview published Friday in the daily
Gazeta.
But he said that after the pope visited Ukraine in 2001, the relationship
between the two churches "even worsened." Greek Catholics in western
Ukraine, who retain Eastern-rite rituals but recognize the pope's supremacy,
"increased their expansion into traditionally Orthodox eastern and southern
Ukraine ," Alexy II said.
"We would not like a papal visit to Russia, if it were judged feasible, to
proceed according to the 'Ukrainian scenario,"' Alexy II was quoted as
saying.
The globe-trotting pope has long expressed a desire to visit Russia, but the
Russian Orthodox Church has said it won't agree to a papal visit until the
Catholics stop alleged missionary activities and withdraw claims to disputed
church property in western Ukraine .
Disagreements between the Russian Orthodox Church, the dominant Christian
faith in Russia, and the Vatican have deep historical roots. But tensions
have increased markedly after the 1991 Soviet collapse, with the Russian
Orthodox Church accusing the Vatican of trying to win new converts in Russia
and other ex-Soviet republics.
The Vatican rejects accusations of proselytizing. Catholics have sought to
recover churches that belonged to them before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
and attract new followers, but their flock in Russia remains tiny -about
600,000 of the nation's 144 million people.
"To our deep regret, there are still not enough grounds to speak about
changes in the Vatican's position and any positive improvements in
Orthodox-Catholic dialogue," Alexy II was quoted as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the pontiff in the Vatican last
month. Putin says he wants to help end the dispute between the churches, but
adds that Russia will defend its faith and identity. (END) (ARTUIS)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The Russian Orthodox church, obviously from their statements,
do not believe at all in the standard democratic principles of freedom of
religion, separation of church and state, and other such basic human rights
concepts. They indicate they believe in state endorsed churches and a
special, state blessed, monopoly position for their church. They indicate
the territory from the Black Sea to the Baltic's to the Pacific Ocean is
their exclusive territory. They do not seem to understand the historically
proven basic truth that such power by any one church corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely. The word democracy does not seem to be in their
vocabulary.
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
=========================================================
11. PRESIDENT KUCHMA ANNULS MAYORAL ELECTION
IN WESTERN UKRAINE TOWN OF MUKACHEVE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 26 Dec 03
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Dec 26, 2003
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has issued a decree deposing Vasyl
Petyovka, the opposition-backed town mayor of Mukacheve, Transcarpathian
Region, UNIAN reported on 26 December, quoting Kuchma's press secretary
Olena Hromnytska. Kuchma also appointed a deputy head of the Transcarpathian
Region state administration and member of the United Social Democratic Party
of Ukraine, whose leader Viktor Medvedchuk heads Kuchma's office, as the
acting Mukacheve town mayor.
Citing "numerous appeals from NGOs and citizens demanding urgent measures to
ensure appropriate functioning of local self-government bodies in
Mukacheve", Kuchma ordered the Central Electoral Commission to hold repeat
mayoral elections in the town.
In defiance of Kuchma's decree, the Mukacheve town council today confirmed
Petyovka's powers.
Petyovka, supported by the opposition Our Ukraine bloc, won the mayoral
election in Mukacheve on 29 June this year. His rival Ernest Nuser, who was
backed by the United Social Democratic Party, appealed against the outcome
of the vote. On 14 November, the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected Nuser's
suit citing a ruling of the Mukacheve town court which confirmed Petyovka's
election. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2003, No. 118: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
=========================================================
12. NO AIR TO BREATHE
Such a version of the Constitution will simply doom all hopes
for positive changes in this country.
By Yulia Mostovaya, Zerkalo Nedeli [Mirror-Weekly]
International Social, Political Weekly
Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, December 20-26, 2003
I have a photo taken in the small hours of June 28 1996, when the Ukrainian
Constitution was adopted: how jubilant those MPs and journalists were then!
Looking at this photo now, seven years later, I wonder about the faces of
those who are going to change critically this Constitution next spring.
I know that I won't see the happy faces of Larisa Trilenko, Sergey Naboka,
Georgi Gongadze, Alexander Yemets* It makes me sad, but I am still more
depressed at the thought: who will the new constitution make really happy?
Who will celebrate with showers of champagne? Who will have enough courage
to look into the viewfinder of time?
On December 23 the Parliament is sure to vote for amendments to the
Constitution authored by Medvedchuk and Symonenko. And in February or
March these amendments are most likely to collect the necessary 300 yeas. As
a result, Ukraine will get an abortive constitution. The president will be
chosen by popular election for 18 months, at best. Under such circumstances,
there are several variants. Number one: the people lose interest in
elections and don't turn up at polling stations, thus opening up ample
opportunities for falsification of returns.
Number two: using their financial, administrative, and media resources, the
authorities make their candidate President, possibly having disqualified the
strongest opposition candidate.
Number three: an opposition candidate wins the race, but he can't
produce any tangible results, because he has no time for serious
transformations, and because the former authorities sabotage his initiatives
and create a crisis. As a result, the opposition force he represents
discredits itself and loses in the 2006 parliamentary elections.
Number four: the power is changed, a new president comes, and the only
thing he manages to do in 18 months is let his team redeem their expenses
for the presidential election race and raise enough funds for the 2006
parliamentary election campaign. In each variant Ukrainians can't count
on any improvements, because instability will certainly tell on the
country's economy, on its major trading partners' and investors' attitude.
Such a version of the Constitution will simply doom all hopes for positive
changes in this country. It will make staff renovations in the government
impossible, leaving fresh minds unwanted.
President Leonid Kuchma reiterates that the democratic processes which began
at the dawn of independence have become irreversible. That's not true. Such
processes become irreversible only with the emergence of governmental and
non-governmental institutions that can defend democracy no matter how the
government may be staffed, and only when independent courts ensure the
supremacy of law. That's rare in this country. And such rare cases often
result from judges' commercial pluralism.
Law enforcers are also supposed to contribute to democracy. When Lithuanian
security services uncovered their President's shady commercial links and
presented the evidence, the parliament immediately launched an impeachment
procedure. Is anything like that possible in Ukraine? A senseless question.
But sometimes even our law enforcers are appalled at the acts and demands of
those whose orders they fulfill. Mykola Bilokon [the new Interior Minister]
nearly resigned recently. His resignation remained unsigned, though, and he
is still in his office. The authorities' interests are also guarded and
secured by the Security Service and the Prosecutor General Office, whose
practice of selective application of law has been described exhaustively and
many times.
Democracy is supposed to be defended by the mass media - free and
ubiquitous. In Ukraine it is very problematic. Government-controlled TV
channels, radio stations, and newspapers sing to the score of the
Presidential Administration. And opposition publications are mainly
propagandistic. As a result, fifty percent of the authorities' activity and
the national economy remains in the shade. The bulk of journalists have
given up. After several years of desperately being torn apart between an
honest profession and steady pay, they have chosen the latter.
The authorities did their best to fence out the undesirable influence of
foreign partners. And what about Ukraine's agreements and declarations? What
about all those international conventions and agreements, what about the
membership commitments Ukraine assumed? The Soviet-era anti-West rhetoric
is back in news reports. And the West is at a loss: what should it do about
Ukraine, and should it really? Foreign diplomats are confused by the
statements and actual deeds of the authorities and the opposition. They
really can't grasp the scope of competence of such officials as Hryshchenko,
Marchuk, Khoroshkovsky, Smeshko. They don't know the real powers and
influence of the men they like.
The "third sector", whose role is extremely important in any democratic
country, is either completely corrupted by the authorities through
commercial relationships with NGO leaders, or is discredited by the
authorities through accusations of politicking and being funded by the West.
This year we witnessed the crush of the last bastion of civil liberty: the
Parliament turned into a voting machine, and the opposition MPs who refused
to cooperate with the authorities became supernumeraries.
It is simply ridiculous to talk about the impossibility of a return to the
totalitarian past, at least because in many respects we are already back
there. And Bankova has even surpassed the USSR Communist Party Politburo.
Soviet leaders' "appetites" were limited to dachas, rich carpets, and
expensive tableware. Under the USSR they had no right to an error.
Ukraine, where authorities never bear any real responsibility, has become a
testing ground for their political ideas and moves. Let's take the idea of
the constitutional reform. The initial variant, now almost forgotten, was
offered for a nationwide discussion. Leaving out facts of dirty
manipulations of returns, let's not forget that the President asked four
sociological services to survey the public opinion about the amendments to
the Constitution he was proposing then. The amendments which are proposed
now differ considerably from those initiated by the President. But where is
the presidential initiative now? Why didn't the uthorities bother at least
to poll Ukrainians about their attitude to the idea of electing the
President by Parliament?
The answer is but too simple. With the approaching expiration of Kuchma's
term in office, his entourage doesn't want to waste their time on all those
democratic trifles. The President knows that more than 80 percent of
Ukrainians are against the idea of electing the President by Parliament,
that they want to retain their right to decide the fate of the first man in
the state at least once in five years. According to the opinion polls,
conducted by three of the four sociological services that Kuchma had turned
to, this idea is supported by 4% - 5% of Ukrainians. And it doesn't matter
to them whether they are going to be deprived of this right in 2004 or 2006.
They don't want to part with this right, and the authorities don't want to
leave it to them. The names of the MPs who voted for depriving the people of
the right to elect their president should really hang on every wall so that
everyone can see who is to blame for this legal castration*
Some may argue that in every second European country the president is
elected by the parliament. That reminds me of a rich Mongol nomad's yurt:
there is a super-modern television, a video recorder, a refrigerator, a
music set. But there is no electricity. It is the same with Ukraine. There
is a parliament, but everybody knows that it is elected with the use of
administrative resources, that the authorities and the opposition have very
unequal opportunities for using mass media and very different chances to win
a lawsuit in court. More importantly, the reformatting of the parliament's
composition and forcible recruitment of MPs by the authorities change the
configuration of political forces, arranged by voters on election day.
The generator of all these changes is known very well. Everything that is
happening to the Parliament, the Constitution, the general public, and even
the opposition is masterminded and orchestrated by a few men whose only goal
is to keep their power. They look on the rest of the nation as just a crowd,
who can serve as a tool for making power and money at an opportune moment.
Why do these few men need power? Why do they resort to all possible means,
trying to disrupt or devalue the 2004 election? The answer has been given
many times. It's not just because the words "power" and "profit" have the
same notion in this country. It's also because to those "few select" a
change of power means requital and redistribution of property. They are so
sure about it because they would act exactly the same way, should they take
the upper hand. It should be noted that the redistribution of property is
already in full swing. And involved in this struggle are those who are
afraid of redistribution after the change of power.
That's why the biggest Ukrainian oligarchs are unable to agree on a single
candidate for presidency. An opposition candidate's victory in elections is
as dangerous to them as their "kin's". Pinchuk doesn't want to see
Medvedchuk at the presidential post. Medvedchuk doesn't want Tyhypko.
And neither wants Yanukovych. What we have is a system in which the few
capitalize on the mercenariness and fear of those who belong to the
pro-government parliamentary majority. Trusting neither their opponents nor
one another, these few are trying to set up a partnership society and divvy
up shares during the elections. In such a system a president elected by
Parliament actually becomes sort of an offshore zone which is used by the
majority shareholders, and which is out of reach of inspectors, i.e. the
public.
In their individual interviews outside the session hall, representatives of
the Labor Ukraine, the Agrarian Party, the Regions of Ukraine, and the
Social Democratic factions voice objections to the constitutional
transformations. But once in the session hall, they press the "yea" button
as one. They do so because they know that those few "puppeteers" may
easily take away their wealth even before the elections.
Many of those MPs feel ill at ease when they are asked why. They are well
aware that they don't have to be afraid of any new leadership, because the
redistribution of property, should it ever happen, will pass over them. They
are afraid of this leadership. They are afraid of losing their proteges,
capital, realty, and so on and so forth. The only things they aren't afraid
of losing are their honesty and human dignity.
I often wonder what books they read when they were children. Did their
parents teach them to lie and steal? What women left such complexes in their
hearts and minds? What else can they give their children but a grand for
out-of-pocket expenses and a strong conviction that all the rest in the
world envy them? How come grown-up, self-sufficient, successful, sane, and
sober people, who can't utter a single kind word about the President or his
chief of staff in private, are going to vote for the amendments to the
Constitution which are opposed by the people, which don't solve their
problems, and which are sure to impede the nation's development?
We have partly answered the latter question. There is one more thing to add:
the elite has resigned itself to Bankova's authoritarianism. Perhaps, they
wouldn't have if it had seen a real leader in the opposition camp. A leader
who could say clearly what he wants and how he means to achieve it. Many
waited for a banner to be unfolded, but then everyone understood that it
would be foolhardy to follow the empty-handed standard-bearer.
The Communists, until recently the strongest and best-organized opposition
force, are now in league with the "hateful regime". So let's dwell more on
the non-communist opposition, in which many Ukrainians still trust.
Everybody knows that the Our Ukraine opposition bloc has to operate in
"aggressive" environments. Yes, circumstances may be stronger than a man,
but why shouldn't he be stronger than circumstances? The problem is not just
the absence of a definite strategy or a program of tactical steps. It's not
that the Our Ukraine has turned into a supernumerary faction that has no
influence on outcomes of voting in the session hall. The real problem is
that Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the opposition. According to the
latest opinion poll conducted by the Razumkov Center, 12.9% of respondents
were satisfied, in general, with the leadership's activity in 2003, and
77.5% were not. At the same time, only 16.9% of respondents were satisfied
with the opposition's activity, and 57.6% were not.
The representatives of the most numerous parliamentary faction may argue
that the opposition is short of votes to influence the situation in
Parliament. But everywhere else in the world the opposition is a minority,
and so is in opposition to the ruling majority. And yet, elsewhere in the
world opposition leaders somehow manage to enter into tactical alliances
with authorities for the sake of the nation's benefit or to legibly inform
the public about their views. The Our Ukraine has succeeded in neither.
It's true that the authorities obstruct Yushchenko's communication with
voters. But even those mass media that are at his disposal - the newspaper
Bez Tsenzury [Without Censorship] and the TV Channel Five are used very
ineffectively.
The authorities made the Our Ukraine play by their rules. As a result, it
lost the possibility of forming a majority and cooperating efficiently with
other opposition factions. Besides, it underestimated the possibility of the
constitutional reform plans being carried out. Having actually initiated the
reform, Yushchenko's bloc didn't follow through on the real bills that were
meant to back the changes he proposed.
The Our Ukraine failed to build up a consolidated opposition front. Nor did
it succeed in negotiations with the President. It never told the Family what
would happen to them after Yushchenko's election. Neither the President, nor
his potential partners - Alexander Moroz and Yulia Tymoshenko - got any
definite guarantees or at least a sign from Yushchenko. Both Moroz and
Tymoshenko have their own ambitions, which are naturally higher than their
real possibilities. And neither has been able to come to terms with
Yushchenko.
It's difficult to predict Tymoshenko's future steps now, when she is too
preoccupied by her relatives' problems with prosecutors, by the fate of her
husband, who is in custody in a foreign country, by her desire to become
Prime Minister. And still she keeps hoping in vain to get guarantees from
Yushchenko. Her statement that a candidate from the Tymoshenko-Moroz
tandem can beat Yanukovych in the second round doesn't sound convincing.
Besides, Tymoshenko feels that her energy and experience are not needed by
Yushchenko's team, because in their eyes her negative rating outweighs all
her electoral virtues.
No accord is to be seen in relationships between Yushchenko's Our Ukraine
and Moroz's Socialists. Moroz's supporters try to convince him that he can
win the race. But they don't realize that his name is associated with the
bright past and that few regard him as a potent political leader of the
future.
So far the Our Ukraine hasn't offered the parliamentary majority and the
opposition anything that could help enlist their support. Tymoshenko is
still waiting and losing patience. Moroz is almost ready to support the
pro-government version of the constitutional reform. Both opposition leaders
believe that the Our Ukraine has little respect for them.
That may be so. But we can see that the traditional war of ambitions in the
opposition ranks is leading to "conservation" of the present leadership for
years. Both Tymoshenko and Moroz are aware of Yushchenko and his team's
drawbacks. They understand that it's at least unwise to hope for quick and
effective changes under Yushchenko's presidency. And this fact partly
explains the leftists' recent steps and Tymoshenko's potential moves.
But there is no clear understanding in the opposition ranks that the nation
needs a change of power to retain its last remaining moral health.
Supporting the reform, the leftists become the same tool as the
parliamentary majority. Kuchma set the goal, Medvedchuk developed the
scheme, built the majority, enlisted the leftists' support, and prepared the
plan, which completely divides the authorities and the rest of society and
conserves the intellectually exhausted leadership cadre, barring them from
an influx of fresh people and ideas.
What could the Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc do about it? The
apparently logical way would be to organize mass protests. For if the people
don't expect anything good from the government and have given up on the
opposition, if they are dissatisfied with both, if they hate to be deprived
of the right to elect a president, then they are naturally supposed to take
to the streets and claim their lawful right aloud. But it looks like this is
not the way it's going to be.
Did the notorious "tape scandal" produce the expected effect of a bomb? Did
the people take to the street when their hard-earned savings perished in the
coffers of the defunct USSR Savings Bank? The best the opposition managed to
do was arrange a picket of a few thousand protesters in Kyiv against cutting
the minimal wage, although the government's move directly concerned each and
everyone.
Every citizen wants to have a hand in the president's election. But who is
ready to stand in the cold of February or March under the opposition
banners, picketing the governmental offices? The ZN has a circulation of
42,000. Each copy is normally read by six people. Some 60,000 people read
each issue in the Internet. There are 250,000 of us - active, politically
literate, and intelligent. We understand what's going on, we haven't quit
this country, we are raising our children here. How many of us will stand up
in defense of our constitutional rights?.. The exact figure doesn't really
matter. What matters is the experience of the previous actions, their scale
and effect.
Let's have a look at the returns of a nationwide opinion poll, which the
Razumkov Center conducted on November 10 - 17. 2019 citizens in
all parts of Ukraine were asked," "What would you do if the political
opposition resorted to force, i.e. organized actions of mass disobedience,
seized governmental offices, etc., with the purpose of overthrowing the
present government?" 4.8% of respondents said that they would actively
support the opposition and take part in its actions. 23.7% confessed that
they wouldn't take part in the actions, but would support the opposition
morally. 1.8% would actively side with the authorities and would take part
in their actions against the opposition. 15.1% would stay away from either
actions, but would support the authorities morally. Almost one-third of
respondents (29.8%) were indifferent, and 24.9% were undecided.
If anything serious happens, there will be fewer heroes than those who feel
like heroes. So there will be a lot more indifferent people. And if, God
forbid, it comes to clashes, the ranks of active protesters will shrink down
to hundreds. We all remember that the "Ukraine Without Kuchma" protest
actions stalled after news reports about protesters' clashes with police on
March 9, 2001.
Should the opposition decide to put up barricades, it has to understand that
the authorities would put up a strong defense, that the defense would be led
by utterly cynical men. However, we have to admit to a certain degree of
cynicism among common citizens. It is proven by the respondents' answers to
another question, "What would you do if the authorities resorted to force,
i.e. tried to dissolve Parliament, cancel presidential elections by popular
vote, repress opposition leaders?" The same one-third would remain
indifferent. 26.6% didn't know what they would do. 1.1% would take part in
the authorities' actions against the opposition. 9.8% would stay away, but
would support the authorities morally. The opposition could count on moral
support from 26.5 percent, and six percent would take part in
counter-actions against the authorities.
So what's our situation? Twelve years after the independence referendum,
more than seven years after the adoption of the Constitution we have to
admit that we have failed to build a law-governed, democratic state.
Moreover, the prevailing trend is backward. What makes the situation even
worse is that in all these twelve years this nation has been unable to
develop protective mechanisms against the dictate of several men. What is
it - a junta? a dictatorship? The term doesn't matter. What does matter is
the fact that this country has found itself at a crossroads again.
Unfortunately, not at the threshold of great changes, but at the brink of an
abyss. And now 48 million of us, who have no right to a decent life, to
defend our rights, are going to be deprived of the last right - to influence
the situation in the country by electing the head of state.
Mr. Kivalov, a member of government, proposed once to pardon our
President all his sins and leave him all his wealth in this country and
abroad. After a critical publication in The ZN, the proposal was withdrawn,
and now Kivalov's draft bill collects dust on a long shelf. Today, seeing
what the President and a few men in his entourage are going to do to this
country, I am almost ready to support Kivalov's initiative and even go
further: maybe it would cost us less to pass a bill on immunity for five or
seven people? Maybe then they would stop raping this country.
But it looks like the President is not the main player anymore. The real
players are those who, like a character in Belyayev's science fiction novel,
have pumped out the air and people's rights and are anticipating a lucrative
trade. And now it's up to these air sellers to decide who can be allowed to
breathe in the government, business, judiciary, and mass media.
http://www.mirror-weekly.com/ie/show/474/44736/ (END) (ARTUIS)
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. "UKRAINE REPORT-2003," No. 118: MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2003
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