Upcoming Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections

Tymoshenko Calls On All Compatriots to Pray Together for Ukraine on 25 March
UNIAN
March 20, 2006

BYT front-runner Yulia Tymoshenko calls on all compatriots to pray for Ukraine on 25 March.

According to the BYT press-service, the statement of Yulia Tymoshenko reads that the day of the parliamentary election is special for Ukraine, because our future depends on it.

“But I ask you to forget about the politics, about party squabbles, about rivalry and competitiveness on 25 March. I call on you to pray for our Motherland, for Ukraine, for the future of our children, for the happiness in every family”, reads Yulia Tymoshenko’s statement.

Those who do not believe in anything, Yulia Tymoshenko asks just to think kindly about Ukraine.

A Fairer Fight in Ukraine Campaign - Candidates Look to West, Away from Russia, as Guide In Parliamentary Election
Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2006

Those concerned by news reports that Ukraine's democratic, pro-Western trajectory is in trouble may want to study a wealth of contrary evidence -- including the opposition leader's decision to replace his Russian election advisers with a team assembled by U.S. Republican Party campaign virtuoso Paul Manafort.

With Mr. Manafort's help, Former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions have executed a remarkable comeback after their apparent presidential victory was nullified a little more than a year ago amid election fraud -- and suspicion of complicity in his opponent's poisoning. Mr. Yanukovych has traveled the country in a Western-style campaign to win votes in Sunday's parliamentary elections rather than rig them.

The man who brought Mr. Manafort to the Ukrainian field was the country's richest person, Rinat Akhmetov, who hired the American early last year to advise him on preparing his company, SCM Holdings, for a Western stock listing. Mr. Akhmetov, a Russian-speaking Tatar from eastern Ukraine, is fighting against his own image of ill-gotten wealth as he runs for a Parliament seat on his party's Republican-like platform of pro-business growth policies and patriotism aimed at creating "the best country in Europe."

None of this makes Ukraine a stable, liberal democracy. But it is part of a mosaic of evidence that contradicts a widely held perception that 2004's Orange Revolution has failed and dark, anti-democratic, pro-Russian forces are again rising. What is true is that Ukraine's revolutionary leaders have been unimpressive in power, fighting among themselves while the economy has declined.

Yet, Ukraine's nascent democratic system has strengthened. Saints don't become sinners overnight, yet Mr. Yanukovych's shift shows even retrograde politicians need to play by a new set of rules. Mr. Yanukovych has complained to allies that former President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian allies dictated his prior campaign and that this time he wanted to "hire the best the West had to offer" in remaking his party and his own image. Mr. Manafort, who has done campaign work from President Ford to the current President Bush, among others, qualifies as top talent; so does Rick Ahearn, a former lead Reagan advance man who has been a central figure on the Yanukovych team.

At the same time, Ukraine's democratic revolution has spawned other positive change, from a blossoming of independent interest groups to a lively if sometimes irresponsible media. Major political actors are generally playing by democratic rules. Even Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainian businessmen, who once thought it might be better to divide the country, now tend to see their economic interests are best protected by national unity, eventual European Union membership and independence from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to cut off natural-gas supplies to Ukraine earlier this year only accelerated this evolution in thinking.

"Ukraine has turned the corner in terms of statehood and national identity," says Alexander Motyl, a Ukraine expert at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "The question of whether it will continue to exist as a state has been put to rest."

Polls ahead of Sunday's elections indicate none of the three main parties will be able to form a government without coalition negotiations. Mr. Yanukovych, at some 30%, scores consistently better than his two primary rivals. Our Ukraine Party, led by Orange Revolution leader and current President Viktor Yushchenko, has fallen to 15%-20%. His former ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, whom he fired as prime minister in September, has similar backing. The question is whether Mr. Yushchenko puts aside his animosity toward Ms. Tymoshenko and revives the Orange coalition or joins Mr. Yanukovych and argues that Ukraine is better served by bringing together parties representing its eastern and western regions.

In the end, however, the electoral outcome will be of less importance than whether Ukrainians and international observers view it as a fair fight. The vote has the chance to be Ukraine's first clean parliamentary election with open competition after 70 years of Soviet rule and another 14 years of corrupt, autocratic rule.

"You have a system of democratic rules and practices beginning to consolidate," Mr. Motyl says. "There is a pro-business, pro-market, pro-Western-integration majority now in all the major political parties. There is no unchecked power left in Ukraine. It almost doesn't matter who wins."

The three personalities fighting for votes naturally feel otherwise, and their personalities have made the election fight as operatic as it is historic.

The tragic hero is Mr. Yushchenko, a central banker whose face was disfigured by a would-be killer's poison. He bravely led the Orange Revolution to victory thereafter but has seen his popularity decline amid charges of indecision, mismanagement and failure to prosecute past political crimes. He will continue as president until 2009 and will keep the right to name his defense and foreign ministers, but constitutional changes dictate that he share power with whichever prime minister is chosen by the parliament elected Sunday.

His foil is Ms. Tymoshenko, the erstwhile ally he fired in September. Called the "Gas Queen" for the riches she earned as a player in Ukraine's energy trade, she has made herself the darling of nationalists with her outspoken populism and striking appearance, with blonde peasant-style braids.

Mr. Yanukovych is a hard-scrabble, two-time convict who was orphaned as a teenager and who has been ridiculed by some in the media for misspelling words -- including "professor" -- in a document said to confirm a bogus university degree. Yet he is betting his approach is smartest, creating a party with a sustainable platform and ideology that will allow him to outlast even a reunified Orange coalition beset by personal and ideological differences.

Don't be surprised if any outcome Sunday isn't long-lasting. Ukraine may suffer a period of shifting and unstable coalition governments for some time, which might not be good for effective governance but doesn't need to be bad for democracy.

"What looks like chaos is democracy in action," Mr. Motyl says. "Ukraine has changed more deeply than most people understand."

Our Ukraine Accuses Party Of Regions And Tymoshenko Bloc Of Political Speculation Over Immunity Of Local Council Deputies
Ukrainian News
March 20, 2006

The Our Ukraine bloc has accused the Party of the Regions and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc of political speculation over the immunity of local council deputies.

Roman Zvarych, the deputy head of the Our Ukraine bloc's election campaign, made the accusation at a press conference.

Zvarych said that Our Ukraine was accusing the Party of the Regions of attempting to take advantage of the immunity of deputies to include criminals on its lists of candidates for election into local councils and the parliament.

In particular, according to Zvarych, the Party of the Regions' list of parliamentary candidates includes 22 people with criminal records.

Zvarych noted that the Our Ukraine bloc's campaign clip entitled "The Threat - The Scary Truth" focused on this issue.

The Party of the Regions threatened to file complaints with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and prosecutorial organs after the clip was broadcast.

Meanwhile, according to Zvarych, the deadline for filing complaints expired on Friday, March 17, and information available to Our Ukraine indicated that neither the CEC nor the prosecutorial offices have received any complaints.

Based on this, Zvarych called on the Party of the Regions to either deny or accept the accusation that it is taking advantage of immunity of deputies for the above-mentioned purpose.

Zvarych also said that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc was also using the immunity of deputies as an item of political speculation.

According to him, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is presently claiming to favor abolition of the immunity of local council deputies while 34 of the 41 members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc's parliamentary faction voted in favor of introduction of immunity when the issue was considered in the parliament on September 8, 2005.

Zvarych denied the information that the Our Ukraine bloc proposed the relevant draft law.

According to him, Parliamentary Deputy Valerii Asadchev, who was a member of the Ukrainian People's Party at the time, proposed the draft law.

According to Zvarych, the Our Ukraine bloc is presently attempting to submit a draft law on abrogation of the law that granted immunity to local council deputies. However, according to him, this requires the signature of 150 parliamentary deputies.

According to him, 106 deputies have thus far signed this draft law, but members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc have not signed it.

Zvarych called on the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc to sign the draft law and thus demonstrate its position on the issue of immunity of local council deputies.

He expressed the hope that a coalition involving Our Ukraine will be able to abolish the immunity of local council deputies in the new parliament and amend the Constitution to cancel the immunity of local council deputies.

According to him, this will be one of the conditions for forming a coalition with Our Ukraine in the new parliament.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, acting Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov, who heads the election list of the Our Ukraine bloc, favors the idea of stripping deputies of their immunity.

President Viktor Yushchenko proposed in December 2005 that the parliament cancel the immunity of local council deputies.

The parliament restored the criminal and administrative immunities of local council deputies on September 8.

If the Party of Regions won't like the results of elections, there will be protest actions
Ostrov
March 20, 2006

The Party of Regions threatens to organize mass protest actions in case of falsification of parliamentary elections results, which was announced by the leader of the Party of Regions in Sevastopol, according to agency 'New region – Crimea'.

'We will fight for the rights of our electors, including the methods that you are speaking about,' he said responding to the question of the possibility to start the mass protest actions.

V. Yanukovich also stated of the party's intention to give the status of the second state language to the Russian language after creation of majority in the enw parliament 'within the requirements of Ukrainian legislation'.

On 18 March in Sevastopol on Nakhimov Square there was the meeting of stalwarts of the Party of Regions. There were approximately 13-15 thousand people.

According to the law, charges cannot be brought against local council deputies without initial consideration of the issue by the relevant local council.

Yushchenko signed the law but later asked the Constitutional Court to determine whether the law is constitutional.

Kuchma does not rule out creation of a coalition between Our Ukraine and the Party of Regions
ICTV TV Channel
March 20, 2006

The previous president of Ukraine does not rule out creation of a coalition between Our Ukraine and the Party of Regions. Leonid Kuchma has given an extensive interview to the magazine Business.

In his view, there is nothing impossible, however, the heat of passions we are witnessing now makes this process much more complicated.

Leonid Kuchma reminded that these forces had a chance to form a coalition way back in 2002, when he personally suggested that Our Ukraine and United Ukraine create an alliance which would have made a constitutional majority. Had that happened, it would have given Ukraine a chance to develop normally, claims the ex-president: “We would have not seen such a division of the country and such differences between the East and the West; it would have been a truly united country and I am convinced that developments in Ukraine would have gone in a completely different way.”

 Pinzenik speaks for forming a majority with the orange forces in the next Parliament
ICTV TV Channel
March 20, 2006

The leader of the Party of Reforms and Order Viktor Pinzenik announced today on his trip to the city of Uzhgorod that the PORA-Party of Reforms and Order Bloc will not do without forming a bloc in the next Parliament. Together with the orange forces the Bloc seeks to form a full-fledged majority.

Members of the Bloc are not interested in seats in the cabinet. Viktor Pinzenik is convinced that the majority should rally behind a certain program of actions, rather than unite to get their share of government portfolios. He also added that the PORA-Party of Reforms and Order Bloc is a political force that speaks for fundamental changes in the system of government and in the investment climate in the country.

The “Nye TAK!” Bloc accuses the government of using the administrative resources and of seeking to rig the outcome of the vote
ICTV TV Channel
March 20, 2006

One of the leaders of the opposition bloc Stepan Gavrish expressed discontent at the behavior of the Minister of the Interior Yury Lutsenko, who is telling the public about which candidates for deputy have problems with the law, and said that President Viktor Yushchenko is also exerting influence on the course of the election campaign.

Stepan Gavrish, member of the “Nye TAK!” Electoral Bloc: “It was the Ukrainian President who acted as the main conflict manager of this exact process. He was participating in the election campaign on a continuous basis; he recorded his voice for the social advert “Think Ukrainian;” and he was sending out different kinds of messages about who will be in Parliament and who will not.”

Victor Yanukovich: our goal is to come to power
Kommersant. Vlast
March 20, 2006

On March 26 parliamentary election in Ukraine will be held and our series of interviews with the leading participants of the Ukrainian election campaign is coming to an end.* In this issue questions of the Vlast correspondent Vladimir Solovyov will be answered by Victor Yanukovich, the head of Ukraine’s Party of Regions, a leader of the election race.

"We shall revise the gas agreement with Russia"

 -- It has already become a tradition that  relations between Kiev and Moscow get aggravated before the Ukrainian elections. First gas and the Black Sea fleet, then lighthouses and cheese. What’s the reason?

 -- In our view, these relations got aggravated long ago. Right after the presidential election Ukraine embarked upon the path of aggravating relations with Russia. This could be seen in a number of issues including those you are talking about. Oil, gas, meat and dairy products, lighthouses and now, by the way, the Trans-Dniester region. These issues can also comprise the issues of NATO, Russian language, and a number of other problems which are contradictory to the mood of Ukraine’s society. On March 26 answers should be given to all these issues. We often ask our voters: do you understand what you are going to vote for or not? Of late people began to answer in the affirmative realizing that a question is at stake now whether we shall be the masters in our own home or not. Or we shall live on somebody’s instructions and somebody will tell us how to run our own country.

 -- And how are you going to tackle the said problems?

 -- It is necessary to patch up the relations with Russia and to further develop them on mutually beneficial conditions. One of the fundamental decisions that has to be taken is the creation of the common economic space with Kazakhstan, Russia and Byelorussia. Following this road we shall find solutions for many economic problems including both the energy prices and the transport policy and the tariff policy.

 -- It means you are going to counterbalance the tilt towards the European Union?

 -- The matter is that there was no any tilt. It only took place in terms of aggravation of relations with Russia because of which Ukraine was afflicted most of all economically. Russia sustained losses partially too. Europe does not need any conflicts. I think that they already realized earlier in the year what a conflict between Russia and Ukraine means when Europe began to experience shortages in gas supplies. It is but only a small sign. Today we believe that a tripartite dialogue is necessary between the EU, Russia and Ukraine. It should be transparent and clear. Ukraine should not be a conflicting party but serve as a bridge between Russia and Europe. We have prepared such a package of proposals and are going to present it.

 -- Don’t you believe that aggravation of all these crises is Moscow’s attempt to influence the outcome of elections here?

 -- These are the manipulations of the politicians. That’s the only way I can assess it.
 -- And are you a pro-Russian politician?

 -- I am pro-Ukrainian. We protect and will continue to protect our own national interests. 

-- Does the common economic space serve the national interest of Ukraine? Or does Ukraine’s interest mean NATO and EU?

 -- Ukraine’s national interest is Ukraine. We shouldn’t set some things against others. There are a number of programmes that should be implemented together with Russia and EU and we are ready to propose such programmes. This will in no way contradict the integration into the European space, for Russia also tries to integrate into Europe.

 -- Must Ukraine become a member of EU?

 -- It is a long process. Ukraine should aspire towards European standards of living. I would say that Ukraine should build Europe at home. For this reforms are needed to improve the life of people and it is this path that in the long run will lead Ukraine to the relations it is seeking to have today. European integration is the strategic direction that we had selected many years ago.

 -- What is the appropriate status of the Russian language in Ukraine?

 -- It should be the second state language. We adopted the respective programme and are going to implement it.

 -- And what is your personal relationship with the Russian leadership? All remember your warm meetings with Vladimir Putin. Do you maintain contacts now?

 -- What contacts can an oppositionist have with the power echelons! There is relationship between the Ukrainian government and the Russian government, between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president. And we are an opposition party, we build relationship on an inter-party level.

 -- But you do build it with the Russian ruling party – United Russia.

 -- Yes, we build it with United Russia, we have long-standing good relationship with it. We are conducting negotiations on a party level, determine the points of interest. For example, when the gas conflict flared up, we began negotiations with the United Russia members and voiced our point of view to the effect that such Russian position with relation to Ukraine cannot have any prospects. We raised an issue that the gas agreement with Russia should be revised. In the course of negotiations with United Russia we came to the same opinion that our position is the most real and understandable. After the election we shall by all means revise the gas agreement with Russia.

 -- Peter Poroshenko (former head of Ukraine security council-- "Vlast") asserted that you are involved with Rosukrenergo and personally conducted negotiations  with Moscow on its creation.

 -- Petr Poroshenko covers bungling actions of the authorities when the gas problem was tackled. This is pure populism. I did not participate in any negotiations. There were negotiations between party groups, I did participate in them and presented the point of view of the party. We took this decision on a party level.
 
"Akhmetov should concentrate on the work in parliament"

-- Many say that the Party of Regions is not Yanukovich at all but it is Rinat Akhmetov. What do you say to that?

 -- We have a team, the roles and places have been assigned to all, each performs his own function.

 -- Can Rinat Akhmetov become prime minister?

 -- Ask him. I read his latest interview and he said that he is not going to work in the government but will work in parliament. In any case, in this composition. As for the future, life will show. My point of view is that he should concentrate on the work in parliament and I already spoke with Rinat Akhmetov about that a number of times.

 -- Rinat Akhmetov has an ambiguous reputation. Wasn’t it risky to include such a man into your team?

 -- We have principles we adhere to and I think that this is our merit. That is why the use of various black political technologies against members of our team is of no avail. It cannot affect our fundamental relations inside the team. That is the main thing. We don’t believe what spin doctors invent, including stuff about Rinat Akhmetov. You know that a lot of things were concocted against me too, these stories were the main theme during the past election. A year and a half have passed and what now? They fell silent! New elections are coming and they started to talk again. During the year 2005 criminal cases were registered, but all were closed. When I am asked about it I answer: this theme was closed more than 30 years ago. As for tales about Akhmetov, these are from the same source. Somebody is sitting somewhere and is making up various scenarios in order to reduce our rating. In this case the objective in using the black PR tricks against Akhmetov is the same – to reduce the rating of the Party of Regions. We realize that very well, but we are not radically changing our attitude to this person.

 -- If the Party of Regions wins will it reciprocate against the ‘orange’ ones in the same way? Will you initiate criminal cases against them?

 -- We shall never choose this way and  will never persecute our opponents for political reasons. Emphasis will be placed on the law, it will apply to any person whatever his political colour and whatever church he goes to.

 -- What do you think about the initiation of criminal cases against  the former high-ranking Ukrainian officials now hiding in Russia?

 -- These are political repressions. When an official substitutes for a court, when an official substitutes for investigation, when a power representative substitutes for a court ruling, it is the road to nowhere. Without trial and without a court ruling nobody has the right to call a person a criminal.

"The fight is waged in a big way"

-- What does the Party of Regions want from this election?

 -- We hope that we shall come to power and will at last begin to build an effective state policy. I think that we shall manage to win and take part in the formation of a coalition. Now two forces are standing in the front – the old ‘orange team’ whose destination is unclear and the Party of Regions. We are opposed not just by Our Ukraine alone behind which Yuschenko is standing who is not ashamed of the fact, for he became president of one party. The whole administrative resource is being used against us plus the technological parties especially created by the authorities. All this machine works against one party – the Party of Regions. Regrettably, other opposition parties are playing a risky game, they may get elected to the Rada and may fail to do so. They are our allies. Of course the fight is waged in a big way. The majority of people realize that. As for the end of it, let us wait until March 27. We are full of optimism.

 -- Whom do you think to be your possible partners in the future coalition?

 -- We shall answer this question after the election when we see the correlation of the political forces.

 -- OK. And whom will the Party of Regions never accept as a coalition partner?
 -- But we agreed not to comment on this issue.

 -- But such an answer may be construed in such a way that you are prepared to be allies with all, including the unloved ‘orange ones.’

 -- You know I answered this question many times. For us it is a matter of principle and I will explain why. Among the ‘orange forces’ we see individual groups of politicians who share our point of view. We don’t want to be offensive and will not hurt them. We don’t know what happens after the election, what the correlation forces will be, what will be the setup.

 -- The ‘orange ones’ are not in that big numbers. These are Our Ukraine, Yulia Timoshenko and Vitaly Klichko.

 -- Let me not elaborate on the subject. This is our decision, a position of principle. We do not want to manipulate with the point of view of our voters.

 -- Are you afraid of playing into somebody’s hands?

 -- We don’t want either play or lift or lower anybody.

 -- They say you will win in the election.  What will you pretend to if the forecast comes true: your own premier, your own speaker?

 -- All depends on the outcome of the coalition negotiations. Coalition comes first. I have already said that it is impossible to forecast who will take what post until a coalition is created. Our goal is to come to power. We hope to get it from the hands of the people and it is the main thing. All the rest is after the election.

 -- The Party of Regions may well become the biggest ‘heavy-weight’ in the new parliament. The appetites are supposed to match it.

 -- We run long distances and not the short ones. If you observe or monitor the chronology of our actions starting from the last election you will see that we made every statement of ours in a very balanced way unlike our rivals.

 -- What do you think is the destiny of the political reform after the election? What do you think about the president’s initiatives to abolish it?

 -- After the election all the provisions of the constitutional reform will begin to be implemented in the mandatory manner. We do not exclude that during the implementation process we shall have to get back to some individual provisions but practice will show. If something has to be changed, parliament will find the resources for this and this will be done. But the abolition of the reform will not happen, it is impossible.
 -- Would you like to become prime minister again?

 -- I want to win in the election and bring in a strong team. Let us not hurry. Once the election is over will shall count the votes and decide who will become what.

Akhmetov cannot be seen as a rival of Yanukovich to become Prime Minister
Novosti.dn.ua
March 20, 2006

The leader of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovich expressed doubt that the Donetsk-based businessman Rinat Akhmetov, who is running in the parliamentary elections on the party’s election lists, will claim the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine.

“I have read an interview he gave recently and he said there that he is not going to join the cabinet, but will work in Parliament instead. Not after these parliamentary elections, in any event. Future will show what will happen later. My point of view is – and I have more than once discussed this subject with Rinat Akhmetov – that he should focus on work in Parliament,” Yanukovich told the Russian Kommersant-Vlast (Kommersant-Power) analytical weekly.

Responding to the question about whether it was a bit too risky to put on the party list the person with such an ambiguous reputation, as Akhmetov really is, Yanukovich noted that he does not believe “things that political strategists concoct.” “You are aware that they have concocted many things about me, too, and those stories were the main topic of the previous election. Eighteen months passed, and so what? They stopped telling things! With new elections in sight they started feeding stories again. In 2005, they opened criminal cases – and they had to close them all. When I am asked that question I give the following reply: this subject was closed more than 30 years ago,” noted the leader of the Party of Regions of Ukraine.

Yanukovich also gave a negative answer to the question about whether he wants to once again become Prime Minister. “I want to win in the elections and bring with me a strong team. Let’s not rush things. We will count the votes and decide on who will take what job after the elections are finished,” he added.

“Cowards do not play hockey”. Debates or a fight?
Ura-Inform
March 20, 2006

The Sunday debates between the Party of Regions and “Our Ukraine” can be compared with an NHL-style hockey match – so much like an ice fight between two rivals competing for the grand prix it looked. A violent fight, with backheeling and hits on the back of one’s head with a hockey stick, with a jury that is clearly sympathizing with one of the parties, and spectators supporting the home team.

Of course, credit should be first of all given to “Channel 5” journalists. They tried hard. They tried to create at least a semblance of “equal opportunities” for the rivals although of course it was noticeable that more than three hours of the debates had been tailored to fit only one person – Pyotr Poroshenko. And no matter how hard the five from the Party of regions were trying to fight back, there were no options: the debates were supposed to produce a positive impression about one party only. One should admit that the anchors acted rather courageously and even went as far as interrupted their “patron” and cut him short. But this was sufficiently compensated by the audience whose questions sounded very much like “Our Ukraine” election campaign slogans.

About the composition. The Party of Regions was represented by Boris Kolesnikov, Yevgeny Kushnaryov, Nikolai Azarov, Taras Chornovil, and Raisa Bogatyryova. “Our Ukraine” was represented by men only: Pyotr Poroshenko, David Zhvania, Nikolai Katerinchuk, Vyacheslav Kirilenko, and Roman Zvarych. It is absolutely unclear why “Our Ukraine” had tagged along two participants - a totally inarticulate “advocate of the revolution”, Katerinchuk, and surprisingly silent Zhvania. Katerinchuk, apparently, had been long out of practice being on air which is why he kept mumbling for all its worth. Zhvania went even further and did not say a single word during the entire show. But this silence was lavishly compensated with Pyotr Poroshenko’s eloquence. It should be noted that the “chocolate bunny” failed to live up to one of the key slogans of his party and quickly switched from the “state language” into Russian.

Unlike their opponents, all representatives of the Party of Regions spoke. Boris Kolesnikov and Yevgeny Kushnaryov were most active of them all. When operations of our law-enforcement authorities were discussed the “Our Ukraine” representatives realized most vividly what it was like being sorted out. Having personally felt all the peculiarities associated with activities of our “cops”, Kolesnikov and Kushnaryov suggested a lot more substantiated methods of reformation of law-enforcement structures. The discussion of law-enforcers gradually transformed itself into speculations about morality of power and Maidan ideals. “This power’s hands are so squeaky clean indeed, I’m afraid soap bars will soon disappear from stores”, - Kolesnikov sneered.

Suspension of the deputy immunity was the key argument that “Our Ukraine” used in the dispute about fighting crime. It looked rather ridiculous when representatives of the Party of Regions reminded the audience that the bill had been authored by … “Our Ukraine” deputies. And the constant reiterations about “removed caps” and “unremoved court convictions” looked very trite too. Can it be possible that the political technologists servicing “Our Ukraine” have completely run out of imagination and are now unable to come up with anything better than these unfinished political fantasies?

What is surprising is that the Party of Regions and “Our Ukraine” dispose of completely different statistical data about the number of crimes committed in the past year. And this difference is measured not in units, but in tens of percent! Oh, well – statistics can be very flexible, it is a known instrument used to manipulate human consciousness.

It was striking how cool Nikolai Azarov was – in a professor’s tone of voice he supplied his political opponents with rather substantiated arguments pointing to gaps in their speculations concerning the tax reform. As a last resort, Pyotr Poroshenko remembered about the gradual elimination of the VAT. Pyotr Alexeyevich always remembers about it on the eve of elections – in December of 2004 he mentioned this issue in each of his television appearances when discussion concerned economy. But everyone remembers quite clearly how he began to brazen out of his words after the elections, when he was the SNBOU Secretary.

The end of the debates was marked with a heated discussion of social issues: free health care and construction of “social” housing. One may talk about the institute of family doctors proposed by “Our Ukraine” as long as they well please, but this issue cannot be resolved without a required number of appropriate specialists. Raisa Bogatyryova pointed to that. She reminded that the Ukrainian Constitution guarantees free health care to all Ukrainians and described how this condition can be ensured. According to her, the government must ensure a transition to a mixed health care system under which health care institutions are funded not only from the state and local budgets, but also from insurance funds.

Proving the wrongness of construction of social housing the “orange” candidates framed themselves up as they identified social housing as a ghetto parent, a precursor of the Ukrainian “Harlem”. Regionalists pointed out that social housing is an inalienable attribute of European countries that are traditionally called socialist – Denmark and Sweden.

Upon the whole, the debates were heated and uncompromising because the views of the political forces whose representatives took part in the televised debates are too polarized. This was the “costume rehearsal” before the elections.

Timoshenko: Yanukovich and Yekhanurov abstained from debates due to fear
UNIAN
March 20, 2006

Yulia Timoshenko claims that her televised debates with the leader of the Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovich, and the Prime Minister, leader of the “Our Ukraine” election list, Yuri Yekhanurov, did not take place because these politicians were afraid of being exposed. She made a statement to that effect yesterday, on March 19, in a live-air broadcast of the Ivano-Frankovsk television company, “3-Studio”, when asked why she had not participated in televised debates with these politicians.

“Unfortunately, courage has abandoned all big politicians, - said Yulia Timoshenko. – Unfortunately, they did not dare go live with me to avoid us asking each other questions in the presence of all those who would like to receive answers. I am not afraid of them asking me questions. I want them to give answers. But unfortunately, our so-called leaders have simply not had the time to take off their skirts which is why everything about them is so crude, when fear exceeds even the common sense”.

“They are afraid, because when you ask a politician directly a clear question, present a document, look him in the eye and ask to give an answer, a politician whose position is honest and understandable will never be afraid to go live, - noted Timoshenko. – Those people are afraid of live air who know that the question that they will be asked is not the one they have prepared for a live-air show at home, but a truly critical question that they are unable to answer”.

Yulia Timoshenko does not understand why Yuri Yekhanurov has never gone live with her “on the issue of execution of gas agreements”. “I used to invite him. He used to send one little brother or another, but he has never gone for it himself. Because he knows that the entire world already knows that those agreements were wrong. I think that shadow deals may not be closed in the post-revolution Ukraine”, – she said.

Timoshenko also thinks that participation of Ukrainian politicians in television shows together with the Vice Speaker of the RF State Duma, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is “a shame for our country”.

“I would have never allowed myself to be so humiliated as to go live with this politician, - she said. – I think that even being in the same studio with him and having to talk to him in the course of a television show is a humiliation. It is practically the same as to admit that such a politician may ask Ukrainians any questions. It is an insult, an absurdity, and I feel sorry for the people who went for it and tried to answer to blatant loutishness against which there are no grips. These people have no culture, they are immoral, and they have no principles, because standing right next to such people, I think, is simply a shame for our country”.

Timoshenko goes to the Lvov region and speaks about a threat to Ukraine posed by the Party of Regions if it comes to power
Lvovskaya Gazeta
March 20, 2006

The BYuT leader deliberately does not ignore western cities and locales of Ukraine because it is in this particular region, according to forecasts of sociologists, that she will collect her largest electoral harvest.

Last Friday, Yulia Timoshenko visited the three largest district centers of the Lvov region – Striy, Drogobych, and Sambir where she met with thousands of people. In the evening she had a full house of her supporters in the Theater named after G. Zankovetskaya. All the speeches of “Lady Yu” were the same: she criticized the presidential environment and promised to do all the best to bring about real changes in the state if the BYuT wins the elections.

In all the three district centers, Yulia Timoshenko mostly spoke about the threat to Ukraine posed by the Party of Regions if the latter comes to power, as well as intentions and achievements of the government that she used to lead.

- Our government “shut down” all the shadow spheres that we were able to identify, - assured Ms. Timoshenko. – We managed to raise pensions a little, ensured payment of eight thousand grivnas to mothers when they have babies, and increased the budget by 73%. Litvin has called this budget a budget of wastage but even these kopecks we practically drew out of bandits’ stomachs. They were very reluctant to share with the society.

Yulia Timoshenko was asked a lot of questions in writing. Some of them were pleasant and others were not very much so, but she, as usual, answered them all with confidence. People mostly wanted to know what kind of relationship Yulia Vladimirovna currently has with the President and whether she is going to form a bloc with “Our Ukraine” following the elections.

- I am not competing with the President. Because I am one of the politicians who supported him in the time of need. He and I have absolutely nothing to share. What he needs to do is to rid himself of his current team that keeps advising him and their advice results in the dropping rating of the head of the state.

The BYuT leader assured her audience that her faction, at any rate, would not form a bloc with the Party of Regions because it would be a step in the direction of a dead-end. Instead, Yu. Timoshenko noted that “Our Ukraine” wants to form a so-called grand coalition within the Parliament and thus completely devaluate the Maidan ideals because the former group of people will come back to power again. According to Ms. Timoshenko, only she and her party want changes and are prepared to fight for them in any conditions. And in order for them to be able to do that, as she said at the rallies in the abovementioned district centers, they need to win the elections. It is this that Yulia Timoshenko asked people to help her with, or, to put it simply, cast their ballots in favor of the BYuT.

She could not do without traditional election campaign promises. And in Sambir, Yulia Vladimirovna addressed young couples and suggested that immediately after the rally they should go and improve the demographic situation in the state because the BYuT leader promised to pay 15 thousand grivnas to support the birth of the second child, and 25 thousand – to support the birth of the third child in each family.

U.S. Calls Campaign Freest Ever
Associated Press
March 21, 2006

KIEV -- The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine said Monday that the parliamentary campaign had been the "freest and fairest" in Ukrainian history, and urged Ukrainians to top it off with a fair vote Sunday.

U.S. Ambassador John Herbst said the parliamentary campaign had been conducted in a much more transparent way than the fraudulent 2004 presidential elections, which sparked mass demonstrations that began the Orange Revolution and propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency. In contrast to that contest, when the opposition barely made it onto television, party advertisements now run nonstop on television, and candidates debate each other on live programs. Campaign banners and flags dot Ukrainian cities.

"The elections campaign has been the freest and fairest in independent Ukraine's young history," Herbst told students at Kiev Pedagogical University.

He warned, however, that democracy was not a "one-time event" but a "continuing process that must be protected and nurtured to keep it strong."

Herbst noted that some problems in the election process had not been eliminated. Among them, he mentioned reports that whole city blocks did not appear on voter rolls in the Donetsk and Zhytomyr regions, and problems created by the translation of voter names from Russian to Ukrainian.

Herbst also said the United States was providing some $13.3 million of "nonpartisan assistance in support of democratic process."

He Was Born Skvortsov, on the Rolls He's Shpak
Moscow Times
March 21, 2006

CHERNOVTSY, Ukraine -- Thousands of Ukrainians with Russian last names may not recognize their names on voters' rolls when they try to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday.

Their names have been translated into Ukrainian.

Central Elections Commission officials are urging regional officials to recheck the rolls, and lawmakers have taken steps to allow voters to challenge the spelling of their names in court. But opposition politicians are warning that many voters in the country's east and south could end up disenfranchised.

Taras Chernovil, the deputy campaign chief of the pro-Moscow Party of the Regions and a leading candidate, accused local election officials of intentionally making mistakes while translating voters' Russian names into Ukrainian.

Chernovil, a current lawmaker and No. 4 candidate on the Party of the Regions list, said mistakes had included changing Medvedev to Vedmidev and Skvortsov to Shpak. Skvorets and shpak mean "starling" in their respective languages.

The translations will make it impossible for people to vote because the names in their passports will not correspond with the ones on voters' rolls, he said in a recent interview while campaigning in Chernovtsy, in western Ukraine.

He said local election officials were following orders from the Central Elections Commission in Kiev.

Commission officials could not be reached for comment. But Tatyana Makridi, a spokeswoman for the ruling bloc, Our Ukraine, said regional and local administrations in the eastern and southern regions were responsible for the voters' rolls and any mistakes on them. "These are authorities who were elected under the previous regime before the 2004 [presidential] election," Makridi said.

She refused to comment on why it was necessary to translate Russian voters' names into Ukrainian, saying it was a question for the Central Elections Commission.

Critics say the effort to translate the rolls into Ukrainian is part of a so-called Ukrainization campaign aimed at strengthening national identity. The drive took off in earnest after President Viktor Yushchenko's Western-leaning team came to power in 2004 during the Orange Revolution. It has encountered fierce resistance in the eastern and southern regions, where most people speak Russian.

As part of the drive, parliament last year passed legislation that ordered television stations to run Russian-language shows and movies in Ukrainian. Russian-language schools have been closed, prompting a wave of protests last summer and fall in the Crimean Peninsula. Party of the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych addressed a pro-Russian language rally of about 10,000 supporters in the Crimean city of Simferopol on Sunday.

Vasily Stoyakin, director of the Center for Political Marketing in Kiev, said translations of voters' rolls and the obligatory translation of Russian programs on television shows that the Ukrainization campaign has gotten out of hand. "This is a foolish campaign that can be characterized as one of Yushchenko's failures," Stoyakin said.

But Igor Popov, head of the Ukrainian Voters' Committee, a nongovernmental group, suggested that the translation mistakes on the rolls had nothing to do with the campaign. "This is an issue of the elections being poorly organized. These are not translations by people. The names were translated by a computer program," Popov said, adding that blocks of names had also fallen out of the rolls due to a failure by the computer program.

He estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of all rolls were either incomplete or contained mistakes. "I personally had to go verify and correct my wife's name three times," he said.

Election officials have acknowledged problems with the rolls but insisted that they were working to correct them.

Yaroslav Davydovich, head of the Central Elections Commission, urged local officials earlier this month to check the rolls without waiting for voters to complain. "It is their responsibility," Davydovich said, Ukrainian news agencies reported.

Yushchenko has called on voters to check their names on voters' rolls in advance.

Also this month, the parliament approved amendments to the federal election law that will give voters the right to appeal mistakes made in their names in court up to three hours before polling stations close on election day.

Chernovil was skeptical that the legislation would help people vote on Sunday. "In this situation, courts won't be able to handle all the complaints," he said.

He also complained about entire apartment blocks and streets being excluded from voters' lists.

His Party of the Regions is expected to lead Sunday's elections with at least 27 percent of the vote, according to the latest poll released by Razumkov Center, a polling agency. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine is expected to place second, with 17 percent, while a bloc led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to receive 13 percent.

However, it appears that the Party of the Regions will need need a coalition ally to form a majority in the new parliament, which under a 2004 constitutional reform will receive unprecedented powers, including the right to name the prime minister and most of the Cabinet.

The Party of Regions pledged to protect domestic producers from the WTO membership consequences
ForUm
March 21, 2006

The Party of Regions is not engaged in negotiations concerning the parliamentary coalition after the election, Victor Yanukovich told today taking the floor in Aviant Kyiv Aviation Plant.

“During the election campaign we have seen who is who. The decision on coalition will be passed only by the Political Council of the party. The Political Party will decide whom to negotiate with,” noted Victor Yanukovich.

Responding to the journalists’ questions, Yanukovich stressed there are no legal reasons to remove PR out of regional election rush. If it happens, Maydan will be repeated, Yanukovich stated.

The leader of the Party of Regions revealed at the press conference that the Ukrainian producers’ protection plan relating the WTO accession will be worked out right after the election. The WTO accession will be possible only after this plan, he added.

Printing Ballots by Themselves in Elections-2006!
MIG News
March 21, 2006

Everybody has understood that Verhovna Rada elections will be concerned with surprises. But it has turned out that election commissions on the ships, sailing during elections, got permission to MAKE BALLOT PAPERS ON THEIR OWN.

The Central election commission of Ukraine (CEC) permitted election commission on ships and vessels, sailing during the day of elections to make ballot papers on their own.

Imagine situation: for example, Ukraine, depot ship is floating through Antarctica. They have been producing krill meat and they have been smoking sardines for three months. All the sailors think about the day of elections, on March, 26, but they do not know how to vote, because Ukraine is too far from them. Then the captain receives radiogram, and they get a chance to vote. But then all sailors become panic-stricken: “WHERE CAN WE GET BALLOT PAPERS?!”

hen radio operator gets a telegram that they can make ballot-papers on their own. He gives hope to the captain. And everybody is happy. The captain is crying: “My dear friends, we have got permission to make ballot-papers on our own. Hurrah!”

But then it becomes clear that it is impossible to make ballot papers by writing it on the toilet paper, by using log-book and so on. The reason is that the paper is absent on the ship. Some sailors-voters make proposals to make ballot-papers by using sardines tins, to write down the title of parties on sealskins, to write down their will to vote on their striped vests. And the captain is to solve this problem, as he is the election commission’s head.

Certainly, this story is a kind of joke, and you may laugh until your cries. Our correspondents phoned to CEC with a request to explain this situation. CEC officials said us that the same situation had happened during previous Parliament elections. But they did not answer us how the ships got these ballot-papers last year. Thus, if CEC gets ballot-papers, made from tins, they are to take it, because it was their permission to do it.

By the way, when our issue was ready to be printed, we got the new information that CEC permitted to print 14 ballot-papers at the Antarctic station….

Tymoshenko Knocked Down Klichko!
MIG News
March 21, 2006

Election campaign is coming to the end, but we get to know a lot of interesting information these days. Yulia Tymoshenko, BYT leader, made some sensational announcements today. She said that in the case if BYT do not win the first place in elections (then she has a right to pretend to the post of Prime-Minister – MIGnews.com.ua), she is agree to take the post of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine but only with a right to pass sentences. After it all people, presenting at the press-conference, grew cold with terror. But Yulia Tymoshenko said then that it was just a joke.

But it was not the hard news. The starting news was that Yulia Tymoshenko accused Vitaliy Klichko of working for Viktor Yanukovich. She said that “people should understand that by voting for Pora-PRP, for example, who will not get into Parliament (!), they give additional percents and votes to Party of Regions, to Viktor Yanukovich”.

Thus BYT head foretold Pora-PRP bloc failure in elections. And she made it clear that PRP actions do only the Party of regions good.

That’s enough. It was knock-out. What will Klichko do then?...

Referendum will not take place because PMs will not go to work
Ukrayinska Pravda
March 20, 2006

Referendum of giving for Russian language a status of the second state in the Crimea will not take place.

As ICTV reports, special session of the Crimean parliament where a possibility of transferring these responsibilities to local electoral committee did not take place.

The reason is that Crimean deputies had no time to form special commissions for language referendum conducting.

The day before the parliament of autonomy was going to gather to confirm its resolution concerning the referendum or to cancel it. But at the last moment it became clear that majority of the deputies were not going to go to work. Special session did not take place because of absence of a quorum.

Central Electoral Committee of Crimea had to take decision for its mind and decided to accept the proposition of Kyiv.

“Central Electoral Committee on its session examined our request and accepted explanation that was necessarily for execution of electoral commission of Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The question of referendum, to my opinion, is open today because commissions were not formed according the law about all-Ukrainian local referendum”, – Oleksij Kondratenko, a head of electoral committee of Crimea said.

Special session was initiated by presidium of Verkhovna Rada of Crimea headed by vice-speaker Vasyl Kyselyov. ‘White and blue’ Crimean deputies do not agree with resolution of Central Electoral Commission according to which conjunction of the elections and referendum contradicts to the Constitution.

“Davydovych declared, I am sorry, I do not know where he took this from. The electoral commission of Ukraine gave a constitutional result what it has no right to do”, – Kyselyov stated.

The initiators of a language referendum promise to appeal a resolution of Central Electoral Committee and gather Crimean citizens for meetings and protests.

For Yekhanurov – Tymoshenko and Vitrenko are twins
Ukrayinska Pravda
March 20, 2006

Prime-Minister Yurij Yekhanurov brought into line a leader of BYuT Yuliya Tymoshenko with a leader of People Opposition Nataliya Vitrenko.

He said this in the interview for Radio “Liberty” on Wednesday evening answering to the questions why he refused from TV-debates with Tynoshenko.

“It is really uninteresting for me. If we talk about gas issue – after the elections we can talk, please. Concerning… And then, you know, that emotions… For me, you know, on the one line there are Natalka Vitrenko and Yuliya Volodymyrivna, they are too emotional, and they are a bit similar”, – stated Yekhanurov.

“It is really uninteresting. But to talk with man such as Yanukovych – it would be interesting”, – Yekhanurov said.

“But you know, for the last time he made such mistakes, it seems that their political technologists decided a man knew where Switzerland is situated, fasting is or not. So, a man has some problems; that is why they decided: it is not necessary”, – the minister supposes.

He also stated that in TV-debates he “would like to have a discussion around the programs, around his vision”.

“I understand so that when we win (I do not have any doubt in this), then under the government of President Yushchenko we shall continue to realize the program of President. There are three and a half of year without the elections when it is possible to realize something”, – he marked.

“We shall not be quiet in the parliament; we shall stand for our President. We are professionally prepared people, we had a lot of bruises during last year, we know how to work and struggle, and we are firmly standing on our feet. It means that it is not rationally today to let other political force to government”, – he stressed.