The Ukrainian Weekly 1994

THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 26,1994 No. 26
THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY
Here we go again
As this issue of The Ukrainian Weekly goes to press two days before the June
26 presidential election in Ukraine, it appears certain there will be a runoff
between two Leonids: the incumbent President Kravchuk and former Prime
Minister Kuchma. Thus, two weeks later, the voters will again to the polls to
choose between these two candidates. We should note that this will be the fourth
time since March, when parliamentary elections began, that voters will go their
polling stations; later in July they will enter the voting booths for the fifth time in
an attempt to elect the remaining members of Parliament.
The two top candidates for president have platforms as follows.
President Kravchuk has stated that he would make adoption of a new
Constitution of Ukraine a top priority. He supports broad economic independence
for Ukraine's diverse regions and says he wants to speed up monetary reform and
then introduce Ukraine's long-awaited currency, the hryvnia. in an effort to gain
votes in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, he went so far as to say it would be
possible to have two official languages in Ukraine: Ukrainian and Russian.
Many democrats, even those who said they would support none of the presi–
dential candidates in the first round, now appear to be supporting Mr.
Kravchuk as the best alternative (or least objectionable one). They perceive
him as preferable to Mr. Kuchma, who is seen as pro-Russian and even proimperial.
Mr. Kravchuk comes across as a strong defender of Ukraine's inde–
pendence; he says that status faces a serious external threat from Moscow.
Mr. Kuchma has spoken out strongly against what he called Ukraine's selfisolation
following its independence proclamation of 1991. He is for close eco–
nomic ties with Russia and an economic union with other OS states. "Ukraine
cannot survive without Russia," he was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles
Times, and the Christian Science Monitor noted that it is no secret he is
Russia's choice for president of Ukraine. He advocates Russian as the second
state language of Ukraine.
The former prime minister supports a federal structure for the Ukrainian
state and is a proponent of free-market reform, tight monetary policies and
small-scale privatization. He is for a strong presidential authority and has
promised to fight corruption of "mafia elements."
Whoever wins this presidential election must finally deal with the fact that
Ukraine is in dire straits in terms of its economy. Thus, priority number one
has to be to move seriously and quickly on economic reform.
There is another danger, of course: the loss of Ukraine's independence. This is
where the seemingly powerless democratic forces must come into the picture.
Whoever ultimately becomes Ukraine's president, the democratic forces must
find a way to work with that person and to influence him. Gone are the days
when a protest or walkout from Parliament was enough. Just to make a statement
is useless. The key is to have input and to make an impact, in a word, then,
Ukraine's democrats must learn to play the game of politics. That means coali–
tion-building, deal-making, arm twisting, etc. First, this coalition-building must
take place among the democratic forces themselves. Then it must extend to the
so-called independents in Parliament, and on to other forces that, though they
may be objectionable to "pure" democrats, are the reality with which they must
contend, independent Ukraine is on the precipice and there is no time to waste.
in the wake of the launching of Operation Barbarossa,
Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the
mood around the world was grim. As numberless historians
have recounted, Ukraine's predicament between hammer and anvil was grimmer still.
But that was apparent immediately, lest one think that this is simply the benefit of
hindsight. Giving the lie to the Soviet regime's allegations of "fascist sympathies"
harbored in the diaspora, The Ukrainian Weekly ran an editorial on the subject, on
Friday, June 27, 1941.
it read: 'Twixt the Devil and the deep Red Sea, is the well-known saying, paraphrased
here a bit, that well describes the plight of Ukraine in the present Nazi-Soviet maelstrom.
"On the one hand, Ukraine finds herself threatened by one whom many regard as
the very devil himself— Adolf Hitler, whose invasion... is likely to be followed by an
occupation that will drain her natural resources even more ruthlessly than did the brief
German occupation... 23 years ago...
"On the other hand, Ukraine his struggling for her life in the red sea of Russian
communism and bloody despotism, which inundated her upon the collapse of the
Ukrainian National Republic 22 years ago...
"And to make matters worse, Ukraine appears not to have a friend in the world of
nations. Occasionally the Nazis juggle the principle of national self-determination
before the eyes of the gullible, but the Ukrainians know the Germans too well to be in
the least impressed by that....
"As for the good old Allies, fighting so valiantly to preserve freedom and democracy
on this earth, apparently they don't give a hoot for the 45-million Ukrainian nation, for
they have never given the slightest sign of recognition of the right of the Ukrainian peo–
ple to the freedom and democracy over which we are told this war is being fought."
Despite such bitterness, the editorial ended on a note of optimism, if not desperate
prophecy: "Neither the devil, nor the deep red sea, nor anything else, can prevent fthe
Ukrainian peoplej from eventually achieving that which is rightfully theirs — national
freedom. And we shall live to see that day."
Perhaps the writer did not, but we did, just over 50 years later.
Source: The Ukrainian Weekly, Yol. 9, No. 26 (June 27, 1941).
2Rx)4^Jb
by Roman Woronowycz
clbaJst–
Kyylv Press Bureau
Ukraine's wild roller coaster ride
Ukraine has ridden an economic and
political roller coaster for the last two
and a half years, hitting economic
troughs and attaining foreign relations
peaks, in internal political matters the
country has done several loop de loops,
going through five prime ministers in
two and a half years. Since the March 27
Parliament elections, however, when the
population elected a pro-Communist
Parliament in controversial elections, the
ride has shifted into reverse. With presi–
dential elections on June 26, one won–
ders whether the government will contin–
ue careening back towards Communism.
After trimming inflation, which at one
time zoomed at 70 percent a month
(recently it has "stabilized" at around 30
percent), Ukraine finally received broad–
ening international recognition and finan–
cial support when it agreed to divest
itself of its nuclear arsenal. The
Ukrainian people now seem to suffer
from battle fatigue. They have decided
that they have had enough and are ready
to accept a return to times more secure
though less hopeful. A June survey by
Democratic initiatives found that 21 per–
cent of Ukrainians support Communists
and Socialists, a 3.5-fold increase from
April 1992, when only 6 percent of the
citizenry trusted the left forces.
The move backwards started with the
election of 87 members of the
Communist Party to Parliament. They,
along with the Socialists, the Agrarians
and the Unity faction, make up the left
bloc in the legislature and carry approxi–
mately 170 of the 336 seats that have
been filled.
The Soviets are coming
With that majority, Oleksander Moroz
of the Socialist Party was easily elected
chairman of the Parliament, probably the
third most powerful position in Ukraine's
government. He then pushed for and
received President Leonid Kravchuk's
nomination of vitaliy Masol for prime
minister, which the Parliament quickly
endorsed, in a symbolic yet unnerving
gesture, Mr. Masol renewed an old
Soviet tradition when he pecked Deputy
Speaker of Parliament Oleksander
Tkachenko on the cheek as he mounted
the dais, something rarely seen in the last
two years.
Some have said that Prime Minister
Masol's appointment was orchestrated as
part of a deal between Mr. Moroz, a
close colleague of Mr. Masol, and
President Kravchuk to assure the presi–
dent's re-election. Ostankino ТУ report–
ed that in return for the election of Mr.
Masol, Mr. Moroz, also a candidate for
president, would quit the presidential
race. Others said he will simply not run
as hard and would throw his support to
Mr. Kravchuk in the runoffs.
Although Mr. Moroz has called the
whole theory "a canard," the scenario
remains plausible, if only because Mr.
Moroz is nowhere near the top in politi–
cal polls as election day nears, and Mr.
Kravchuk is fighting for his political life
in a close race with Leonid Kuchma.
if Mr. Kravchuk is elected president,
the Communist Party leadership that led
pre-independence Ukraine will have
returned, in the summer of 1990, Mr.
Masol was chairman of the Council of
Ministers (now the Cabinet), Mr.
Kravchuk was chairman of Parliament,
and Mr. Moroz was leader of the
Parliament's Communists (you could
term him majority leader).
However, at present Mr. Kravchuk's
re-election is far from certain. He must
fend off the hard-charging Mr. Kuchma,
once the president's right-hand man as
prime minister, but now his adversary.
Two Leonids
The polls vary widely as to who is cur–
rently on top, but they are all clear that
the fight is between the two Leonids.
Mr. Kuchma also pushes the backward
slide toward Moscow by insisting that
Ukraine and Russia are indivisibly linked
by their past economic development. He
maintains that for economic prosperity to
take root in either country close econom–
ic ties must be rebuilt. He disagrees with
the Moroz7Masol bloc that socialism
must be reconstructed, it is quite clear
that he believes in privatization, at least
in small-scale enterprises, and in eco–
nomic reforms.
But a push by him for closer economic
ties with Moscow and one by Prime
Minister Masol for political cooperation
would not bode well for the future of
Ukrainian independence. Yet, this is a
very possible outcome of the presidential
elections, it must be noted that Mr.
Kuchma came out strongly against the
appointment of a prime minister before a
new president is elected. He said the new
president should have the right to appoint
his Cabinet of Ministers.
One candidate who could add balance
to the scenario is volodymyr Lanovy, who
was named by a surprisingly large number
of citizens as their choice in informal,
polling done by The Weekly in Kyyiv and
Kharkiv. Although he is only 42 years old,
he has already held the position of deputy
prime minister of the economy. One
Kyyivan said Mr. Lanovy, a reform-mind–
ed market economist, is "young, persistent
and knows what to do."
Another Kyyivan, who would not go
on record because she is a volunteer
director of a polling precinct in Kyyiv,
said that people should not be surprised
if Mr. Lanovy makes it into the second
round. She said she has been amazed by
how many residents in her electoral dis–
trict have said they would support Mr.
Lanovy.
Ukraine's presidential election is a
confusing hodgepodge of polls that con–
tradict each other, apathetic voters,
politicians that few people trust and
many candidates but little real choice;
much like the parliamentary elections of
March 27.
in the end, it is the people who elected
the Parliament that halted the roller
coaster and shifted it into reverse gear;
and only they will decide with their vote
for president in which direction this
country should proceed. A smooth ride
is what the citizens seem to desire, but
everybody wants security and stability.
Chileans and South Africans have
now started to look forward, if
Ukrainians like the thrill of moving
backwards, that is their prerogative,
although it is doubtful that the ride in
reverse will be much smoother. After all,
this country still is a democracy...І think,
it only remains to be seen whether
Ukrainians realize that a roller coaster in
reverse can turn into a roller coaster out
of control.