Yevhen KUSHNARIOV: “The political elite should overcome their grievances”
President Yushchenko will study the text of the anti-crisis coalition agreement to see whether it complies with the Constitution of Ukraine, the president’s spokesperson Iryna Herashchenko told journalists last Friday. “The president of Ukraine must also see whether the coalition agreement is free of clauses that violate political sovereignty, and so on,” Ms. Herashchenko said. He must do this within 15 days, as required by the constitution governing submission of the candidate for prime minister to the Verkhovna Rada. She also noted that dissolving parliament can only be the president’s last resort.
Meanwhile, what interests many is not only whether the president will submit to Viktor Yanukovych’s candidature to parliament. It is still an open question whether the Our Ukraine faction will opt for cooperating with the Party of Regions. This party is counting on this. Proof of this desire is the statement of Yevhen Kushnariov, one of the leaders of the Party of the Regions, who recently took part in a question-and-answer period with The Day ’s summer school of practical journalism. More on this in the interview below:
“How important is the issue of granting Russian the status of regional language? Is this a kind of political instrument for influencing the central government? You were recently confirmed as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Juridical Policies. What legal grounds are there to make Russian a regional language?”
“These are unsubstantiated legal disputes. I have an excellent translation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This document mentions such things as languages in danger of extinction, but it also gives a clear definition of a regional language. It is a language used by nationals of a state, who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population and is different from the official language(s) of that state. Both the European Charter and Ukrainian laws state clearly that the development of a regional language should in no way hinder the development of the official language. If we try not to press this issue, not to create additional tension, the problem will vanish by itself. But there will always be radicals, who will continue to broach this subject unless it is solved rationally. So we are facing a choice: either this problem will haunt us for many years or we will find a civilized way to solve it. In my view, applying the European Charter is just this civilized way.”
“When is the Party of the Regions going to hold a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to NATO? Is your party prepared to explain to the public the advantages of NATO membership, and could the anti- crisis coalition collapse after this?”
“This is one of the acute and difficult issues standing in the way of the formation of a broadly-based coalition. When we negotiated with Our Ukraine, we found a proper formula: we cooperate with NATO like with a well-known powerful structure — in the same way as Russia cooperates with NATO. But we said in no uncertain terms that there must be free propaganda in this country for and against NATO: this is a sign of democracy. Only the Ukrainian people can decide in a referendum on whether or not to join NATO. We accepted this formula, for it allows us to be sincere with our voters who do not want to go to NATO. So we say to them: it is up to you to decide whether we will be in NATO. We have certain arguments about why Ukraine should not join NATO, and we will be making this known. Our opponents have certain arguments why we should join NATO. All our positions contain certain hidden points. Membership in NATO will drastically cut Ukraine’s partnership with Russia, but Ukraine can and must reap major economic and social benefits from dealing with Russia. At the same time, we will be promoting active cooperation with NATO.”
“What steps are you going to take to boost Ukraine’s image? And how do you view rubbing shoulders with the communists in your coalition?”
“The only thing that can boost Ukraine’s image is a policy understandable to Europe and based on the principles of European democracy. We must show by our own actions that we are truly moving towards European democracy and values. As for collaborating with the communists, it looks unnatural in a stable state where political competition unfolds under the classic formula of capital and hired labor. The competition of these political forces is a guarantee of social progress in most of the world’s civilized countries. If the cohesion of Ukraine is to be the main objective today, the communists’ presence in the coalition is normal and natural for the time being.
“This parliament is destined to experiment. We are just learning to work in the new coordinates of a parliamentary-presidential state. We are now in a transitory model, when both the president and the parliament will form the cabinet. There will be no end to domestic tensions and rivalry between the different branches of power. So if we manage to pass this test and adopt a normal formula for the 2009 presidential elections, which would preclude this kind of confrontation, I think we will be able to feel better within these coordinates as the new president takes over.”
“What economic sector would you like to reform first of all? Are you going to draw up a program of rural development in Ukraine?”
“I am not exactly the final authority on this, but I am convinced that we must address several serious problems. First, we have to streamline the system of relations between state and business. There is large-scale and extremely dangerous reciprocal penetration in this sphere. The two spheres should be separated: business should not influence governmental decisions, while the state should not ‘protect’ business.
“Secondly, we should restructure our economy because it is still poorly adjusted to normal market conditions. We seem to have changed the pattern of ownership, but state-run businesses are very much mismanaged. The ones that are mostly ‘in the shadows’ have not shown any qualitative improvement. The state should continue to focus on and support the agrarian sector. We should finally accept that land is a commodity.”
“At one time Ukraine introduced a system of youth housing credits, but this policy has somewhat slowed down today. How is your party going to address this issue?”
“Although the youth housing scheme is not new, I consider it extremely important. Owing to the uncontrolled policies of Yulia Tymoshenko, the Yekhanurov government had to suspend a number of social programs because the budget does not have enough funds to keep them going. There are two options: either to trim these programs or boost economic development. Without a doubt we must choose the latter option. We have established our national priorities: we have to unite Ukraine, form an effective and honest government, revitalize the economy, and raise the living standards.”
“What about foreign policy?”
“I wish I knew the answer to that. I am certain there must be some corrections. We cannot move towards the EU by ignoring the interests of our own commodity producers. This does not at all mean that we are rejecting the European vector. Look, Poland has joined the EU, but their experts have estimated that it will take it 50 years to reach the average living standard level. And how long will it take Ukraine? I don’t want us to live on Europe’s doorsteps — it is humiliating. We’d better spend some time in a slightly closed environment. If you suddenly transplant a little flower into a large expanse of soil, it will wither from the sun and wind unless you give it some time to become stronger. Likewise, our economy should be prepared for openness and cooperation with the world economy. We must take a reasonable approach to going forward.”
“Everybody who comes to power speaks about his strength and the principles on which his actions will be based. What are your basic principles? Do you consider yourselves strong?”
“We consider ourselves strong because we rely on the unflagging support of the people. We are the Party of Regions. As a political force, we have won. The people put us on top. We won over 30 percent, a result any party in Europe would be proud of. This is an outstanding result. This is why we feel very confident, on the one hand, and very responsible, on the other, because we know that even one rash step can eliminate public support. As for principles, I will not say that I devised this formula, but I once used it in an article: professionalism, patriotism, and probity are the criteria for an individual who is assuming office. I adhere to this formula. I put professionalism first because last year, when we put devotion to the ideals of the Maidan, i.e., patriotism, first, we got the wrong government. You can love Ukraine dearly, but people who are unprepared for government are certain to cause a lot of harm to their country, no matter how much they love it.
“As for probity, I think politics without morality is a terrible thing. I do not idealize politics, it cannot be entirely pure, but I would like it to be as moral as possible. It can be as moral as the people who are engaged in this politics. This is why I place probity and moral values third in my three-part program of principles. This is very important. I have always tried to get remove and avoid recruiting people to my team who flout morality and think that the end justifies all kinds of means.”
