ARE WE FRIGHTENING TO SCARE OURSELVES?

It is getting increasingly clear that the President is concerned not about any Red revanche but about staying in office.

Literally, each passing day brings fresh evidence that the Kaniv Four and their agreement created considerable problems for the President's campaign. In fact, what happened in Kaniv took Mr. Kuchma's team and even independent observers completely unawares. Until now the Ukrainian realities convinced analysts that our domestic politicians would never come to terms, not even when there was every reason to do so; the more critical the situation became, the less goodwill the parties concerned would show. The Kaniv accord is in a way historic, if only because it broke the stereotype, creating a new political precedent.

It looks like the Presidential Administration, for want of a better tactic, decided to launch a campaign to prevent the Communist leader from joining the Kaniv Four, for this would be the end of the President's election strategy. The newspaper Fakty (Facts and Commentaries), known for its editorial sympathy with the President, carried a characteristic feature on August 31, with the emphasis quite characteristic. Among other things, it read, «given this alignment of forces, one can only wonder about the CPU leader whom this union of four intends to make its fifth member. Will the country's number one Communist, with the highest ratings after Kuchma and Vitrenko, feel content with the role of a parliamentary faction member?» And further on: «The CPU is a very independent organization exerting a great deal of influence on its leader.»

The message is clear: Messrs. Communists, come to your senses before it is too late. It is also true, however, that the President's election strategists fail to realize one small thing: by publishing such articles they fully expose their own tactics. Indeed, why should the President worry about the Communist leader regarded by his campaign architects as his main political adversary? If Petro Symonenko pulls out the President will be supposed to heave a deep sigh of relief and declare that the Red revenge he is so worried about will never take place. As it is, this revenge is not what actually worries the President, but his office, which he can hope to keep only by getting to the second round together with the Communist leader. But suppose Comrade Symonenko then wins? What would happen to the Red revanche? Who would go down in history as its actual engineer?

(See Iryna Pohorelova's feature on the closeup page for an analysis of the situation developing in the aftermath of the Kaniv Four's statement)