Even Those No Longer Interested in Politics Come to See Marchuk 

There were so many wishing to see Mr. Marchuk that the huge hall of the oblast's largest movie theater failed to hold them all. The same thing recurred during other contacts between Mr. Marchuk and the oblast population. Journalists, who have observed the region's political life for many years, were surprised to note the unanimous decision of the leaders of ten oblast-wide organizations of different political parties to join the Rivne oblast organization of the With Yevhen Marchuk into the Twenty-First Century Movement, which held its founding meeting assembly the same day. It was the first time that one person - Mr. Marchuk - has united such different groups.

Mr. Marchuk told and proved to the thousands present that there is a way out of the current deepening crisis: hard, painful, but realistic. One must establish order, clean out the state apparatus of corrupt officials, and support those honest civil servants who care about and would like to work fruitfully for the benefit of this country. There has to be a true owner of farmland, who will not allow his harvest to go to ruin and who will make Ukraine self-sufficient in food.

Unlike many other of our politicians, Mr. Marchuk did not dish out pie-in-the-sky promises. Answering the numerous questions of not-so-young Rivne people about their savings, he said that it is unrealistic under present conditions to quickly return the 130 billion hryvnias the Ukrainian citizens have amassed in their savings accounts. We have to seek other ways. For example, to utilize those funds for paying utility bills and buying medicines.

Another painful problem for the region still is the attitude to Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) veterans. Mr. Marchuk said justice must prevail at last, and UPA be recognized as a belligerent. However, reconciliation of former enemies remains a much more important problem. Such countries as Italy, France, Chile, and Spain, which lost millions in civil wars, have already passed through this process of national reconciliation. Without this we cannot go forward.
By Volodymyr KONIEV, The Day,
Rivne

"THERE IS A WAY OUT
OF THE CATASTROPHE!"

From Khmelnytsky to Netishyn, site of the nuclear plant supplying the area energy, is more than a hundred kilometers. After meeting representatives of the political parties, the oblast center's public, interviews, and a press conference for local journalists, Yevhen Marchuk had another three meetings: at the nuclear station, the Netishyn community complex and with the dwellers of a tent town.

The restive masses are rife with unending speculations about a Constitutional Court ruling on "new" price hikes for energy. How can one pay one's bills if one could not do so even under the old rates? The well-respected politician sums up sadly that "absurd things go on in the state... All the pain and tragedy of this nuclear city testifies to the abyss our state is sinking into..."

"Why do you support Pavlo Lazarenko?" a young worker asked Mr. Marchuk in a somewhat hurt and disappointed way. He said he had seen The Master program on television. Mr. Marchuk explained that this program had incorrectly portrayed the situation concerning the appointment of Mr. Lazarenko as Deputy Prime Minister, while Mr. Marchuk was Prime Minister. He, Mr. Marchuk, did not give his consent to that appointment: Leonid Kuchma "... appointed a hand-picked first deputy premier Lazarenko under an alien premier..."

After that then Prime Minister Marchuk was the first to say in public that reforms could not be carried out at the expense of the impoverishment of most Ukrainians, "... I went out one door, and the President out the other. Clearly, he didn't ask me about Mr. Lazrenko's appointment as premier." Mr. Marchuk also explained why he had abstained when voting over the "Panamanian citizen Lazarenko's" immunity: "Even those sentenced to death have the right to their last word... Who allowed Mr. Lazarenko to fly over Ukrainian borders on a usual, not supersonic, aircraft the day before Parliament was to hear his case and why?.. Already a month before that hearing I had signed a letter together with 43 other deputies on lifting parliamentary immunity in general. To vote for lifting Mr. Lazarenko's immunity is one thing, and for lifting your own parliamentary immunity is something quite different. That might have been a test indeed!" People understood everything.
By Mykhailo VASYLEVSKY, The Day,
Khmelnytsky

AUTHORITIES FEAR CHALLENGE FROM OWN WEAKNESS

Volyn had never seen or heard Yevhen Marchuk live. They had almost never seen or heard him on radio and television since he was Prime Minister because even his parliamentary speeches do not go on the air, thanks to somebody's order. It is clear: Leftist candidates are safer for today's governing clan than Mr. Marchuk, who is quite capable of uniting both Western and Eastern Ukraine, and of not only talking about but implementing in practice economic reforms. Rank-and-file Volyn natives are cautious about Mr. Marchuk: the former KGB general, the former Prime Minister who "came unstuck" not because he stole a billion but "tried to form an image of his own." What can one expect of him? A dictatorship, perhaps? This could be all right if there is order. But what about prisons?...

He was bombarded with questions, mostly of the traditional "why?" and "who's guilty?" type. The answer is: under the guise of a market economy, the state simply opened the borders and turned Ukraine into a sales market for third-grade foreign goods, thus ruining our own industry. This was done quite consciously, not because of lack of knowledge or understanding. A heap of written questions about joining the Interparliamentary Assembly. As a lawyer, Mr. Marchuk says that this is absurd because Ukraine is not a CIS member. Is restoration of the USSR possible? "History has never known an empire that revived after death."

Petro Lutsyk, entrepreneur, manager of the Cordon private oil company:

"I think the relevant governmental structures will do their utmost to keep Mr. Marchuk out of the presidential chair."

Mr. Marchuk answers:

"Indeed, the executive institutions are today aimed against me and all those who have chosen to participate in the coming presidential elections. Look, they ordered removal of the television camera. This shows that the days of this regime are numbered. But they are still capable of bringing into play quite powerful mechanisms, including election fixing. There are several ways to counter this. The presidential elections will differ from the parliamentary ones in the fact that a large number of Kuchma's rivals will unite in the first round to ensure reliable control and to prevent fixing. Moreover, election fixing now involves criminal liability. Those in power are not only afraid to talk about it but also try to prevent others from doing so. We will explain all this to those involved in the electoral procedure. The international election- monitoring institutions will also work in a different way. We have already got in touch with and seriously informed them about the way the parliamentary elections were held. It should also be taken into account that the best canvasser against the current President is the socioeconomic condition which is bound to further deteriorate by the time of elections. They may pay wages, pension, grants, etc., shortly before the elections. This is an effective tool: our people are kind-hearted and inclined to pardon. But it will be easy to explain that those payments are tied-up to the coming elections. There is a whole series of techniques on the level of know-how, which I won't talk about."
By Oleh POTURAY, The Day,
Lutsk