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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Even Those No Longer Interested in Politics Come to See Marchuk 

23 March, 1999 - 00:00

Yevhen Marchuk's visit to Rivne oblast on March 14 differed from all similar
actions by politicians who previously visited the region. A serious problem
came up at the very first meeting with local dwellers at Rivne's Ukrayina
Movie House.

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

 

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