A Month of Fun

This year the Humoryna Festival of Humor began in Odesa long before April 1. Two weeks before the official All Fools’ Day celebration, the city saw a series of shows and dazzling political extravaganzas.

Everything started with the launch of daily pageants in front of the Prymorsky District Court, where on March 14 Odesa’s former mayor Eduard Gurwitz initiated litigation about the mayoral seat with the current incumbent. As Odesites watch dispatches from this “battlefield” every evening on their silver screens, as interpreted by different TV channels, residents of the neighborhood adjacent to the Prymorsky Court are enjoying non-stop open-air concerts. Brandishing bright orange flags, the followers of ex-mayor Gurwitz have chosen to sing the revolutionary anthem “Together, We Are Many,” as well as Oriental melodies amplified many times over by sound equipment. Their opponents prefer Soviet-era classics, such as “The Tocsin of Buchenwald” and Russian folk songs. All this music is playing simultaneously, occasionally giving way to calls from bullhorns and the singing of the national anthem. Sometimes this cacophony brings forth original musical compositions.

But there is no one to appreciate this because what the audience is really listening to is the drama unfolding behind the doors of the court, where things are becoming more and more interesting. Firstly, it is clear that the legal blitzkrieg on which Mr. Gurwitz had pinned so much hope has fizzled — owing either to shaky legal grounds or a wrong assessment of the opponent. After overcoming his initial indecisiveness, the current mayor suddenly began to display wonderful negotiating skills — not with his Odesa opponent, naturally, but the Supreme Court in Kyiv. On the eve of the humor festival it was announced that presiding judge Maliarenko was referring the Gurwitz-Bodelan case to a different court in the capital. This is the second attempt to refer the matter to a different region, and this time it may well prove successful. Unofficial sources claim that some very influential Russian and Israeli businessmen, who are deeply interested in preserving their status quo in the ports of Odesa region, have pleaded with the president on Bodelan’s behalf. As for Gurwitz, many in Odesa say that in his quest for the mayor’s seat he is backed by current Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Petro Poroshenko. Last week the show that was staged near the regional administration building by members of the parties forming the People’s Strength coalition left a lasting impression. The “orange people of Odesa” carried placards urging the “pink governor” to immediately waive his parliamentary mandate — otherwise, they would demand his dismissal. The rally gathered about 150 protesters. Suddenly the plaza was full of actors dressed up as animals and other cartoon characters with placards reading “I want to be governor too” and “Beat friends to scare off foes!” Then they carried out a mock fight, which ultimately turned the orange rally into a circus.

Vasyl Tsushko was appointed chairman of the Odesa Oblast Administration under the Socialist Party quota less than two months ago. During this time he has managed to stir up broad discontent among Odesites with his ill-considered remarks and crowd-pleasing actions. To improve the regional government’s image at least a little, the president “reinforced” the governor by appointing Arseniy Yatseniuk, former National Bank deputy chairman, as first deputy governor, and his personal friend and classmate Mykola Bondarenko as deputy governor. Volodymyr Kurinnyi, leader of Our Ukraine’s regional branch, whom Oleksandr Zinchenko too hastily introduced a month ago as deputy governor, was set up by his own deputy and had to “sling his hooks.” The rejected leader publicly said in response that he would no longer pursue a career politics and urged his followers to take to the streets and demand the dismissal of the oblast administration chief. Mr. Kurinnyi would never have taken this step on his own.

Those in the know claim that this show is being staged in Odesa by Mykhailo Brodsky, whom Odesites have more than once rejected as a politician, under the overall supervision of Mr. Poroshenko. In all probability, Mr. Brodsky is lobbying his business interests rather than vying for the office of governor. His previous PR campaigns in Odesa smacked of mudslinging, so last Monday, when activists of the “Yes to Odesa!” civic movement brought a cross and two dozen wooden coffins symbolizing the sold-off health centers and children’s holiday camps to City Hall, nobody clamored for the author because everybody knew very well who was behind this action. What is more, this escapade evoked indignation, not smiles, among most Odesites, including those who do not exactly have a soft spot for the current mayor. Online publications and local television channels suddenly began hurling tons of mud at People’s Deputy Oleksiy Kozachenko, who headed the regional headquarters of People’s Strength during the elections and today tops the list of candidates for the post of leader of the Our Ukraine People’s Union regional branch. Perhaps, much to the surprise of many, Mr. Kozachenko has become a strong contender for the coveted mayoral seat, thus thwarting the plans of those who are standing behind Bodelan as well as those who support Gurwitz.

Further complicating matters was the information that the court could order early elections and that former oblast governor Serhiy Hrynevetsky and chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, and the former candidate for mayor of Odesa, Oleksiy Kostusev were not likely to run for office. Interestingly, a poll conducted in Odesa by the Razumkov Center shows that over 30% of city residents wish to see someone other than Gurwitz or Bodelan as their mayor, while almost 30% are undecided. Against this backdrop, Kozachenko, who is not linked to any business clan, stands a good chance of becoming mayor. The problem is that, if his clash with Gurwitz occurs before 2006, this may jeopardize cohesion in the ranks of Our Ukraine. So, naturally, the undesirable candidate has become the target of mudslinging. Meanwhile, Mr. Gurwitz, well aware of his rather slim chances of becoming the mayor of Odesa should early elections be called, amended his lawsuit the other day. The former mayor is demanding that, if the court ruled that the 2002 elections were rigged, he (as No. 2 on the list of candidates) should be pronounced the winner, i.e., in fact be appointed as the new mayor. Although the Central Electoral Commission has already rejected this plea as unlawful, the judge can still hand down a ruling in favor of the claimant. In this case the ruling of a first-instance court is final and subject to no appeal. This means that hearing the case in a different region may put the skids under Mr. Gurwitz’s ambitious plans. Still, a different course of events is possible, for example, if the court rules that the 2002 elections were rigged, dismisses Mr. Bodelan, and Kyiv appoints its own man to serve as mayor until the 2006 elections. In 1998 it was Mr. Biloblotsky who played this role in Odesa. Today, this could be a compromise solution for the central government and the city.

Meanwhile, Odesa, weary of the political circus, is once again trying to prove that to some extent it can still maintain its erstwhile glory of being the capital of humor and the Humoryna. Incidentally, an interesting detail distinguishes this year’s extravaganza in Odesa from previous ones: there are no Russian actors and standup comics on Humoryna posters. Even the annual ceremony of awarding the “twelve chairs of Madame Petukhova’s set” to the year’s best humorists was canceled. (In the past few years, some former Odesites have been taking a considerable part of this “furniture set” to Moscow). To fill this gap in the Humoryna, an “orange rescue party” of Kyiv actors was brought in, sponsored by the Ministry for Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Culture, the Ukrderzhkontsert, and the Ukrainian Youth Center. According to the organizers, the chief goal of their program called “Sound Laughter in a Sound Body” is promoting and developing Ukrainian culture in the Odesa region by popularizing young Ukrainian talents, a healthy lifestyle, and the Humoryna itself as a nationwide festival. To tell the truth, most Odesites have a lukewarm attitude to the idea of “ethnicizing” the festival. Besides, references to a healthy way of life in the heat of the April 1 political buffoonery sound like a sermon at a wedding party. Odesa goes on living and having fun in its own way. On April 1, according to tradition, the literary museum garden saw the unveiling of another humorous monumental sculpture, this time immortalizing the Odesa reader.