Nomination Based on Popularity
In a meeting attended by President Kuchma, leaders of factions, groups, and political parties forming the parliamentary government coalition have approved the decision to nominate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as their only contender to run for president in 2004. Parliamentary majority coordinator Stepan Havrysh made a statement to this effect after the meeting. As he put it, “The discussion did not last long, the decision was unanimous.” He further said that faction and group leaders have also agreed that the candidate’s program goal will be to complete the political reform and amend Ukraine’s Constitution. The meeting has also decided on the need to continue to implement and complete the political reform in Ukraine.
One can assume that the majority’s choice of their candidate was based on public opinion polls, which have been topped in recent months by Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s Premier Viktor Yanukovych, and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko. In particular, according to the results of opinion polls released in late March by the most trusted polling firms, Yushchenko’s standing with voters ranges between 22% and 24%, that of Yanukovych between 9% and 14.5%, and that of Symonenko between 9% and 12.7%.
Viktor Yanukovych considers his nomination a task involving great responsibility. Speaking in an interview in Cholpon-Ati last week, where he arrived for the meeting of CIS member-states government heads, he called it “a great honor and huge responsibility,” stressing that this decision is yet to be upheld at congresses of the political parties forming the coalition. Simultaneously, he reminded those present that ensuring stable development of the country’s economy remains his immediate priority.
As was to be expected, such a long-awaited event as the nomination of a single presidential candidate from the majority has caused numerous comments from other political players. In particular, Viktor Yushchenko, expected to be the main opponent of the current premier, believes that in the election campaign he will face competition not from Viktor Yanukovych, but from the administrative resource and mudslinging. Yushchenko’s press secretary Iryna Herashchenko has voiced this opinion and recalled that her boss has stated repeatedly that no matter what the last name of the candidate nominated by those in power, “this candidate is not to be envied, for he will automatically succeed to all the negative things associated with those in power and shoulder all the responsibility for their actions and unpopularity.”
Another anticipated presidential contender and traditional opponent of those in power, Petro Symonenko believes that the decision to nominate the prime minister as the only presidential hopeful of the parliamentary government coalition has been made in view of his current post. Speaking in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Symonenko noted that the forces behind both Yanukovych and Yushchenko do not differ in terms of their ideology. To quote him, “The political struggle in the elections will depend on the funds invested in it and on the administrative resource.” Symonenko also said that the Communist Party congress has been slated for July 4-6 to nominate that party’s presidential candidate.
Volodymyr Malynkovych, director of the Ukrainian division of the International Institute of Humanitarian and Political Research, considers the nomination of Yanukovych a justified decision. “The fact that the majority has finally opted for the candidacy of Yanukovych has not been unexpected in general, since it has been discussed for a long time, and this has been evident from Yanukovych’s standing in polls. He is the only representative of the majority parties whose standing with voters nears that of Yushchenko,” Malynkovych said.
