Not Funny
On October 31 Ukraine tried out a new political gimmick called foiling a congress or (after tryout in the provinces) The Donetsk Scandal. As was repeatedly reported before, the Our Ukraine Bloc intended to hold a congress on October 31 in, of all places, Donetsk. Viktor Yushchenko in any case stood a poor chance to win this, so to speak, heart of the eastern region, but why not try? It is beyond doubt that extensive preparatory work was done: speeches were written taking into account the regional specifics and slogans were adjusted to the local conditions. Unfortunately, we have not yet had the pleasure of hearing what exactly Mr. Yushchenko was going to do to win the favor of the eastern electorate, but the experts might have received much food for thought.
Still, what happened on the eve of the congress’s scheduled date could be of interest not only to political scientists but also for producers of action movies. In any case, the situation showed all signs of this genre: a bomb hoax at the Donetsk Palace of Youth where the congress was to be held, the delayed Donetsk-bound chartered flight on which Our Ukraine people and journalists were traveling, the blocking of Donetsk airport by Yushchenko’s adversaries, the increased number of public-order guardians on the streets, huge traffic jams, a streetcar-bus collision, agitated masses of people, the courageous decision of the bloc leader and his retinue to break through to the city center to meet a handful of Yushchenko-supporting daredevils surrounded by a hostile mob, etc.
Press agency reports resembled World War II news bulletins of the Soviet Information Bureau: “The Palace of Youth is surrounded by over 100 busloads of bazaar traders, students, and public-sector employees. They claim they have come on the instructions of their enterprises’, organizations’ and colleges’ directors. Vendors told an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent that they were promised a three-day exemption from paying the market fee in exchange for keeping vigil near the palace. Meanwhile, on Friday night some unknown persons drew extreme nationalistic graffiti on the Mertsalov Palm, the symbol of Donetsk, standing next to the Palace of Youth. They daubed a black cross against the red background, the UNSO abbreviation, the slogan, Ukraine Is Ours, and, below, the letters VAU. Police are investigating into this incident. Traffic is largely held up. Some traffic lights have been switched off, which caused jams that policemen are unable to handle. Although it is a workday, downtown is full of students and entrepreneurs who carry anti-Yushchenko and pro-Russian slogans. The participants of the rallies drink alcoholic beverages on a mass scale. The city is teeming with Yushchenko-caricaturing posters that were hung at night...” Eyewitnesses say Donetsk has never seen this kind of things. If it is true that people took to the streets, incited by not only the local pro-Russian political forces (Russian Bloc, Slavic Party, etc.) but also the local authorities, then the latter obviously bungled the job. On the other hand, the organizational level of Our Ukraine’s actions always leaves much to be desired, to put it mildly. Could the authorities not have foreseen the likely complications and tried to minimize the risks? Or did they count precisely on this? As to Yushchenko’s followers, they in turn did their best to bring the situation to the height of absurdity: the Donetsk oblast council’s press service reports that on Thursday evening members of the Our Ukraine faction “smashed public utilities, breaching the peace in Donetsk and demanded a special attitude toward their own personalities” (!?) Or consider this: “The Donetsk oblast administration’s press service reports that a group of people’s deputies representing the Our Ukraine faction, led by Ye. Chervonenko, picked a fight in the reception room of Administration Chairman Anatoly Blyzniuk...” While in Donetsk, Our Ukraine’s members also made a host of apocalyptic statements, such as “the Ministry of Internal Affairs has turned into a political institution that pursues a well-orchestrated policy of cracking down on the political forces whose standpoint is at variance with that of the official authorities,” “Ukraine is divided into bandits and non-bandits, and what is going on in Donetsk is the handiwork of bandits,” “brown dictatorship,” etc. It should be also note that this hysteria is being whipped up against the backdrop of an increased tension in society over the Tuzla conflict and other Russian political events that echo in Ukraine.
After all, the new political gimmick’s authors — on both sides — have achieved their goals. One side “did not surrender” Donetsk to Yushchenko, the other, Our Ukraine, pulled an unexpectedly powerful publicity stunt, with elections still a year away. What next?
