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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

Old Mistakes Repeated Or New Roles Distributed?

17 July, 1999 - 00:00

One-day visit of the Popular Movement's (NRU's, Rukh's) presidential candidate Hennady Udovenko to Rivne oblast was a rather low-key affair and triggered no special excitement in this traditionally pro-Rukh area. According to local observers, Mr. Udovenko himself is partially to blame for this. His numerous contradictory and diplomatically evasive statements failed to come across to the electorate. Local journalists even failed to finally clarify the NRU's attitude toward the current authorities. On the one hand, the Rukh leader criticizes power, but at the same time notes with unhidden pleasure that its local representatives have been receiving him lately. In Rivne region, too, the NRU leader met the first deputy head of the oblast state administration and the oblast center's mayor.

Speaking of lessons of the past, one of the NRU leaders, People's Deputy Les Taniuk said one of the causes of a protracted crisis was the fragmentation of national democrats in 1991, when several right-wing candidates ran simultaneously for presidency. At the same time, answering The Day 's question whether it is possible to form a coalition and nominate a single, most promising, national democratic candidate for the highest office in the state, Mr. Udovenko said harshly that this kind of coalition is out of the question. Asked about reports that certain political forces stake on Mr. Udovenko so that he could win over a part of votes from Yevhen Marchuk in the elections, the NRU presidential candidate failed to answer.

However, those Rivne dwellers who came to meet Mr. Udovenko in the city concert hall were surprised most of all by an over-the-stage banner reading: «H. L. Udovenko is Chornovil's political testament.»

A Rukh militant Petro P. (who asked not to reveal his last name) said in connection to this: «I like Hennady Udovenko, he speaks intelligibly, he has a rich life experience and a good program, but I hate the way executive committee members talk about Kostenko's faction. We were all together in one organization for more than one year. I myself have been an NRU activist since 1990 and can't believe that all of them are bad people. I guess if Viacheslav Chornovil were alive, he would not allow such a terrible split and would surely find a compromise.»

The presidential candidate himself, addressing, to put it mildly, a not-so-full house, laid forth his election program. While doing so, Mr. Udovenko, for some reason, called our national currency the karbovanets, which caused widespread surprise among the audience.

Serhiy Oleksiyuk, head of the regional NRU committee, thus commented on the state of affairs in the oblast: «There is a single Rukh in Rivne oblast today, which is being guided by the statute registered at the Ministry of Justice. We simply do not know the other Rukh. The regional organization is two and a half thousand strong. As well all district organizations, it has a certificate of registration in the regional Department of Justice. As to Mr. Udovenko himself, he, supported by Bankova St. (presidential administration — Ed. ), expelled from Rukh its founders: Ivan Drach, Volodymyr Cherniak, and Vasyl Chervoniy.»

While the former comrades-in- arms exchange reciprocal accusations, rank-and-file Rukh members in Rivne oblast conclude: Hennady Udovenko is repeating the mistakes of 1991.

One-day visit of the Popular Movement's (NRU's, Rukh's) presidential candidate Hennady Udovenko to Rivne oblast was a rather low-key affair and triggered no special excitement in this traditionally pro-Rukh area. According to local observers, Mr. Udovenko himself is partially to blame for this. His numerous contradictory and diplomatically evasive statements failed to come across to the electorate. Local journalists even failed to finally clarify the NRU's attitude toward the current authorities. On the one hand, the Rukh leader criticizes power, but at the same time notes with unhidden pleasure that its local representatives have been receiving him lately. In Rivne region, too, the NRU leader met the first deputy head of the oblast state administration and the oblast center's mayor.

Speaking of lessons of the past, one of the NRU leaders, People's Deputy Les Taniuk said one of the causes of a protracted crisis was the fragmentation of national democrats in 1991, when several right-wing candidates ran simultaneously for presidency. At the same time, answering The Day 's question whether it is possible to form a coalition and nominate a single, most promising, national democratic candidate for the highest office in the state, Mr. Udovenko said harshly that this kind of coalition is out of the question. Asked about reports that certain political forces stake on Mr. Udovenko so that he could win over a part of votes from Yevhen Marchuk in the elections, the NRU presidential candidate failed to answer.

However, those Rivne dwellers who came to meet Mr. Udovenko in the city concert hall were surprised most of all by an over-the-stage banner reading: «H. L. Udovenko is Chornovil's political testament.»

A Rukh militant Petro P. (who asked not to reveal his last name) said in connection to this: «I like Hennady Udovenko, he speaks intelligibly, he has a rich life experience and a good program, but I hate the way executive committee members talk about Kostenko's faction. We were all together in one organization for more than one year. I myself have been an NRU activist since 1990 and can't believe that all of them are bad people. I guess if Viacheslav Chornovil were alive, he would not allow such a terrible split and would surely find a compromise.»

The presidential candidate himself, addressing, to put it mildly, a not-so-full house, laid forth his election program. While doing so, Mr. Udovenko, for some reason, called our national currency the karbovanets, which caused widespread surprise among the audience.

Serhiy Oleksiyuk, head of the regional NRU committee, thus commented on the state of affairs in the oblast: «There is a single Rukh in Rivne oblast today, which is being guided by the statute registered at the Ministry of Justice. We simply do not know the other Rukh. The regional organization is two and a half thousand strong. As well all district organizations, it has a certificate of registration in the regional Department of Justice. As to Mr. Udovenko himself, he, supported by Bankova St. (presidential administration — Ed. ), expelled from Rukh its founders: Ivan Drach, Volodymyr Cherniak, and Vasyl Chervoniy.»

While the former comrades-in- arms exchange reciprocal accusations, rank-and-file Rukh members in Rivne oblast conclude: Hennady Udovenko is repeating the mistakes of 1991.

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