Petro SYMONENKO: All meetings with the president were in his own office
Perhaps aware that it is difficult to force people, especially the young, to read their press, the Communists have decided to use the Internet, a capitalist invention that has conquered the world. On February 16, the www.expert.org.ua site hosted an online interview with Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) leader Petro Symonenko. Contrary to the logic of such conferences, questions were to be sent in beforehand, which can be explained by two things: either Mr. Symonenko was hiding from online shelling and wanted to be prepared in good time for provocative questions, or the conference organizers were afraid there would be too few of those wishing to ask the Communist leader a question at a prescribed time and the idea would fizzle out.
As was to be expected, practically all the questions were about the current political crisis and the place of the Communists in it, as well as about the claim, popular in the journalistic and expert circles, that the KPU and its leader are a tamed opposition. Mr. Symonenko rejected the latter with the customary words “the Communists have never been and will never be allies of the current regime,” again failing to understand that these opinions are often based on the simple analysis of sociological surveys and the behavioral traits of the Ukrainian Communists.
The online answers featured an interesting statement by the Communist leader concerning the cassette scandal technology. Asked if the Melnychenko tapes have his conversations with the president, Mr. Symonenko replied that “this question was answered by Melnychenko himself who said live on Radio Liberty that I allegedly have been meeting the President in places other than his office room... I hereby state that we met only in the president’s office.” Asked about the content of his talks with the president, Mr. Symonenko said he was eager that “the whole people of Ukraine hear and come to know” the content of these conversations and hinted this could be done through the newspaper Komunist which provides detailed coverage of them.
As to the political consequences of the cassette scandal, the KPU leader was mainly asked why the opposition Communist Party has found itself practically outside the current opposition movement. Mr. Symonenko explained this by saying, “This opposition is dominated by the right-wing political forces whose policy has caused the current wretched condition, the crisis. So they must tell the people of Ukraine honestly whether their struggle aims to change not only the regime but also the course of reforms. This does not mean the KPU avoids fighting the Kuchma-Yushchenko regime. Today’s developments confirm that, unless there are clear principles to uphold, the alliances of Right and Lefts serve only the Forum [of National Salvation] and bring about new movements again organized by forum participants, including such as Ukraine for Truth.”
Mr. Symonenko also had to answer two questions typical of the Internet: about his sexual attitudes and banking accounts. As to the former, the Communist leader claims “everything is traditional: a wife and two sons.” Regarding the latter, he made a lucrative proposal: “I say to all those who will spot the whereabouts of my accounts, I’ll give them to you.”
