“Red Letter Day”

This year’s November 7 marks an anniversary of what is known as either the Great October Socialist Revolution or the Bolshevik October coup — depending on how you look at it. Be that it may, the anniversary fell on Sunday. This coincidence made senseless the discussion over whether this date should be considered a holiday or a day off: both political forces and private persons were free to follow their own judgment.

Kyiv Communists, for instance, marked two dates with one rally: the 87th anniversary of the October Revolution and the 61st anniversary of Kyiv’s liberation by the Soviet Army from the Nazis. Unofficial sources claim that the event was attended by only 500 people. Nor was it coincidental that at a recent press conference Petro Symonenko, when asked about the expected number of participants, said, “We will wait and see; after all, attendance isn’t compulsory.”

Traditionally, the participants met at the Arsenalna Metro station and marched down Hrushevsky St. to the Ukrainian House (former Lenin Museum) in European Square, where the rally took place. The CPU leader’s speech was rich in the long-familiar clichОs like “dictatorship of the criminal capital.” Symonenko, in part, blamed the “criminal capital” for the dissent in the Leftist movement, meaning perhaps the Socialist Party’s intention to support Viktor Yushchenko in the runoff. Interestingly, the CPU Central Committee plenary meeting resolved to support none of the two candidates. Incidentally, the presidium of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine’s Central Committee, headed by Natalia Vitrenko, made a decision at its November 3 meeting to back up Viktor Yanukovych. On the other hand, both Socialists and Communists find it rather appropriate to create a situational majority at the Verkhovna Rada, every now and then, siding with their political opponents (perhaps following Petro Symonenko’s logic about “criminal capital”.) Sometimes such temporary alliances are based on the coincidence of rather specific interests (obviously, not those of the voters), abiding material interest (let’s face the fact). One can only feel sorry about all those ordinary followers of the Leftist ideology and their naive trust for their leaders’ rhetoric, which allows the leaders to reap their political harvest.

The Crimean Communists were more outspoken on November 7. They organized a rally in Simferopol’s central square (Lenin Square) under slogans reading, “Long Live the Socialist Revolution” and “Official Status for the Russian Language.” Maybe this was their way to let the presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych know that they were prepared for a compromise and were waiting for a signal in response (considering his campaign’s major point — giving the Russian language the second official status in Ukraine)?