Stepan SENCHUK: If you do not support the incumbent President today, write your resignation 

The incident connected with failure to allow the Ukrainian Republican Party to use the Lviv Ivan Franko Opera and Ballet Theater for a conference has sent ripple waves all over Ukraine. The Day's correspondent turned for explanations to Chairman of the Lviv Oblast State Administration and concurrently Chairman of the Oblast Council, Stepan SENCHUK. But the conversation went outside the framework of this theme and exposed the oblast leader's views on the presidential race and his attitude to presidential candidates.

"Mr. Senchuk, do you think the Lviv authorities have taken a one-sided stand with respect to presidential candidates? The events near the Lviv Opera where Yevhen Marchuk was to speak look quite strange."

"What do you mean by 'one-sided stand'? I, the administration chairman, represent the current President who has become today a promising candidate for the presidency. I am part of the current President's team and will certainly defend his interests and do my best to have Mr. Kuchma reelected. So do members of other candidates' teams. By the way, there is also Citizen Senchuk, whom the Constitution allows to express and defend his views, which I do. As to the levers of power, I do not use them for this.

"Now about the Lviv Opera. The authorities gave no instructions to deny the URP any premises. By a 1993 resolution of the Oblast Council session, it was decided not to use the Opera Theater as a venue of political functions. But the theater director did not know this. And when he learned this, he immediately canceled the contract with URP and returned their money. Why do you blame the authorities for all this? Mr. Marchuk was also on Shevchenko Boulevard, also our property. I could have banned that rally but I didn't, did I?"

"Frankly, I do not believe the Opera Theater director made the decision on his own, without an instruction from above."

"At any rate, neither I nor my deputies gave him such instructions."

"If the authorities are so concerned about preservation of the opera, why then did the Social National Party of Ukraine hold a political event there? You claim such actions are prohibited in the theater."

"The SNPU held a function dedicated to some anniversary, but not a congress, conference, or the like."

"Then we have a funny situation: if URP had said it wanted to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Student Fraternity, would it have been allowed to do so?"

"It probably would. I personally think the opera should only serve the arts and be used for celebrating official holidays, otherwise all these political events will go on indefinitely."

"You said you are part of Leonid Kuchma's team. And if Zlahoda wants to hold a forum at the Lviv Opera, will you refuse it?"

"Of course."

"Mr. Senchuk, on the one hand, you are a member of the presidential team, but on the other hand, you have to maintain neutrality under the election law. Will you agree that, consciously or not, you could take advantage of your office to back a candidate?"

"The world has long established this: there are presidents who bring in their teams, and the latter help the former. And I will be saying to all individuals and labor collectives: I support the current President, but I never take advantage of my powers."

"Mr. Chairman, are you not afraid that such unswerving devotion to the current President will do you a dubious benefit in case of his election failure?"

"I will not consider it my personal tragedy. What do you mean by 'devotion' to a certain figure? I simply take my own stand. Those executives who say 'we are neutral and nonpartisan' do not have a stand of their own. But I do."

"So you insist you will not use the levers of power when electing Mr. Kuchma?"

"Not those of the state."

"And which ones you will use?"

"Various ones."

"You know, Mr. Senchuk, I am utterly struck by the unanimity with which the whole Lviv Oblast State Administration supports none other than Mr. Kuchma. There must be people in the administration who favor other candidates."

"We live today in a new era. I say to the heads of district administrations: 'If you do not support the incumbent President, write your resignation and go. You'll return to office under a different president.' And this is normal. Today it is a post approved by the President. How can the holder of this post possibly have a different opinion? If I think differently, I should quit this team. It is the same as if I, the factory manager, took on a deputy who has entirely different views on how to develop the enterprise. Would I be able to work with him?"

"But, for example, I am a good manager, and economic achievements in my districts are better than in others. Does this mean I will be thrown overboard only because I didn't toe the ideologically correct line, but opposed Mr. Kuchma?"

"What has it got to do with the economy? Does only the economy matter today? No, politics has the final say."

"So, if I support, for instance, Mr. Bilas in the elections, will I be fired?"

"You know, when Mr. Bilas comes to power, he will appoint you a district administration head. You, Mr. Saveliev, live in a democratic society but want to apply the yardstick of a socialist one."

"So you believe Mr. Kuchma did right when he replaced regional SBU chiefs according to the principle of personal loyalty and not professionalism?"

"As far as I know, this rotation was done by the SBU Chairman, not the President. And I do not know what criterion he used."

INCIDENTALLY

Consider the law of Ukraine On the Election of the President of Ukraine, Article 33 "Restrictions on the Conduct of Pre-Election Campaigning":

1). Banned from participating in the election campaign are: public administration bodies, including judicial and prosecutorial bodies; local government bodies, their executives and staff; members of election commissions; and non-citizens of Ukraine.

2). State-run television and radio companies, the central and local government-controlled printed mass media, their executives and staff, and contributors to the mass media are banned, during the election campaign, from supporting or expressing any preference for any candidate for the President of Ukraine or their election programs in reports, materials and broadcasts.

16). Obstruction of exercising the right to conduct an election campaign, as well as abuse of the right to conduct such campaign, entails liability under the law of Ukraine.

NO COMMENT

To the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

From People's Deputy
of Ukraine, candidate for President of Ukraine
L. D. Kuchma

REQUEST

The course of the elections of the President of Ukraine forces me to conclude that the Central Electoral Commission, the State Television and Radio Company, and other national state-run mass media, especially the Verkhovna Rada newspaper Holos Ukrayiny, grossly ignore the law On the Election of the President and the Verkhovna Rada resolution on creating equal conditions for conducting the election campaign.

Ukrainian television has in fact provided over the past month an almost 24-hour screen time to one presidential candidate, L. M. Kravchuk. Moreover, by brutally violating the law, UT-1 conducted a campaign in favor of L. Kravchuk even on the day of the elections.

What is especially alarming, the Central Electoral Commission pretends not to notice these violations and refuses to react to the reports of a number of foreign observers concerning gross violations during the elections with respect to equal information coverage of all presidential candidates.

I hereby request urgent investigation of the law On the Election of President by the State Television and Radio Company and into the political position of the Central Electoral Commission.
 

June 28, 1994                                                 L. Kuchma