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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

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

8 June, 1999 - 00:00

By Mykola SAVEL'EV, The Day

No sooner had the presidential campaign begun than information began to
come in about violations of the election law by the team of one participant
in the race, the incumbent. Let us note that his team is now in power and
obliged by all the laws to hold sacred the equal rights of all the hopefuls.
Let us recall that equal opportunities for candidates in any kind of elections
is the ABC of democracy. The current regime seems to be eager to go down
in history as one of militant illiteracy. One more thing: if officials
stoop to breaking the election law, they want to cling to power at all
costs. In other words, they are in fact admitting that they have ruled
badly (otherwise, they would be reelected). There are no grounds to believe
they will do any better next time.

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


 

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