They Push Speaker, but He Balks

"They want me to stand for election, although I have never announced any such wish. I was elected the Speaker of Verkhovna Rada for a four year term, and I have continuously said that I have no intention to run for President," said Mr. Tkachenko.

"Even if the congress of the Peasant Party of Ukraine should want to nominate me, first they will have to ask me. My thinking is based on this principle: if this is needed only to start a quarrel between me and the President, this must never be," the Speaker added.

In this way Oleksandr Tkachenko (perhaps against his wish) has given one of the most concise characterizations of Leonid Kuchma possible. According to him, the President would immediately quarrel with anyone wanting to become Ukrainian President. Since under the Constitution any Ukrainian citizen of 35 years of age or older can be elected President, are we to understand that millions of Ukrainians can now be considered potentially Kuchma's bitter enemies?