"Accord is the product of complete nonresistance of the parties concerned."
These words belong to the electrician Mechnikov in Ilf's and Petrov's The
Twelve Chairs. The phrase left Ostap Bender speechless with admiration,
but it seems to have no effect on the Ukrainian powers that be.
Yes, they call for accord, but in doing so they completely ignore one
of the parties: the people. In fact, they have never bothered to take their
people's opinion into account when playing their cadre games, or at least
clearly state what they are going to do to overcome the crisis. Instead,
the Ukrainian people constantly hears a choir chanting "accord among the
branches of power." The impression is that the President, Premier, and
Speaker are like children sincerely believing that by holding each other's
hand and shouting together "Christmas tree, light up!" they will see it
instantly illuminated.
Children may not know that the lights will never go on if the electrician
does not throw the right switch, but grownups do.
True, the President seems increasingly aware that there are not going
to be any lights on the Christmas tree. Energy costs too much, the situation
with the hryvnia is ambiguous, and no loans are in the offing. So he complains,
quite sincerely, about Santa Claus doing nothing to replace the government.
In other words, how come none of the parties has proposed candidates for
yet another Cabinet rotation? And why is there still no majority in Parliament
"which can assume responsibility for the situation in Ukraine?" "This would
signify our greatest victory," Mr. Kuchma admits. Indeed, it would be the
Chief Executive's greatest triumph if he could find someone to carry the
baby of today's economy.
Still, no political kamikaze is in sight, not even among the daring
Communists, historically perfectly fit for the role.
Yet, also historically, there is hope that common sense will prevail,
and that this common sense will be shown by precisely that party which
has been consistently ignored, except during election campaigns, the people.
If all your fuses are blown, you call an electrician, he comes and starts
telling you how important it is to reach an understanding and develop accord
among the electricians, plumbers, and janitors, you might even listen to
him for while, in broad daylight, but if it happens late at night even
the most tolerant tenant will realize that the electrician has to be fired,
and that something should perhaps be done about the local housing authority.
PS: I do not want to be misunderstood by electricians and other glorious
representatives of our housing authorities, the more so that the electricians
I have had to deal with turned out quite professional, with a sense of
responsibility, unlike, say, our Prime Ministers.






