Why Should Yevhen Marchuk Be President of Ukraine?

The main causes of the Ukrainian crisis are as follows:

* Ukraine has never been a state, so it lacks a trouble-free mechanism of government which could allow a “mediocre” president to rule the country. But when society is going through a critical turning point in transition, the state must be ruled by an extraordinary person (national leader), a strong- willed personality with equally strong intellect. It is the leader”s intellectual qualities that will determine both the project of reforms and the selection of a team of competent people who are able to develop and implement this project.

* At present there is no government program (strategy) for carrying out true reforms in Ukraine, based on the socio-economic security of the population, with the executive power only solving the current problems. As to the Ukraine-2010 program, it is an ideological prospect, rather than a strategy. The status of a “state in eternal free fall” is the symbol of the policies of the current President of Ukraine.

* The criminalized power and mafia-type structures (clan-type authorities) in Ukraine. Ukraine has gone on record as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is common knowledge that as long as the state is at the receiving end in the war against crime, no one, “even the greatest genius of economics, will fail to carry out reforms in Ukraine.”

* Lack of sufficient foreign investments in Ukraine because of mistrust toward the authorities, while small-scale contributions are being “eaten up,” rather than utilized for carrying out reforms.

* The executive power pursues a disastrous and ruinous policy of “divide and rule” aimed at destruction, division, and conflicts both among political and social forces and ordinary citizens.

* The destruction of Ukraine”s intellectual potential. No country in the world has ever ridden out the crisis by means of economic measures alone, with speedy development of intellectual potential being an obligatory component of successful reforms.

The “reforms” being carried out by the current President have resulted in: the polarization of society between the absolutely poor and the super-rich (the construction of an archaic, not people-oriented, capitalism), an abnormal tax burden, the shadow economy, crime, high mortality, and unemployment.

In essence, the current power has declared war on its own people and won.

As a result:

* Ukraine lost 40% of its economic potential over the 4 years of World War II and more than 70% over the 7 years of “reforms.”

* Over these years, Ukraine, in terms of living standards, has dropped to the 102nd place, having earlier been among the first ten.

* Wage, pension, and other social payment arrears, as of April 1, 1999, were UAH11 billion.

* Foreign debts have risen to $11 billion.

* According to official data, half the Ukrainian population is below the poverty line.

*The population has decreased by 2 million.

And what is most terrible is the lost faith in the future, desperation, humiliation, apathy, and despondency of the population. It is these circumstances that mainly account for the absence of protests on the part of the population against the current situation in Ukraine.

President Leonid Kuchma has failed to fulfill promises he made in 1994, and he is no longer able to propose any constructive ways of riding out the crisis, let alone to successfully put them into practice. We should be aware that the present socio-economic situation in this country, undoubtedly the current President”s “merit,” will never change for the better as long as he stays in office. This is the result of the 7-year economic rule by the current President, who also wields additional powers (before that, prime minister with additional powers). The current President Leonid Kuchma, who has raised oligarchs, is in fact the main factor that has stimulated a growing popularity of the Left in this country.

The 1999 elections are coming up.

Who can lead Ukraine out of this deep socio-economic crisis?

Ukraine needs a national leader, representing the people, and not a certain party, who enjoys the trust of voters, irrespective of their political views, and is able to save Ukraine from a catastrophe.

The Left only think that the national catastrophe can be averted by changing power and integrating Ukraine in the Union of Slav Nations, plunging us into a “radiant future.” A communist regime will lead to the loss of statehood and the economic slump will exacerbate societal conflicts and unleash the redistribution of property. Aleksandr Lukashenka has already expressed readiness to run for presidency of a united Slav state, the Slav Union.

The Right favor the assertion of statehood, but they pursue their narrow party interests and do not have a strong personality really capable of being a national leader and consolidating society. Besides, none of them has a realistic economic program to ride out the crisis or any positive experience of nationwide executive work and practical corruption and organized crime control.

Mr. Kuchma”s re-election will not only exacerbate a deep socio-economic crisis in this country but also bring the Communists, one way or another, to power. This may be done either by the formation of a Left constitutional majority in parliament or by an inevitable election of a Communist as the next president.

Why Yevhen Marchuk?

Because he is a national leader able to consolidate society around the national idea, eliminate the aforesaid causes of the crises, and save the country from a catastrophe, for:

1) he is an active advocate of statehood and a patriot;

2) he has positive experience in nationwide executive work in the government bodies. As prime minister, Mr. Marchuk managed to curb runaway inflation (from 501% to 140%) and keep Ukraine”s domestic and foreign debts from a landslide jump, he increased this country”s gold and hard- currency reserves, secured a 15-year deferment in paying a $4-billion debt to Russia, and defused an ethnic conflict in the Crimea;

3) he has a program of taking Ukraine out of the crisis and a mechanism for implementing the former;

4) he is an active supporter of market reforms not at the expense of the people”s impoverishment, but owing, first of all, to the development of small-scale and medium entrepreneurship (Chairman of the International League of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs);

5) he will provide the state-sponsored social security of low-income people by passing legislative acts, as well as material assistance and the defense of their interests in government bodies by non-government organizations (chairman of the People”s Solidarity all-Ukrainian non-government association);

6) an experienced professional in crime control, he is prepared to get engaged in a real battle against the mafia (corruption and organized crime). Mr. Marchuk thinks that the war on organized crime is a serious national operation capable of being completed in six months;

7) Mr. Marchuk is Ukraine”s first politician to understand the necessity of a new approach based on the philosophy of Unity. He believes that our future renaissance might lie in the unification of the people, political parties, public movements, trade unions, and ordinary citizens with the aim of averting a national disaster;

8) he will create conditions for preserving this country”s intellectual potential, for he thinks that pragmatic intellect, coupled with morals and patriotism, is more valuable than gold;

9) he favors a mutually-advantageous cooperation with both the West and the CIS;

10) he adheres to social democratic principles and is sure that the social democratic model of development is most acceptable for Ukraine.