YEVHEN MARCHUK: REFORMS REDUCING LIVING STANDARDS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED

The first day heavy rain greeted them, but this did not prevent Kharkiv residents from coming to meeting and talk with the ex-Premier and ex-Minister of Justice. People came with the questions, problems, and grievances that pile up as life gets harder and harder. Before the election they wanted to find a political force that could offer at least some hopes for improvement, and not sometime in the future, but here and now.

Open microphones were installed at every venue. Anyone could come and get it off his chest, which created the atmosphere of a truly open dialogue. A lot of straight questions were asked and given as straight answers. Not every rally passed smoothly. At the House of Culture at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant, the open microphones were monopolized by Progressive Socialist zealots who tried to prevent serious dialogue about the problems facing this factory district, about devastated industry, and social protection. A good old technique was applied, turning discussion into marketplace hullabaloo, leading it to a point where the rally could only be dismissed. It didn’t work. Marchuk and Onopenko were not men to be thrown off balance easily, and most in the audience soon wanted the socialists out. The experience must have dampened the opposition’s fighting spirit. The following rallies at the food factory’s club and local Opera passed without the militant socialists attending. Instead, every answer given by Marchuk and Onopenko was met with an applause. Many things they had to tell those present echoed people’s own thoughts.

Interviewed by The Day, Yevhen Marchuk said that what makes the situation so complex these days is the government’s lacking any systemic, consistent approach to reforms; even worse is that reforms are attempted by further reducing the living standard. People want to live well today. Why make them suffer? We are not building a national state from scratch. Thus, people understand the Social Democrats when they call for strict public control over the executive.

Photo:
Ukrainian People's Deputy Yevhen Marchuk