Ihor SHURMA: “Opposition is not war”
People’s Deputy Ihor Shurma of the SDPU(o) faction hasn’t ruled out his support for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as long she implements the fundamentals of the program that she announced recently. Mr. Shurma’s position is typical of the members of the former pro-government majority. Their only stipulation is that the government successfully carry out its socioeconomic policies.
“Is Prime Minister Tymoshenko the right person for the Ukrainian economy?”
“Given the path along which Ukraine is moving today, progress is guaranteed no matter who the prime minister is. Our country will inevitably grow stronger economically. It is only natural that Mrs. Tymoshenko will be defending Ukraine’s interests. It would be ludicrous to squander the achievements of the previous governments. Past Ukrainian prime ministers had their flaws, but each of them made a positive contribution. For example, Viktor Yanukovych’s government came under a torrent of criticism, but no one can deny that he brought Ukraine to a higher level of development. So, the new government simply has no right to drop below this level.”
“The SDPU(O) has declared its intent to defend the Russian language and the interests of Russian-speaking citizens. Will you continue to pursue the role of main lobbyist of Russia’s interests in Ukraine?”
“Unlike President Yushchenko, we, the united social democrats, do not ‘dream of white birches’ before visiting Odesa oblast. And unlike Oleksandr Moroz, who is trying to push through a bill on state or official status for the Russian language — I don’t know exactly what he is proposing — we are only saying that under the Constitution and the international norms to which Ukraine is aspiring every person has the right to use his or her native language extensively. We are not raising the question of the status of the Russian language.”
“Is the current preoccupation with the rights of Russian- speaking citizens justified?”
“A while ago parliament passed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The goal today is to ensure that the charter clauses are fulfilled. Our political opponents are constantly talking about Ukraine’s European choice, but from Europe they want to take only those things that mesh with their interests. The charter provisions do not reflect their interests, so they are trying to ignore this issue. We are opposed to such an approach.”
“The country has lived under the new president for a couple of weeks already. Of course, it is too early to speak about improvements in the economy. But the situation in the mass media may be compared to what it was like before. When was there greater freedom of speech: under Leonid Kuchma or now?”
“Today everyone, beginning with the president, is saying whatever they want and as much as they like. However, like before, journalists on all channels are using almost identical phraseology in their coverage of the president’s public appearances. “But have things improved or worsened?”
“I think that so far only the last names have changed.”
