Show Me the Way to the Political Fringe

The actions of our law enforcement officials with respect to politicians produces quite an interesting effect. Suffice it to open a criminal case against an opposition figure, let alone take him into custody, and this will greatly boost his chances to be elected to parliament. Mykhailo Brodsky and Yuliya Tymoshenko are the most vivid political examples of politicians who have made a more or less triumphant passage from a pretrial detention cell to parliament. The latest proof of this trust of the electorate in the actions of prosecutors is the election to the parliament, in a territorial district, of Andriy Shkil who was detained last year for fomenting mass unrest in Kyiv on the well-remembered March 9.

As the former UNA-UNSO leader victoriously walked out of the jail cell, he left behind a few interesting questions which, if unanswered, will be repeatedly putting us in situations beyond the grasp of civilized countries. If Mr. Shkil had not been elected, how long would he have been kept behind bars pending trial or other actions? It is not accidental that, on being released, Mr. Shkil said he would press for abolishing the institution of pretrial detention facilities. In all probability, he “did time for real,” unlike his opposition-minded predecessors who seem to have been inside for the thrill of it all and suffered just for effect.

Now consider another consequence of the release of Mr. Shkil, now a people’s deputy. The point is not what faction he will join, for it makes no difference. The point is the destiny of UNA-UNSO, which selected a new party leader while Mr. Shkil was in jail. The impression is that UNA-UNSO, so much needed by certain political circles in the mid-nineties, has now been left without any influential contractors of its services. The organization finally exhausted its so-called militant potential on March 9, 2001, while the current leadership promises no radiant future.

Back in its golden days, UNA-UNSO was led by Dmytro Korchynsky, one of the most talented representatives of the political underground. He would menacingly knit his brow, twist his mustachios, and put on stern airs. He was an irreplaceable model for the Russians who wanted to see “Ukrainian extremism.” Later, when Mr. Korchynsky suddenly abandoned the organization, it turned out that the mask disguised a gifted political scientist, journalist, and even actor. After Korchynsky, Andriy Shkil was a sizable step backward for UNA-UNSO, although he also learned to knit his brow and move his mustaches. One can recall the war Mr. Shkil’s organization waged against singer Penkin, foiling his concerts in the Western Ukrainian regions. Then came the tapegate, the last hurrah for Shkil’s UNSO militants.

Now the once trumpeted nationalist bugbear is being headed by an obscure provincial Karpiuk who has not even grown a mustache. UNA-UNSO has thus joined the ranks of a hundred Lilliputian parties who have nothing but a Ministry of Justice registration. What has remained of the erstwhile stir is showman and journalist Korchynsky and the newly minted deputy Shkil. Maybe the latter will display like his predecessor certain capabilities other than the role of a street hoodlum ringleader.

PS. On Monday it became known that Andriy Shkil was expelled from UNA-UNSO by its leadership committee’s session in Odesa. Its decision reads that Shkil was conducting destructive work aimed at undermining the party’s prestige and ruining its integrity. Head of the UNA Executive Committee Yury Tyma said that the conditions, under which Shkil joined the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, would lead to the party’s liquidation as an independent political force.