Formal Peacemaking Vs. Street Opposition

On February 1 UNIAN hosted a press conference on the establishment of Youth in Defense of the Constitution of Ukraine, a coalition of youth organizations which is in fact a restored and extended version of Youth for Leonid Kuchma. In this connection, the leaders of 34 all-Ukrainian non- governmental youth organizations signed a respective statement on January 25. This measure is a response to the statements and appeals of the For Ukraine Without Kuchma Committee which, according to the newly established coalition, destabilizes society and is drawing youth into a civil conflict.

Leaders of the youth coalition, H. Maliutin, Yu. Myroshnychenko, and A. Lialka, answering the journalists’ questions, claimed they were only coming out in defense of the constitutional rights of youth and did not deny themselves the opportunity to be in opposition to the current state leadership but will not allow political chaos and massive social crisis in Ukraine. This is why they call upon all politicians and public figures to employ only constitutional methods, not to resort to political provocations, and to remain law-abiding citizens.

This event can be classified as method, rather formal in form but peacemaking in content, to influence the public consciousness of young people. It is too early to forecast to what extent this coalition will be active and whether it will be able mobilize young people. At the moment, it has too shaky grounds to consider itself a new political elite. The younger generation of Ukrainians stands clear both of the pressure of formal organizations and of street mob influence. It is still unclear to what extent the unifying forces are effective, but some people find it suitable to take political debates from office rooms to the streets, thus trying to redistribute power by causing mass psychosis among the population. Can this luxury be afforded by a country which has only begun to establish the rule of law, is tired of centuries of destruction of its statehood, is shorn of resources for political battles, in which common natural events are interpreted as disasters and it takes months to offset their consequences? If further political developments take to the streets, new Dantons and Robespierres will arise. But in that case only Madam Guillotine will be able to give abrupt and unambiguous answers to questions.

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