Udovenko Again Vows to Fight to Bitter End
According to Mr. Udovenko, such insinuations are put out by his ill-wishers
from the opposite Rukh camp and are without foundation. "In elections,
I will fight to the end," said the People's Deputy, noting that he is impelled
to do out of responsibility to Rukh members and the arrangement with the
Reforms and Order Party. However, Mr. Udovenko does not rule out throwing
his support to the incumbent. This could happen if in the runoff Kuchma's
rival were be, say, Natalia Vitrenko, whose threats to shoot some of her
opponents trouble the Rukh leader (who would certainly be one of the first
in her sights - Ed.) a great deal. Also, Mr. Udovenko called problematic
any reunification of the split Rukh uniting behind a single candidate.
He believes the Kostenko wing of Rukh will not accept a compromise, and
he will not violate the confidence placed in him. And when asked his opinion
about the fact that signatures in favor of Kuchma are collected in violation
of current legislation, nearly under threat of dismissal, Mr. Udovenko
replied: "We don't do this, we are fighting for an idea."