Anatoly Matviyenko for President?

The main argument here is the thesis that the next elections do not mean the end of life, politics, or participation in either. The party wants to preserve itself as a political force by plunging into open political struggle. What is not said aloud is perhaps a chance to save Mr. Matviyenko himself and his NDP (opposing Tolstoukhov) from being beaten to a pulp for disobedience by nominating the former. If, as Ihor Koliushko notes sarcastically, "all politics consists in coming first and kissing the highest butt," then the position of Mr. Matviyenko, who does not fit in with this kind of "policy," and his colleagues becomes quite dangerous for the NDP cadres and SDPU(u) leadership after their running around.

"New" Rukh leader Yuri Kostenko has confirmed that the parties negotiating a bloc and a single presidential candidate are prepared to consider the candidacy of Mr. Matviyenko, Viktor Pynzenyk (Reforms and Order), and Mr. Kostenko himself. The bloc may, in his words, also contain the Green Party. Answering The Day's question if we can imagine, as a last resort, several center-right candidates in the elections so that the electorate will a wider choice, Mr. Kostenko said, "I am sure if five or six parties go to nominate a single candidate, it can be a serious election and not just a crafty game." However, many members of the proposed bloc also stick to the following position: the main thing is to keep Leonid Kuchma from getting through to the second round, and then support the non-Left candidate.

The Day's reporter asked Academician Kostiantyn Sytnyk, People's Deputy and an NDP elder, to comment on the emerging situation:

"It never seemed to me we have a 'short substitute bench,'  as the current President once said. I thought at the time: is the Ukrainian soil really so poor in intellectually endowed people? No, Mr. Kuchma is wrong. Nor are those right who (as I hear almost all the time) say: 'And who else?' I think if we now enter this so much reviled session hall, we will find a dozen potential candidates, won't we? For instance, everybody talks about Medvedchuk - and why not? I can name Filipchuk from Rukh: I work with him on a committee and can say he is a very deep person. And the leader of our party Mr. Matviyenko quite meets the highest demands we might make on a future President. And Mr. Kostenko? He is also a personality. I am now in my seventies, but I said even ten and twenty years ago: we must not follow the line of gerontocracy. We keep young people at bay, and we should see to it that this time they make it. If they don't, we must begin today, though we should have done this yesterday.

"I can also recall older people, such as Mr. Kinakh. But he is not on the list. There are also inner moral obligations on the current President, but no one knows what determined them. I don't understand such things in politics. There should be fair play, for we must enable the people of this country to make a choice among truly brilliant people.

"Yes, there are some fears about their destiny. Great fears. I know there are assaults on certain specific politicians who so far only try to express their opinion. There are still no grounds to expect political cleanliness. Quite recently I enjoyed such a quality as naivetО and optimism. I have lost this optimism literally in the past month."