Oleksandr TURCHYNOV: “We will make lists public before the congress”
How is the opposition going to win the parliamentary elections?
Last Saturday’s Forum of the United Opposition failed to answer this question. The leaders said a lot of right words. The forum looked good from the organizational angle. Arsenii Yatseniuk clearly rose to the occasion – it was his first serious public speech on behalf of the united opposition. Turchynov seemed to be playing the role of a moderator. All the others – Tomenko, Sobolev, Kyrylenko, and Tiahnybok – were just helpers. But even this was a sign of respect, for even Yurii Karmazin was not allowed to climb the stage. A special item on the agenda was the appearance of Yurii Lutsenko’s wife Iryna and Yulia Tymoshenko’s daughter Yevhenia. They read out addresses from their husband and mother, respectively, which was the most tear-jerking part of the Mykhailivska St. forum.
Mr. Yatseniuk spoke brilliantly. We must admit that he has filled Ms. Tymoshenko’s niche quite deservedly. “It was a monopoly of sorts because, frankly speaking, we have mightier assets in the provinces,” says Yurii Odarchenko, chair of the Fatherland party’s Kyiv city branch. “But as we need a convincing victory, we are restraining our ambitions. For example, Yulia Tymoshenko is well aware that today’s forum is Yatseniuk’s bid for the presidency and, accordingly, he will be her rival. But she knows it is very important to win the parliamentary elections and, therefore, is urging the opposition to unite.”
What Yatseniuk said at the Mykhailivska St. forum seems to be the harshest anti-governmental speech he has ever delivered. The audience could hear a call to abolish Yanukovych’s “monarchy” (impeachment) and confiscate governmental residencies and manors as well as a hint that Tymoshenko’s fate may befall the current rulers. The government is unlikely to be slow to respond. Yatseniuk also revealed some other program goals which the opposition is going to achieve after winning the elections: reforming the law and justice system, releasing all political prisoners, dismissing all judges, including those of the Constitutional Court, establishing the National Anticorruption Bureau, redistributing wealth in the interests of ordinary people, reforming education and medicine, increasing minimal and other wages, leaving behind only seven taxes in the Tax Code, bringing Ukraine back to the European path, etc.
However, it was not announced how in reality the opposition is going to defend the election results, when the lists will be made public, or whether mistakes had been corrected. We managed to put some of these questions to Oleksandr Tyrchynov in an exclusive interview.
Mr. Turchynov, when are you going to disclose your lists?
“At the congress. Under the law, it will be held in late July.”
Yulia Tymoshenko said this should be done in the near future.
“Undoubtedly, the lists will be made public earlier, but they will be approved at the congress only.”
Did you personally ponder running in a first-past-the-post constituency – to show the example, so to speak? All the more so that Tymoshenko and Yatseniuk will top the list?
“I must manage the central election headquarters.”
The other interviewee, BYuT’s Ivan Kyrylenko, was more talkative.
Mr. Kyrylenko, very much is being talked about what there should be, but what about the mechanisms? It is not even known who is on your lists.
“Very significant words were said, although no lists or first-past-the-post candidates were announced from the rostrum. Frankly speaking, we were somewhat embarrassed two or three months ago – we didn’t know how all this would look. But now I can say for sure that we have united. This union – 20 plus 10 – will result in 35. The people will gradually calm down. Everybody can see that we will gain much more votes if we run on a single list rather than each alone.”
Do you mean those you are recruiting?
“You can feel easy – it is the people who had their backbones and heads broken literally and figuratively, who held out to the last ditch. All those who were to drop out have already done so.”
But the same people are drawing up the lists. Have you made any conclusions?
“Turchynov is personally managing the headquarters. All those who are at the head of this process have gone through the mill. Ms. Tymoshenko is in prison now – can there be a higher price? Something incredible should happen for new defectors to appear after these elections. Should this happen again, it will be nothing but Divine punishment.”
The Party of Regions is unlikely to create comfortable conditions for you in the elections. How are you going to monitor the process?
“Thank God, owing to our efforts, the law now includes a provision that electoral documents should be kept intact for five years. If, for some reason, they disappear, concrete people will be answering for this. Likewise, if these ballots are found to have been tampered with, there is a personal liability of up to six years’ imprisonment. This is supposed to have an impact on, above all, members of election commissions. To rig the elections, they will have to strike a deal with everybody else. I admit there can be a certain percentage of rigged votes, but there will be no total fixing, as was the case with the local elections.”
What is your attitude to the idea of installing CCTV cameras at polling stations?
“I fully agree. I have even put forward a proposal: should any changes to the election law be suddenly passed, this must be the No. 1 item.”
