www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE: • Kateryna Yushchenko visits Ukrainian Catholic University — page 4. • An examination of post-election scenarios in Ukraine — page 6. • Breakthrough Polish-Ukrainian film festival in Chicago — page 13. HE KRAINIAN EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXXV No. 39 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 $1/$2 in Ukraine Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister ELECTION NOTEBOOK: Monitoring group addresses Ukrainian Americans reports on eve of parliamentary elections by Matthew Dubas by Zenon Zawada The Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Kyiv Press Bureau Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense had yet NEW YORK – Ukraine’s to fill their quotas in the Donetsk Oblast, Minister of Foreign Affairs KYIV – Falsifications won’t be signif- while the coalition parties still needed to Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with the icant enough to discredit the September recruit commissioners in the Lviv Oblast. Ukrainian community on 30 parliamentary elections, said “Meetings for a significant portion of Monday, September 24, at the Oleksander Chernenko, spokesman for district election commissions in the Ukrainian Institute of America to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Donetsk Oblast occur without representa- talk about the upcoming parlia- (CVU), the country‘s leading independ- tives from the Tymoshenko Bloc and Our mentary elections and Ukraine’s ent election monitor, which is financed Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense bloc, progress toward integrating with by Western institutions. causing indignation among commission- Western institutions. Mr. The biggest threats to the elections’ ers since the absence of opposition mem- Yatsenyuk also thanked the audi- integrity are unsatisfactory voter lists, bers disrupt the quorum,” the CVU ence members for their legacy of district election commissioners declining reported. cooperation with Ukraine. their assignments, delays in rulings by For example, the Party of the Regions Also present from the election governing bodies and racy state- reported 173 members of Our Ukraine – Foreign Affairs Ministry were ments from the main political forces People’s Self-Defense and 127 Yulia Dr. Oleh Shamshur, ambassador alleging falsifications, intimidation and Tymoshenko Bloc members failed to of Ukraine to the United States, provocations. report for commission assignments in Yuriy Sergeyev, permanent rep- About three-quarters of district election Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk Oblast. resentative of Ukraine to the commissions began their work on time, and United Nations, and Mykola most others were only slightly delayed, the * * * Kyrychenko, consul general of CVU stated in its September 20 report. Ukraine in New York. One week before elections, 5 percent of The Ministry of Internal Affairs led by With the upcoming elections district election commissions had yet to on the minds of attendees, the Socialist Party candidate Vasyl Tsushko begin work and the recruitment of candi- broke the law when it compiled and potential of Our Ukraine – dates in the Donetsk and Lviv oblasts People’s Self-Defense and the remained in critical stage, the CVU stated. (Continued on page 8) Party of the Regions uniting into a grand coalition was, according to Mr. Yatsenyuk, unlikely. Maintaining his positive tone, Matthew Dubas Former Socialist Lutsenko leads Ukraine’s Mr. Yatsenyuk stressed that the Foreign Affairs Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk at upcoming elections must be car- the Ukrainian Institute of America. ried out democratically, fairly national democrats back to prominence and transparently for a new government to learning how to run itself democratically. be cohesively formed in Ukraine. “There has been a change in the mentali- by Zenon Zawada the Our Ukraine – People’s Self- Defense bloc has cast itself as “Government cannot be permanent, ty of the Ukrainian voter in the last three Kyiv Press Bureau Ukraine’s national democratic choice government cannot be unchanging,” Mr. years. Even the Communists who remain KYIV – As the parliamentary elec- in the September 30 elections, includ- Yatsenyuk said, adding that the govern- in the Parliament support Ukraine’s inte- tion campaign draws to a close, ing such veterans on its electoral list ment should be held to certain standards, Ukraine’s national democrats are hop- European standards, but Ukraine is still (Continued on page 19) as Yurii Kostenko, Ivan Zayets and ing Yurii Lutsenko, a lifelong Yaroslav Kendzior. Socialist, has led them back to promi- However, the bloc’s leader, Mr. nence. Town hall meetings in Ukraine In its advertising and campaigning, (Continued on page 5) discuss pre-election politics by Khristina Lew 2004 and 2006, the UCCA has brought the town hall format into oblast radio sta- KHARKIV, Ukraine – The Ukrainian tions, allowing voters to call in their Congress Committee of America Inc. questions and comments, and broadcast- (UCCA) held the fourth in a series of town ing the voter/candidate exchange over the hall meetings that bring together Ukrainian airwaves. The UCCA’s traditional town voters and representative of political par- halls in previous years reached over ties and blocs in this eastern Ukrainian city 20,000 voters; the Kharkiv town hall on on September 20. Eleven of the 20 politi- September 20 alone reached 2 million. cal parties and blocs registered for the snap “In the two days leading up to the pro- September 30 parliamentary elections gram’s airing, our station received over attended. The “meeting” was held in the 300 calls; and during the actual town hall studio of Radio Kharkiv 2, the only meeting, we fielded over 100 calls from Ukrainian-language radio station in voters,” stated Vitalina Zinkivska, direc- Kharkiv, whose listeners number 2 million. tor of Radio Kharkiv 2. The UCCA launched its “Ukraine’s “Callers’ questions reflected their Choice 2007” election program of town daily concerns: in Kirovohrad voters halls in Kirovohrad with seven political sought solutions to the city’s high rate of UNIAN parties and blocs on September 14. In a unemployment; in Lviv on September 17 departure from its earlier work with Yurii Lutsenko campaigning in Ternopil on September 9. Ukrainian voters in 1994, 1998, 1999, (Continued on page 22) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 No. 39 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Yushchenko accuses Russia Migrant workers and voting rights bloc, said the measures being taken by the PRU on Independence Square testify of obstructing dioxin probe KYIV – Internal Affairs Minister to the intention of the party to question Vasyl Tsushko revealed on September 24 the upcoming elections’ results. (RFE/RL RFE/RL this research will also be done soon,” Mr. that his ministry has submitted a list of Newsline) Yushchenko said. “The three people 3.5 million Ukrainians currently working Ukrainian President Viktor Moroz to question election results needed most for the investigation are cur- abroad to the Central Election Yushchenko says it is very likely the poi- Commission (CEC) with a request to rently in Russia. All our requests to the sonous dioxin that disfigured him was strike them off the voter lists, RFE/RL’s KYIV – Parliament Chairman procurator-general to have these people made in a laboratory in Russia. Ukrainian Service reported. According to Oleksander Moroz, who is also the leader appear in Ukrainian courts have gone Mr. Yushchenko did not explicitly Mr. Tsushko, these people are staying of the Socialist Party, said at an election unanswered, including one in December accuse the Russian government of abroad but their identity documents are meeting in the Kyiv Oblast on September that I personally handed over, requesting involvement in his poisoning, but he did regularly used by family members to cast 25 that his party will question the validi- the help of Russian President Vladimir say he has “practically all the pieces put votes during Ukrainian elections. Mr. ty of the September 30 pre-term elections Putin.” together” and that the attempt against his Tsushko claimed that this number of per- in court regardless of their results, the Mr. Yushchenko said it is very easy to life was “not a private action.” manent migrant workers includes 2.5 Kommersant-Ukraine daily reported on Mr. Yushchenko fell gravely ill in determine the origin of dioxin. The fact million people from western Ukraine and September 26. “We will appeal to the September 2004 during his pro-Western that Russia has not sent samples to be 1 million from eastern Ukraine. CEC courts. This is necessary in connection with the number of violations that campaign for the Ukrainian presidency. analyzed, he said, “limits the possibilities Deputy Chairman Andrii Mahera told occurred during the previous elections He was rushed to a clinic in Vienna, of the investigation.” RFE/RL that the commission refused to and that are committed now,” Mr. Moroz where doctors determined he had ingest- He added that Moscow has a moral comply with the Internal Affairs said. “No matter what results our party ed large quantities of the poison dioxin. obligation to cooperate. “A country can- Ministry’s request. “The Central Election obtains in the elections, all violations Mr. Yushchenko survived and eventually not let an attempt on anyone’s life go Commission has already adopted a reso- will be reported to the courts. ... Our returned to Kyiv – his face horribly unpunished, let alone on a presidential lution on this issue. It happened on society is not ready for an election cam- scarred by the poison – to defeat pro- candidate. For both the country’s honor September 21. The Internal Affairs paign that, in our opinion, will only Moscow candidate Viktor Yanukovych in and rule of law, the investigation must be Ministry should act within its own pow- aggravate the crisis in society,” said a late December rerun of the first vote, completed and people have a right to ers. No law allows them to visit houses Socialist Party lawmaker Vasyl which was deemed to have been rigged.