Ukraine at 21

INSIDE: l Ukrainian opposition’s cat billboards removed – page 3 l Russian soft power discussed in Washington – page 7 l ‘Idol’ finalist Fedorov in Off-Broadway show – page 16 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXX No. 35 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2012 $1/$2 in Ukraine UKRAINE AT 21: Ukraine’s 2012 parliamentary elections: Experts share Voters’ disillusionment is key for some parties by Zenon Zawada their observations Special to The Ukrainian Weekly On the occasion of Ukrainian Independence Day, KYIV – The Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform August 24, The Ukrainian Weekly asked several scholars (UDAR) and the Communist Party of Ukraine have a lot in and experts on Ukraine to share their observations. common. Both have red as their party color, and both par- Roma Hadzewycz of The Weekly asked: Where does ties will qualify for the Verkhovna Rada in the October 28 Ukraine stand on the 21st anniversary of its renewed parliamentary elections. Both parties have surged in popu- independence? Where is the country headed today, as larity owing to voter disillusionment. compared to where it was, say, in August 1991, or even a The Communists have gained at the expense of the Party year ago? of Regions of Ukraine, which has hemorrhaged voters. The Following are the responses received from two special- disenchanted of eastern and southern Ukraine have trig- ists from the United States and two from Canada. gered a new wave of nostalgia for Soviet times, on which Alexander J. Motyl, professor of political science, the Communists are aiming to capitalize, observers said. Rutgers University, Newark, N.J.: “The Communists’ poll ratings to a large degree depend Compared to Soviet Ukraine, today’s Ukraine has on the Regions,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, board chairman made enormous progress. It’s no longer communist, it’s of the Penta Center of Applied Political Research in Kyiv. no longer totalitarian, it no longer has a centrally “There’s fluctuation – if the Regions’ poll ratings grow, then planned economy, the Gulag no longer exists. By the the Communists’ ratings will decline a little, and vice versa.” same token, Ukraine has a market economy – deformed, Meanwhile, UDAR has become a political heavyweight to be sure, but a market economy nonetheless. Ukraine on the back of refugees from the decimated Our Ukraine enjoys significant, though diminishing, freedom of force led by former President Viktor Yushchenko. The speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of thought, party is also aiming to attract the votes of Ukrainians with and these freedoms will – regardless of whatever crack- Zenon Zawada downs the Yanukovych regime implements – always be Western values who remain reluctant to support anything Boxing champion Vitali Klitschko heads the party list of greater than those in Soviet times. Ukraine has a vigor- (Continued on page 3) the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform. ous civil society, whereas it had none two decades ago. True, Ukraine is profoundly corrupt and the ruling elites have no regard for law, but the degree of corruption and legal nihilism is probably no greater now than it was during late Brezhnevism. The current regime’s incom- Plast begins centennial jamboree in Lviv petence and lack of imagination are also more or less on par with those of the late USSR. So, all in all, when viewed from the perspective of two or even three decades, Ukraine has made great progress. The down side obviously concerns Ukraine’s back- sliding within the last two years. The Yanukovych regime has formally abandoned all pretense of democracy, and it has officially embraced an openly Russian- supremacist position on Ukrainian identity, language and culture. In contrast to the Soviet regime, which pre- tended to have an ideological vision, this one has openly declared that its primary goal is self-enrichment. Small wonder that, whereas most Soviets lacked respect for the Brezhnev regime, most Ukrainians genuinely detest the Yanukovych regime. The up side for Ukraine and Ukrainians is that the Yanukovych regime is about as rotten as the Brezhnev regime. Its collapse is, thus, only a matter of time. The bad news is that Ukraine will have to endure several more years of misrule before that collapse comes. The good news is that, with the Yanukovych regime’s destruction of Ukraine’s political institutions, post-Yanu- kovych Ukraine will finally be able to start anew, with a clean slate, and just possibly succeed in building a genu- ine democracy. Orest Deychakiwsky, policy advisor for Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Washington: LUFA While much has been done to create a state and LVIV – Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization officially opened its international jamboree here on Sunday, August while this young country has much to be proud of, much 19, with more than 2,000 members from around the globe in attendance. Seen above is a portion of the gather- remains to be done. There are reasons for concern, not ing in Lviv. The Jubilee International Plast Jamboree (known by its Ukrainian acronym as YuMPZ) continues so much about Ukraine’s continued existence as an through Saturday, August 25, with special celebrations of Ukrainian Independence Day planned for August 24 in the city center of Lviv. For a look at the diverse camps held during the first phase of the jamboree, see the spe- (Continued on page 9) cial photo report on page 11. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2012 No. 35 NEWS ANALYSIS Another sentence for Lutsenko September 2-5. In addition, the channel Why the Kremlin is losing sent a letter to the National Television and KYIV – On August 17 the Pecherskyi Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine con- strong, cool and decisive leader, and is rising by Brian Whitmore District Court in Kyiv found former Internal cerning unlawful disconnection of the up from its knees; Putin’s opponents are RFE/RL Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko guilty of channel by some cable TV operators. feckless and doomed; the troubled 1990s negligence during an investigation into the Ukraine’s TVi Channel claimed on August Remember when something called “the are over; we won’t be pushed around any- case of the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko 14 that the exclusion of the channel by Family” dominated Russian politics and more. and sentenced him to two years in prison, Boris Berezovsky looked invincible? Mr. Putin’s Kremlin once excelled at this cable operators in Donetsk and Mariupol with no right to hold public office for three from their networks on August 13 was due It wasn’t that long ago. Just over a decade kind of thing. They don’t anymore. The nar- years. The verdict says that, since Mr. back. ratives they try to push – like blaming mass to direct instructions from the regional rep- Lutsenko was earlier sentenced to four resentatives of the National Council on In late 1999, I was having dinner in a demonstrations on foreign agitators – years in prison, the softer punishment has Moscow restaurant with some colleagues appear worn and dated, and Mr. Putin’s scat- Television and Radio Broadcasting. On July been “absorbed” by the more severe pun- 20, TVi Channel said that it had been dis- and we noticed Mr. Berezovsky and some ological slang just isn’t that funny anymore. ishment. On February 27, the Pecherskyi hangers-on a few tables away. Now it is the opposition that is succeed- connected from the cable networks of the District Court found Mr. Lutsenko guilty of Triolan trademark and that residents of 11 One colleague gestured to the uber-oli- ing in getting its one-liners into the coun- abuse of office and sentenced him to four try’s collective consciousness. With mes- towns in Ukraine had been denied the pos- garch’s entourage, which was flanked by the years in prison, with confiscation of his sage discipline and tech-savvy that would sibility to watch the channel. TVi linked this usual phalanx of bodyguards, and said: property. (Ukrinform) “Wouldn’t you love to just approach him make a political consultant proud, anti-cor- “with the pressure being placed on the and ask: ‘Boris Abramovich, what exact ruption blogger Aleksei Navalny has man- TVi cites continuing pressure channel.” On July 12, reports said that a scheme are you working on right now?’” criminal case had been opened against TVi It was conventional wisdom at the time KYIV – Ukraine’s TVi Channel has said Director Mykola Kniazhytsky. The tax that Mr. Berezovsky was the master of aged to turn phrases like “партия жуликов that the pressure on the channel by the police accused him of failing to pay 3 mil- Russia’s political universe. As the informal и(Foreign воров” Agent(party Bastrykin)of swindlers into and powerful thieves) authorities continues. “The Tax Service lion hrv in taxes. Mr. Kniazhytsky said that leader of the so-called “Family,” the shad- andcultural “Иностранный markers. агент Бастрыкин” continues impeding our work. More and he had already won all trials in this case owy collection of tycoons, cronies and This may seem trivial, but it’s not. It is more regional providers have been discon- and that he had paid all taxes. The tax bureaucrats surrounding the ailing helping to establish a new counternarrative necting TVi Channel from their networks police started checking the channel’s docu- President Boris Yeltsin, he had the Kremlin that the current ruling elite is corrupt and due to censorship by the authorities,” the ments, although the head of the State Tax wired and was orchestrating the rise of incompetent – and has overstayed its wel- channel said in a statement on its official Service, Oleksander Klymenko, signed an Vladimir Putin – who the media called “the come.

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