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JOHN MARONE, KYIV
THE LIFE OF YUSHCHENKO
There was a time when educated Ukrainians didn't read the latest bestseller translated from English, or Dostoyevsky (pardon - Taras Shevchenko). During the middle ages, the literate were versed in what are called the Lives of Saints. The typical plot of these religious works is the struggle of a God-fearing Christian against heathens, nature or sinners. Times and tastes have changed, of course, but the archetype of the Orthodox martyr remains fixed in the Ukrainian psyche. Sometimes, the martyrs were princes, such as the 11th century sons of Grand Prince Volodymyr: Boris and Gleb were knocked off by their older and envious brother Svyatopolk, who wanted the throne of Kyivan Rus for himself.
Enter Viktor Yushchenko, the modern-day leader of Ukraine with a serious succession problem of his own. Yushchenko's father wasn't Volodymyr the Great, Christianizer of the East Slavs, or even a Soviet apparatchik. Nevertheless, following his short stint as premier under President Leonid Kuchma, Yushchenko publicly stated that Kuchma was like a father to him.
Unfortunately, Kuchma did not feel the same about Yushchenko, whom he canned as head of government. But that doesn't hurt our analogy with the Boris and Gleb story, because following his scandal ridden second-term in office, Kuchma will not go down in history as the propagator of Christian values among Ukrainians. And by association, Kuchma's chosen successor, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, will also have a hard time making it into Orthodox hagiography.
However, Yushchenko seems to think – or thinks that his countrymen think – that he qualifies for the position of princely martyr. It's a soft job, because you don't have to achieve any policy goals. The down side is that your enemies get to do all kinds of nasty things to you, which are actually supposed to improve your public approval ratings.
Yushchenko began cultivating his saintly image in 2004, during his campaign against Yanukovych for the presidency. As during the times of Boris and Gleb, the issue of succession, or transfer of power, is an ugly affair in Modern Ukraine. Like anyone who challenged Kuchma's will, Yushchenko and his supporters were subject to ridicule and violence. The best example of this was Yushchenko's poisoning, which left the handsome politician disfigured and ill in the run up to voting.
Nevertheless, just a few months later, our hagiographic hero had defeated his foe, won the presidency and was basking in the international limelight as a champion of democracy. It didn't matter that Yushchenko had once served in the system that he overthrew, or that he'd been helped into power by real opposition politicians like Oleksandr Moroz and Yulia Tymoshenko, who suffered no less under Kuchma. More importantly, change was coming anyway, as millions of Ukrainians, including powerful businessmen, decided they'd had had enough of gangster politics.
In short, despite showing a genuine commitment to reform as the country's chief banker and prime minister, and weathering a sometimes-frightening election campaign, Yushchenko was more lamb than lion. When push came to shove, and he was forced to confront his enemies at the negotiation table at the peak of the Orange Revolution, he made unnecessary and embarrassing compromises - the most fatal being his approval of a hastily drafted set of constitutional reforms that would come back to haunt him.
Now, three years and as many elections later, Ukraine's struggle for succession has not ended, but Yushchenko continues to play the princely martyr. With snap parliamentary elections only weeks away, Yushchenko has rekindled the memories of his poisoning. Unfortunately, we onlookers are no closer to finding out who done it. The president told journalists on September 11 that he had "practically all the pieces put together" and that the attempt against his life was "not a private action." After three years as head of state, having all the investigators and laboratories in the country at his disposal, this is all he could come up with?
The only clue the president gave us is a Russian connection - the big bad bear. "The three people needed most for the investigation are currently in Russia. All our requests to the prosecutor-general to have these people appear in Ukrainian courts have gone unanswered, including one in December that I personally handed over, requesting the help of Russian President Vladimir Putin", he said.
Although all this may be true, it's not clear why Yushchenko is bringing it up now. Maybe he wants to improve his bloc's ratings in the more nationalistic western Ukraine. The president's recent appearance at a rally in Lviv would seem to suggest that he is concentrating all his efforts on his traditional, less threatening base of support. By contrast, Yanukovych's Regions party and the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, the election's two front runners, are challenging the president and each other beyond their own backyards.
Villain or not - Yanukovych is a proven fighter, returning from the ignominy of defeat in the 2004 presidential race to retake the government and challenge Yushchenko for executive power. As for Tymoshenko, her supporters have also put a halo around her head. But Tymoshenko seems to fit more with the Western religious tradition, in particular Joan of Arc.
Moreover, a closer look at Yushchenko's saintly credentials reveals a possible subject for confession. In 2004, he promised profusely to solve the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze and put the bandits in jail, but has done neither. In fact, it was Yushchenko who permitted Kuchma-era prosecutor-general Svyatoslav Piskun to remain in office, thus ensuring that no one high up would do time. The president also has to take responsibility for Yanukovych's return as premier.
Instead, the president has blamed Socialist Oleksandr Moroz, his one-time ally in the fight for the presidency. But Moroz only decided to join a coalition with Regions and the Communists after Yushchenko had continually put off an agreement with Moroz and Tymoshenko. Word has it that Yushchenko doesn't get on with his fellow saint. Joan of Arc probably would have ruffled the feathers of Boris and Gleb as well.
The question now becomes: how long can the president continue to play princely martyr? If Yushchenko thinks God is on his side, he had better check the latest polls. He'll be lucky if his bloc gets what it got in 2006, which was, by the way, 10 percent less votes than in 2002.
Some say the president has already started to fight back, removing the contradictory political figures who divided his team in the past. Businessman Petro Poroshenko, who clashed with Tymoshenko when she served as Yushchenko's first prime minister, has been put on the relative sidelines of the National Bank. Running the presidential secretariat is Viktor Baloga, who supports cooperation with BYuT.
Nevertheless, the president's bloc has been threatened by a split between those who support better relations with milder elements of Yanukovych's team and those more sympathetic to Tymoshenko's firebrand populism. All blocs are supported by businessmen, but Tymoshenko doesn't have to worry about soiling her saintly image, as she carries a sword as well as a cross.
The more Yushchenko surrounds himself with real fighters, like Socialist defector Yury Lutsenko whose People's Defense Party shares a ticket with Yuchchenko's Our Ukraine bloc, the more his own weaknesses are demonstrated by contrast. Even the president's pro-Western policies such as joining the EU and NATO sometimes look like an attempt to have the West do his fighting for him. Starting from the Orange Revolution, Europeans have almost continually been called upon in one capacity or another to arbitrate in the power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych.
Interestingly, the Regions seems to enjoy Yushchenko's saintly image as much as he does. Rather than hitting him with the kind of heavy criticism exchanged with Tymoshenko, Regions deputies can often be heard suggesting that the president has been misled by his secretariat or the opposition - i.e. Tymoshenko. It's better to confine a saint in monastery than attack him outright and give him more points as a martyr. Ukrainians may revere martyr princes, but they also like their leaders to be strong.
Judging by the way Yushchenko's decrees to halt hurried privatization are being ignored, and the fact that the parliament that he disbanded continues to meet, it would be difficult to portray the president as a strong leader. If Yushchenko's aim is to bring 'civilized' European values such as the power of judiciary to bear in Ukraine, three cheers for him. But no one has informed Ukraine's corrupt judges. Values and vision have to be followed up with courage and pragmatism. Emulating saintly suffering may get one into the kingdom of heaven, but it's not going help him run a country on earth.
John Marone, Kyiv Post Staff Journalist, Ukraine
September 24, 2007
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