President Viktor Yanukovych is conducting a live televised discussion with the nation surrounded by loyal journalists in the studio.
The annual
discussion, billed as “Dialogue with the Country,” started broadcasting live at
11 a.m. Kyiv time on several national TV channels on Feb. 22.
“(My) first
impression from the ‘Dialogue with the Country’ is that political directors have
gone beyond the limits,” lawmaker Viktor Baloga posted on his official Facebook
page. “The picture is a mix of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s Russia and
North Korea. Instead of a conversation there is technocratic talk in the good
tsar manner : ‘I will give orders,’ ‘I will get in touch with you’ and so on.”
Yanukovych’s
last scheduled national discussion was cancelled after parliament passed a
controversial language bill that elevated the status of the Russian language in
the country. It was supposed to take place on July 4, 2012. Mass protests subsequently
erupted in central Kyiv, and dozens of activists went on hunger strike while clashes
with special police units broke out near the Ukrainian House where the
president was to hold the live, televised talks with the nation.
He last
fielded questions with the nation on Feb. 25, 2011. Then, Yanukovych addressed
a large hall full of hundreds of journalists, both from regional and national
media. While journalists from the regional media posed loyal and soft
questions, many from national media asked very tough questions. Probably the
most critical questions were posed by Mustafa Nayem, a journalist with
Ukrainska Pravda news web site.
“Mr.
President, you said yourself that people have not yet noticed the effect of
reforms… At the same time we see in the press and in the investigations by
Ukrainska Pravda that your personal wealth and the wealth of your family
improves… How do you manage to do that?” Mustafa asked.
Yanukovych
did not give a clear reply, saying that he didn’t understand what comfort and
“sweet life” the journalists were speaking about.
Kyiv Post staff writer
Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]
