Mr. Paul Melnyk responded emotionally [Sept. 19] to my critical article on Viktor Yushchenko [“Our Ukraine hesitant about opposition,” Sept. 12]. But I am not alone: There is growing criticism of Yushchenko both inside and outside Ukraine. The Washington Post [Sept. 18] states that Western diplomats “fret that he may not be a tough enough political operator” and that others within the Rada “have grown impatient” with his constant search for dialogue. Serhy Rakhmanin wrote a far more critical article on Yushchenko’s passivity in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia [Sept. 14‑21]. Will Mr. Melnyk also be writing to these two newspapers (and others) whenever he sees any criticism of Yushchenko?
It is wrong to place any politician on a pedestal, free from public scrutiny. And that goes for Yushchenko.
Mr. Melnyk’s letter is wrong for three reasons.
First, Yushchenko is not the only person supporting democratization in Ukraine. What about Oleksandr Moroz and Yulia Tymoshenko?
Second, Volodymyr Yavorivsky, an Our Ukraine deputy, told me recently in Toronto that Our Ukraine is divided 60:40 between radicals and moderates. The moderate wing, for which Mr. Melnyk presumably has sympathy, is therefore in a minority within Yushchenko’s own bloc.
Third, and perhaps more troubling, is Yushchenko’s inconsistency. This may damage his popularity, which fell over the summer. During the elections Yushchenko stood on an anti‑oligarch (but not anti‑Kuchma) platform. Since the elections, Yushchenko’s definition of who are oligarchs seems to have shrunk to Medvedchuk’s Social Democrats. Presumably, Yushchenko no longer considers those grouped in the For a United Ukraine bloc to be oligarchs, and he can create a Rada majority with them (but not with the Social Democrats).
Could Mr. Melnyk (or anybody) please provide me with evidence that, of Ukraine’s oligarchs, only the Social Democrats are corrupt?
Dr.Taras Kuzio
University of Toronto
