First who am I? I am an American residing in Ukraine. I’ve lived extensively overseas in places as diverse as Trinidad, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Russian and Ukraine. I come from the longest functioning representative democracy in the world, The United States of America. It has been nearly 234 years since our Declaration of Independence in 1776 from the English Crown. The U.S. still operates on its original Constitution with few changes been made over the years. Americans take a lot for granted that the rest of the planet may still be pondering – like working within a framework known as the Rule of Law (where the law is supreme over ALL men), exercising religious, social and cultural toleration of our neighbors and conducting business “by the rules” – some of the rules are written (government regulations) and some are implied; imprinted on our American genetic memory as to how you properly and honorably conduct yourself in business and government. Sometimes people ignore the rules and go to jail – there’s that darn Rule of Law again!
Ukraine’s choices for a new President are interesting. Victor Yanukovych has an unremarkable and somewhat checkered past and brushes with the law. He’s an over-weight, bloaty man. To my eye he is an icon from the past taking on all the appearances of a Soviet apparatchik. Putin will like this. Yanukovich has been helped in his “image adjustment” by Paul Manafort, a U.S. based Republican strategist whose firm, Davis, Manafort and Freedman, advised several U.S. presidents in how to build a more marketable image. With help like this who need enemies, right?But seriously with all this assistance to “build image”, I perceive Yanukovych as Leonid Brezhnev without big eyebrows. More importantly he’s Brezhnev without any imagination or big ideas! No matter what Manafort does to smooth Yanukovych’s image, no matter how much make up he smears on this old bull, Yanukovych still comes across as a not very original man in his thought, not clever, not inventive, and not so creative a fellow.In two words he is dull and lacking. Putin will like this.
And there is Yulia Tymoshenko. Early on I dubbed her “The Maniacal Matroshka”. Her campaign has been masterful from a creative standpoint with plenty of outside help similar to Yanukovych. This is a woman that, based on available photo galleries, was a very ordinary looking brunette 6 years ago. In fact, she wasn’t very attractive at all. What a makeover, what a transformation! Putin likes this! We now can gaze upon Yulia usually dressed in white (symbol of purity) or posing with cute white tigers or the best one is the poster of her as the Ukrainian peasant goddess of the harvest, holding the grain in her perfectly French-manicured fingers. Maybe for her husband the makeover is welcome but for a politician who should be showing herself as more intellectual and capable as a real leader, the image is frankly distressing. What has been created for Ukraine is a neo-Evita Peron – a cult image that can best be described as “symbolism over substance”. There is no essence and no opportunity to witness anything other than a woman who seeks to project an “image” with her golden blonde hair, a fake braid and dressing in white clothes. Like my President, Barack Obama, she is a marvelous speaker. She can spellbind people. So could Hitler and Evita Peron or more contemporary folk like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe or Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. But they came up short in really being leaders of ALL the people. I smell a personality cult with Yulia; one where she will roll over and just become one of the current crop of bad Ukrainian leaders who comes up short on delivering real change. Like Yanukovych, Tymoshenko lacks substance to lead Ukraine. They both in fact are mirroring my current President Obama. Putin will like this.
That leaves Sergiy Tigipko. Tigipko will probably cut a deal with Yanukovich to be a part of his government. By some accounts he was a pawn for Yanukovych all along – just put in to siphon off votes from other factions. By all counts the wealthiest of the lot, Tigipko ran a very straight-forward campaign based on common sense business principles. He garnered a meager 13 percent of the vote. He comes across to me as being politically effusive and ready to shake things up which the other two candidates won’t. But that’s the image. If he’s his own man and not a pawn for Yanukovych he would be the best of the lot in my estimation: A new persona to challenge the entrenched elites.
Ukraine could be an economic powerhouse in Europe but their needs to be a “give” on the part of the power elite of the country; a realization that competitive markets DO work that competition brings about an enrichment of ALL the people and an ever-expanding pie. Lower taxes, smaller government and a level playing field where competition can thrive, and government by the Rule of Law – it works every time and every place it’s tried. Seems straightforward enough but then this is Ukraine. Can Ukraine break the shackles of its Soviet past? I sincerely hope so.
The people need to vote for the NEW Ukraine and not the old Soviet variant that was “watched over” by Moscow. You don’t need a Moscow caretaker in the form of Yanukovych or Tymoshenko who will jump when Putin winks. Like the ski cap I saw over the holidays in Vorokhta “Ukraine Forever”. I hope Tigipko doesn’t cave to Yanukovych and that Ukrainians will give Tigipko a good look. He comes across as understanding the real changes that need to be made to vault Ukraine to the front of the pack. He could just put Ukraine in the ranks of the powerful nations. Putin will not like this!
Mike Lynn is an American living in Kyiv. He can be reached at [email protected].
