September 2002

 

 

 

Coverage of action directed against Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma: 

New York Times
Washington Post  

 

The New York Times

Throngs Rally Against Ukraine's Scandal-Scarred Leader

By Michael Wines 

KIEV, Sept. 16 - Thousands of protesters filled downtown Kiev's central square today to demand the resignation of Ukraine's scandal-ensnared president, Leonid Kuchma. An unrepentant Mr. Kuchma gave no hint of acceding to them.

As a throng of demonstrators stretched perhaps a half mile down Kiev's main avenue, waving placards and chanting antigovernment slogans, Mr. Kuchma was in Salzburg, Austria, at an international economic forum. The police and government security agents watched the protesters, some filming events with hand-held video cameras.

Demonstrators said 100,000 people had turned out, while the police said it was closer to 15,000. Reuters news agency estimated 20,000, and said it was the largest rally since Ukraine became independent 11 years ago.

The true test of today's outpouring was likely to be whether the protests gain strength, as Mr. Kuchma's critics predict, or fizzle out, as some private experts suggest.

Organizers staged simultaneous protest rallies in other major cities today, with varying results. In Lviv, a western city that was the seat of the nation's independence movement, as many as 10,000 people were said to have turned out. But in Dnipropetrovsk, a much larger eastern city that is a seat of Soviet nostalgia - and Mr. Kuchma's hometown - a rally was said to have drawn only about 3,000.

Mr. Kuchma initially appeared in serious trouble when similar protests stretched over three months in early 2001. But he rode them out, and it was unclear today whether average Ukrainians, inured by years of scandal, have the stomach for a concerted move to oust their president.

Mr. Kuchma's prime minister, Anatoly Kinakh, contended that the protesters had drawn far fewer supporters than they had predicted, proof that Ukraine's political situation is "under control and stable."

But a 33-year-old protester who identified himself only as Volodya, pausing tonight while erecting a tent in the street in front of Mr. Kuchma's administration building, said: "Before, it was just some of the socialists against Kuchma. Now it's a united opposition. And the more people unite, the more I hope Kuchma will see it and have to resign."

At first blush, the protesters did present a united front. It was initially organized by the Communists, the Socialists and a maverick political faction run by a charismatic legislator, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Over the weekend, Ukraine's most popular politician, former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, placed his faction, Our Ukraine, solidly behind the protests.

Beneath the surface, however, the factions differed over what they wanted to achieve. While the organizers want Mr. Kuchma to quit, Mr. Yushchenko, a centrist, has called only for an end to the corruption and mild political repression that have been staples of Mr. Kuchma's tenure. He also seeks a new coalition in Parliament, where Mr. Kuchma's forces have used pressure tactics and presidential favors to keep control despite losing large numbers of seats in elections last spring.

"All experts and representatives of the opposition think that today's action should be considered only as the beginning of a long period of protest," Mykola Tomenko, a member of Our Ukraine who heads Parliament's committee on freedom of information, said in an interview before the protest began. "But it will all depend on today's actions."

Mr. Kuchma's presidency has been in trouble virtually since he won re-election to a second five-year term in late 1999. But serious street protests erupted only in early 2001, after a presidential security guard released secretly taped conversations that appeared to implicate Mr. Kuchma in the abduction of an opposition journalist, Georgy Gongadze, whose killing remains unsolved. 

Mr. Kuchma has adamantly denied any role in the crime and has suggested that the clandestine recordings had been doctored to make him appear involved. 

His political standing has fallen further this year with the release of more secret tape recordings, this time seeming to link him to proposals to smuggle arms to Iraq and other nations. Ukraine's cabinet denied again today that the government had sold any arms to Iraq.

A string of disasters - the accidental downing of a Russian passenger airliner one year ago by a Ukrainian missile; a crash at a Lviv air show this summer that killed 23 children and 53 adults, and a coal-mine explosion in July in which 35 workers died - have only reinforced the idea of a government either unable or unwilling to pull the country out of its Soviet-era slough.

The protest followed a string of government warnings that demonstrators would face arrest or worse if their actions got out of hand.

But tonight, the police made no move to stop protesters from erecting a tent city outside the president's offices.

On Independence Square in Kiev, where protesters converged, 27-year-old Alla Schpak stood at her sidewalk beer stand and said it had been a banner day for alcohol sales. "But I'd have preferred a better day than this - maybe a holiday," she said. "People were really angry."

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The Washington Post

Ukrainian Protesters Urge Ouster Of President; Thousands Surround Kuchma's Headquarters 

By Peter Baker

KIEV, Ukraine, Sept. 16 -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets around Ukraine today, demanding President Leonid Kuchma's resignation in the largest show of strength by opposition forces to date as they move to consolidate their efforts against the government.

Chanting "Kuchma away" and "Kuchma to prison," disenchanted Ukrainians ranging from unreconstructed communists to Western-style businessmen put aside differences to take over the center of the capital and other cities in defiance of government orders to stay away. A boisterous rally then led to a round-the-clock siege as rain-soaked protesters set up tents around Kuchma's headquarters, vowing not to leave until he does.

"The most beautiful sons of Ukraine came to this square because they're tired of slavery," Yulia Tymoshenko, a former deputy prime minister who has become one of the best-known opposition leaders, cried out to the crowd that filled European Square in downtown Kiev. "This is what we want to see our Ukraine look like."

The return of protesters to the streets -- this time in greater numbers than ever before during Kuchma's eight-year reign -- emboldened opposition leaders working to forge a parliamentary majority in hopes of pushing out Kuchma's handpicked government. Most heartening to the demonstrators was the last-minute decision of Viktor Yushchenko, the country's pro-Western former prime minister and most popular politician, to participate.

Kuchma has struggled to hang on to power in this Texas-sized country of nearly 50 million in the midst of scandals, corruption allegations and dire economic troubles that have bred widespread disillusionment. The rally was timed to mark the two-year anniversary of the disappearance of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, whose headless body was later found in a forest. A former presidential bodyguard soon came forward with audiotapes in which Kuchma seemed to be ordering Gongadze's murder. Kuchma has also come under fire lately for alleged arms sales to Iraq.

Kuchma denies the various charges, but the renewed domestic turmoil could hinder his latest drive to integrate Ukraine with the rest of Europe. Avoiding protesters, Kuchma left for a conference in Austria, where he found his country shunned in discussions about European Union membership.

The protests also come as senior U.S. officials debate whether President Bush should meet with Kuchma during a European trip in November, according to a U.S. official. While some administration officials contend Washington should work to anchor Ukraine in the West, others remain leery of getting too close to a leader accused of ordering the slaying of a reporter.

Opposition leaders here hope to make sure Kuchma remains a pariah abroad and at home and boasted that they are finally prepared to mount a serious challenge. "Unlike the events of two years ago, we have unity among opposition parties, including ideologically different parties," Olexander Turchynov, a parliamentary leader and top Tymoshenko ally, said in an interview in his office before the rally.

Across town, communist leader Petro Symonenko echoed those sentiments as he prepared to lead supporters down a main avenue to European Square, once known as Lenin's Komsomol Square. "We are different political parties so we have different political programs, but we all understand the importance of removing Kuchma because oligarchs will destroy the remnants of democracy in Ukraine," Symonenko said before excusing himself to begin the march.

As supporters of different parties arrived at the square from different directions, they formed a striking scene of old and young, looking Soviet and Western. The square was covered by a sea of colorful flags, various hues representing the various factions. Police estimated the crowd in Kiev at 20,000, while organizers put it far higher. Tens of thousands more gathered in Lviv, Odessa and other cities.

The turnout might have been higher had it not been for hardball tactics employed by the authorities. Turchynov said 3,000 activists were summoned to meet with prosecutors over the weekend in a blatant intimidation tactic. A court last week ruled that demonstrators could not meet in the Kiev square, an order the opposition ignored today. Some protesters today said police prevented buses from reaching the capital and discouraged other people at train stations.

"They tried to turn us back and they threatened us, saying they would fire us at work," said Vitaly Tsurik, 69, a retired pipe fitter from Kharkov. 

A memo obtained by the opposition purported to order the state media to play down the protests. While the government disclaimed authorship, it did take the country's television networks off the air this morning. A top government official and executives at state television stations said the blackout was routine to allow for regular maintenance. However, the chief prosecutor confirmed he was investigating activists for trying to illegally pressure Kuchma to resign before his term expires in 2004. 

Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said complaints of harassment of opposition activists would be vigorously investigated. "Under the constitution of Ukraine, the citizens of Ukraine have the right to free expression, they have the right to express their own will and state their position," Kinakh said in an interview in his office as police in riot gear gathered in a courtyard below to prepare for any trouble. "The government does not put any obstacle to the free expressions of its citizens."

But Kinakh scorned the opposition to Kuchma as simply a "struggle for power" by political figures seeking revenge for past defeats. "In general the situation now in Ukraine is stable and under control and society at large understands that true patriotism does not mean revolution on the square but very systematic industrious work. . . . What we need is permanent dialogue, a search for compromise."


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