An audio recording of a telephone conversation allegedly between Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko and former Premier Viktor Yushchenko was made public at a press conference last Wednesday at the UNIAN Information Agency held by Dmytro Ponamarchuk, Director of the Rukh-Press Agency and Oleksandr Ihnatenko and Valery Rubtsov, cochairmen of the All-Ukrainian public movement, For Integrity in Politics. According to Mr. Ponamarchuk, the topic of the conversation was about strengthening the lawmakers’ support for the motion to dismiss Viktor Medvedchuk, and the conversation allegedly took place during voting the issue in Verkhovna Rada on December 13 of last year.
In particular, the man whom Mr. Ponamarchuk identified as Oleksandr Omelchenko was reproaching his interlocutor, allegedly Viktor Yushchenko, with procrastination in submitting more lawmakers’ signatures for the motion, accusing him of treachery, appealing to God, and asking him to stop his trip and return [to Verkhovna Rada] (Viktor Yushchenko was allegedly speaking over his mobile phone on his way to Vinnytsia), as well as demanding that Yushchenko give orders to his aids to open his safe where lists with more signatures, (originals, not copies) were kept.
According to Mr. Ponamarchuk, a scrupulous expert examination of the recordings has confirmed that they are valid and have not been tampered with technically. The Rukh-Press director refused to identify the source of this information, referring to conditions of anonymity for the sake of the informant’s personal safety. “I consider it my civic responsibility to make this information public and, if the For Integrity in Politics movement had refused to help me, I would have done it in any other conceivable way. In the first place, I am interested in the revelation of these facts as a citizen, voter, and journalist, not as a politician,” he said. Another reason why he made these materials public, he continued, is his personal preoccupation with the plight of Rukh, which had subordinated itself to leadership by a man who, claiming to be the conscience of the nation, is definitely not so.
The content of the telephone conversation, Ponamarchuk claims, contradicts the former premier’s earlier statements when he said, “Viktor Medvedchuk has no one but himself to blame for his ouster, and no tragedy should be made out of this.” Mr. Ponamarchuk called the style of a person, identified by him as Mayor Omelchenko, a disgrace and proof that pulling strings by some Ukrainian political heavyweights are not so rare, the Rukh-Press director concluded. Take, for example, a segment of the publicized recording of the talk allegedly held between Omelchenko and Yushchenko:
A voice sounding like Omelche nko: “How could you act in such a way, leaving for Vinnytsia on the day of the vote on the motion to remove Medvedchuk and without saying (here was a not nice word — Ed.) to anyone and taking Poroshenko with you? Udovenko doesn’t know anything, same as Kostenko and Korol. How could you act like this!?”
Voice sounding like Yushchenko: “Oleksandr Oleksandrovych, but [my people] will vote. They’ll vote.”
Voice like Omelchenko: “I’m asking you again, how could you act this way, Viktor Andriyovych? I’ve been persuading you, sorry, Pliushch for four hours now. How could you act this way? Why did you organize your people!?”
Voice like Yushchenko: “They’ll vote, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych...”
Thus we continue to reap the fruits of the so-called cassette scandal. For, had the Security Service of Ukraine investigated that case properly, we would not be asking ourselves the same question how telephone conversations of high officials can be tapped and recorded.
But nothing of the kind was done by the SBU at the time. Moreover, SBU’s notorious then Director Leonid Derkach is running for a seat in the legislature. Had those in power and other persons involved in the year-old cassette scandal made timely and proper conclusions, putting their foot down, the public would not be exposed to a new variety of the same political technique. Sadly, getting back to the issue of techniques, it must be stated that, on condition the recording is genuine and not falsified, all puritanical calls by Central Election Committee head Mykhailo Riabets for an honest and transparent election campaign will be futile, and dirty political technologies will continue to be used, with new unpleasant surprises still awaiting us.
All the moaning and groaning about such tricks begins to sound like a voice in the wilderness. With the moral standards in domestic politics falling so low, only few players on the present political field can count on appealing to the grassroots.
Given the validity of recordings, some of Viktor Yushchenko fans may be in for a disappointment, learning from the tapes that someone can wipe his feet on their idol in so disrespectful a manner.
Incidentally, Viktor Medvedchuk is quoted by UNIAN as saying on January 9 that there is nothing unclear or new for him in the publicized recordings. “I know only too well who is behind my removal, the first and the other politicians who had a hand in it.” Commenting on the assumption that the publication of these tapes is another round in the information war and that a retaliatory blow may be coming, the leader of the SDPU(o) responded, “Let them beat around the bush.”
“I am not going to be intimidated by anyone and the more similar efforts are taken the stronger the reaction will be,” Mr. Medvedchuk warned. According to the SDPU(o) chief, he will have stamina, courage, and means enough to stand up to all this, stressing that all those who opt for transparency and openness in politics should abide by these same principles.
COMMENTS
Volodymyr MALYNKOVYCH, political analyst
All this is evidence of the extremely low political and cultural standard in Ukraine. The whole story actually has no political heroes. Dmytro Ponamarchuk, who produced the tape, used to be Vyacheslav Chornovil’s press secretary and has now decided to resort to a dirty PR technique. As for the recording, I think it sounds authentic enough. It is graphic evidence that some Ukrainian politicians are using the election campaign to get even with political rivals, rather than solve ideological problems or protect the voters’ interests. In so doing, they are willing to side with people regardless of their stand and views. I would like to stress that the recording mentions not only Poroshenko and Moroz, but also Pliushch, who is generally considered a centrist and supposed to help achieve accord in the center of Ukraine’s political life. And now it looks as though he were involved with a conspiracy against one of Ukraine’s strongest political figures, Viktor Medvedchuk. A logical sequel would be to recall Ivan Pliushch’s contacts with other centrist leaders, particularly those at the head of the For a United Ukraine bloc.
About the voice on the tape, assumed to be that of Oleksandr Omelchenko. The way he talks, his style and manners are strongly reminiscent of a regular collective farm chairman or maybe a collective farm brigade leader. His expletives and yelling at the leader of Our Ukraine are evidence that Viktor Yushchenko is anything but an independent political figure, and that he shows manifest servile trends. I think that the recording — provided it’s genuine, of course — must be a cold shower for those believing Yushchenko to be a strong and uncompromising person. The tape leads one to understand that Viktor Yushchenko was actually involved in the ouster of Medvedchuk, despite his assurances to the contrary, and that his hasty retreat to Vinnytsia was an act of political cowardice.
Viktoriya PIDHORNA, political analyst, Center for Sociopolitical Projections:
What we have on hand is more a media event than a political one, or an example of using one of those dirty [campaign] technologies. I don’t think that anyone would have a ready answer if asked whether there was anything new about what happened, because all the facts have long been generally known. What counts is the manner in which these facts were delivered. A normal individual cannot help but wonder, what about me as an ordinary user of a mobile phone network, can I expect to have my privacy of telephone conversation, considering that I’m not as transparent as our politicians in their private phone exchanges? For what happened could well become standard practice in community as well as political life. People do feel that way.
Another aspect is playing at morality. There is the web site For Morality in Politics, and on it we read a transcript of the Omelchenko- Yushchenko talks. It is actually getting to be a traditional characteristic of the Ukrainian election campaign. I also regret to say that factors such as morals and ethic, meant to play an important role in political life, are in our case an implement of designing the so-called negative political strategies, as so eloquently evidenced by the People’s Rukh of Ukraine for Unity. [so-called Rukh III — Ed.]. I can’t think of a single positive step made by that party for the electorate’s benefit. To the opposite, yes. The voter needs positive acts attesting the actual interest being taken in that voter, rather than attempts to build one’s political image by discrediting one’s rival. This has never been a lasting strategy, and such political forces and parties are sure to fail in the end.
No, it’s not a second round of the cassette scandal. It’s purely technical. Unlike that scandal, rooted in the political crisis, what we have now has no political foundation, just a wiretap with its technical aspects. The cassette scandal was an external manifestation of an inner deep-going process. Now we are witness to a political force waging a struggle, using methods lacking in decency, always trying to discredit somebody.
Mykhailo POHREBYNSKY, director, Kyiv Center for Political Research and Conflict Studies:
I think that making the wiretap public knowledge has two aspects worth being considered. The ethical aspect of using what we know as compromising material in a political campaign is rather equivocal. Indeed, the electorate is supposed to know the truth about the nominee expected to represent it in the highest legislative body. On the other hand, using such dubious means as wiretapping lends a tangible cynical touch to the societal atmosphere. Assuming that we want to move in the direction of European political culture, it is hard to sum up what has happened in so many words. In Western political culture, an individual taking up politics, especially big-time politics, approaches every action, every statement from the standpoint of possible publication; he even denies himself certain things in terms of private life that exceed certain limits. And of course, holding back something being of political importance to the public will inevitably call into doubt that politician’s ability to reach a higher level of influence. Hence, the degree of cynicism and the amount of possible compromising materials are restricted in the West. Legal restrictions are not likely to solve this problem in Ukraine. Such compromising information will continue being disseminated outside the legal field. Also, we’ll let people of dubious reputation conceal truth from the citizenry and risk the domination of big-time politics by cynics. It should be noted that compromising information can be concealed truth and sheer lies. The latter is just another manifestation of cynicism and must be punished. As for truthful compromising materials, this is a debatable issue.
In our case, we are witness to one of the shadowy sides of Ukrainian politics. We were shown precisely how a major political event of the past year took place. What we saw on our home screens, of course, doesn’t explain everything that’s going on. A lot of politicians from various camps had something to say, showing that Viktor Medvedchuk’s retirement had no serious professional motivation, as alleged by the Right factions. Mr. Medvedchuk was an efficient parliamentary manager. It suffices to mention a number of codes enacted in a perfectly European spirit. True, there are questions remaining open, concerning the vote on the land code, but these can hardly be considered reason enough to oust the first vice speaker. If the published cassette transcripts are true, they explain people the underside of Ukrainian politics. Naturally, I can’t say that the recording is genuine, but I have my own opinion as to the voices on the tape, because I have known the people closely for a long time. My judgment is that the voices are very like the real ones. I also think that we are witness to how our politics is made. People must cast their ballots with their eyes wide open; they must know what our popular political figures are actually up to. What we heard on the tape was a construction firm manager giving a straw boss a dressing-down for being late delivering a truckload of bricks or leaving an invoice locked in the safe, so that an important project could be late for commissioning on November 7. Of course, everybody understands who the manager and straw boss are. This conversation is an eye-opener on certain characteristics of our active politicians.
We are further witness to the possibility of manipulating parliament from without. If what we heard on the tape is for real, it means that people other than lawmakers can influence voting in the parliament administratively. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m sure that such interference must be restricted or completely disallowed. It is completely obvious that the electorate’s interests are not the main subject of the conversation. They just decided to have a person deleted from the Verkhovna Rada presidium, and we could hear part of the plot. It is an episode, which isn’t likely to influence the voters willing to cast their votes for Viktor Yushchenko. However, those planning to support Our Ukraine for rational reasons, regarding Yushchenko as a strong personality and effective politician capable of taking over large projects, might have second thoughts. It is hard to predict the effect of this political technology, serving, of course, the interests of the People’s Rukh, including Dmytro Ponamarchuk. But their being interested in it is obvious; the worse off Our Ukraine, the better off Rukh.
Vyacheslav DARPINIANTS,
Natalia TROFIMOVA,
Mykhailo ZUBAR,
Ihor OSTROVSKY, The Day
INCIDENTALLY
Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, who is also head of the Yednist (Unity) Party, intends to refer the matter to a court of law, considering the unlawfulness of wiretapping and making public knowledge his private telephone conversation with Our Ukraine’s leader Viktor Yushchenko. At a press conference last Thursday in Kyiv, Mr. Omelchenko did not specify the respondent, but declared that there has been an open confrontation between SDPU(o) and Kyiv City Hall for the past three years. The mayor added, “There is nothing new about yesterday’s allegation concerning a ‘conspiracy’ between former Premier Yushchenko and Unity leader Omelchenko.” He stressed that the recording “eloquently expresses the general opinion of not only the Yednist and Solidarity fractions, as well as Our Ukraine, but also most other fractions, as evidenced by the vote (234).”
Mr. Omelchenko stated that, when talking to Viktor Yushchenko, he voiced his personal opinion concerning former Vice Speaker Viktor Medvedchuk, and was not going to deny it, reports Interfax Ukraine.
The Kyiv mayor noted that eavesdropping on conversation taking place over the telephone system is a violation of the law and is not tolerated in any country; he declared that he had had consultations with “reputed lawyers” Thursday, and that they considered it “a violation of human rights and criminal.”
Mr. Omelchenko drew a parallel with the cassette scandal. “Those who made and organized the wiretap confirmed that last year’s recordings in Ukraine were an attempt to undermine the Ukrainian president’s prestige and that of Ukraine as a whole in the international arena,” he stated, referring to the cassette scandal erupting after Major Mykola Melnychenko made public tapes allegedly attesting President Kuchma’s complicity in the disappearance of journalist Heorhy Gongadze.
“I understand that no one is protected against eavesdropping of family and top-level official telephone conversations in Ukraine. They bugged the president’s office last year, and that is considered a state crime. Now they bugged Omelchenko and Yushchenko. That was a civil service infraction,” the mayor said update.
