Perhaps Viktor Medvedchuk will try his luck in the presidential race
By Dmytro SKRIABIN, The Day
Verkhovna Rada Deputy Speaker Viktor Medvedchuk, who is famous for his
verbal caution and points to his special attitude towards the Speaker and,
even more so, the President, produced last week a host of statements which
can be considered a call for his own "succession to the throne."
First, Mr. Medvedchuk has once again offered the "united" shoulder of
his party to Leonid Kuchma by stating that President of Ukraine Leonid
Kuchma is the Left's candidate for the next presidential elections. Anatoly
Matviyenko "meant but was ashamed (? - Ed.) to say something different:
according to his program, the current head of the state is a Social Democrat."
According to Viktor Medvedchuk, "Mr. Matviyenko did not want to say this
in order not to give political dividends to another political force competing
with the NDP," specifically, the United Social Democrats because this "does
not add to the political weight of his party," UNIAN reports.
Second, Mr. Medvedchuk (despite Kuchma's warning) has commented rather
harshly on NBU performance.
Third, he has made statements on issues relating to internal and foreign
policies. Giving the number of such statements made during one press conference
and, most important, in an authoritative tone only the Speaker and President
had ventured before, it might be inferred that Viktor Medvedchuk would
not mind vying for the highest public post as early as this year.
This possibility is confirmed by a news item in Zakon i Biznes
(Law and Business) newspaper (considered to be close to Medvedchuk) to
the effect that the author would not be surprised if "the head of the state
named as his successor" "a young politician." The argumentation here is
especially interesting: "It was Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko that first
mentioned the possibility of a young politician appearing among the presidential
candidates... Without doubt, the Speaker, as much as the President, is
one of the best informed politicians in this country. He is quite aware
of the difficult position the head of the state is in, for the situation
in economy, especially the social sphere obviously cannot be improved before
the elections. In addition, it is well known that the results of sociological
polls conducted by order of the Presidential Administration... promise
nothing good for Leonid Kuchma. Thus, we should not rule out the following
scenario: the head of the state withdraws from the presidential race and
names a young politician his successor."
Virtually nobody has disputed earlier the version according to which
SDPU(u) support of Kuchma in this election automatically means the green
light for party leader Medvedchuk in the next (if Kuchma wins, of course).
And yet, nominating Medvedchuk in this presidential campaign is another
possible scenario.
At least, Viktor Medvedchuk has already laid the cornerstone of his
next possible edifice: if, according to Medvedchuk, Leonid Kuchma is a
Social Democrat, then the latter should not at all be ashamed to give up
his place in the presidential campaign to his comrade-in-convictions, the
chairman of the SDPU(u).
Apparently, such plan would look especially attractive if Medvedchuk's
party comrade Hryhory Surkis were elected mayor of Kyiv.
