This is Valentyn Nalyvaichenko’s first term as an MP, despite a rich experience of careers, mostly in the executive. What does he think of “job placements” in parliament? How will parliamentary committees be distributed? What is the new Cabinet up to? Why Yanukovych’s visit to Moscow was postponed? What is the opposition planning to do if the Customs Union agreement is signed? Look for the answers in The Day’s interview with our guest Valentyn NALYVAICHENKO, MP for the UDAR.
“WE DO NOT LIKE WHEN THE PARTY OF REGIONS BREAKS THE LAW, BUT STREET FIGHTS IN PARLIAMENT WE LIKE EVEN LESS”
On the very first days after the opening of the new parliament our MPs made another martial arts show. Do you approve of the power method in settling issues?
“We are adult and responsible people. We do not like when the Party of Regions breaks the law, but street fights in parliament we like even less. This is a disgrace to the title of Member of Parliament. Our voters sent us here to work, not to excel at pushing, punching, or snatching buttons off opponents’ shirts. The Verkhovna Rada is a place for discussion, respect for the parliamentary minority, and for voting in person. My attitude to fighting is negative, be it at school, on the street, or in the parliament. However, we retain the right to block the platform to prevent blatant violations of law.
“Our mission is to restore political power to the parliament. We must put an end to the opposition’s impotence, and the impotence of the legislative branch as a whole.”
Recently the European Parliament appealed to Ukraine’s democratic forces asking them to refrain from cooperation with the Freedom Party. How are you going to respond to this?
“We respect the European Parliament’s resolutions, and those of other reputable international organizations. On the other hand, cooperation and interaction of opposition forces is one of the crucial elements of restoring parliamentarism in Ukraine. We expect that our partners in the opposition will respect all, without displaying xenophobia or disregard of other nations, races, etc. This is a thing of the past. Some are trying to split Ukraine geographically, into the West and the East, others, nationally or ethnically. This results in new conflicts, which debilitate the country.”
By the way, MEPs would not support an analogical appeal, to refrain from collaboration with communists.
“Here I would like to remind that there exists an OSCE resolution of 2009, which equates Nazism and Communism. Moreover, it recommends to all OSCE nations (including Ukraine) not to promote these antihuman ideologies – for instance, to ban them from school curricula. But the incumbent regime continues its flirtation with the communists, virtually including them in the parliamentary majority and granting offices to them. Moreover, the Communist Party of Ukraine has enough cynicism to claim half of the opposition’s quotas for parliamentary committees.”
Do you think Russia was interested in Freedom being mentioned in this resolution?
“Every ill-wisher is interested in a weak Ukraine. No political force in Ukraine must provide reasons for this. It is clear that any provocations within Ukraine will be used against it.”
“THIS IS A SORT OF SOME ABSURD KHANATE, WITH THE LEVERAGE, BUDGET, AND EVERYTHING ELSE DEPENDING ON THE WHIM OF A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL IN A CERTAIN OFFICE”
Commentators are more and more often saying that due to its radical (although not always effective) actions, the Freedom Party is gradually taking up the niche of Ukraine’s major opposition force. What do you have to say to this?
“The UDAR attaches little value to showy effects. What matters for us is Ukraine’s European future, counteracting corruption, and lustration of the government. We strive for committed legislative activity, rather than building a public image. This is what we started working in the Rada with. Besides the draft law on reducing various fringe benefits, we have already registered other drafts, which are supposed to solve these problems. Why doesn’t the Party of Regions do this? Why haven’t they still presented the new Cabinet of Ministers?”
Why, indeed?
“Because the government is irresponsible. Even now the ‘new old’ Prime Minister Azarov, voted in by the Regionals and communists, has not explained how the Cabinet is going to respond to the financial and economic crisis. There are no discussions, no reports. How is he going to change the structure of the government, instead of just replacing a name of one crony from Donetsk with another one’s, this time from Luhansk? Azarov’s Soviet-style administration system is hopelessly obsolete, but they still fail to realize it. What matters for them is placing their own men at the key posts and continuing to arbitrarily rule the country. This is a sort of some absurd khanate, with the leverage, budget, and everything else depending on the whim of a certain individual in a certain office. Modern countries are busy developing infrastructure, investing in new jobs and in the national industry. Ukraine’s regime pretends that the major issue today is a name of that or another bureaucrat.”
“COMMUNISTS IN THE PRESIDIUM? THIS IS POLITICAL CORRUPTION, WHICH SHOULD BECOME THE SUBJECT OF PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATION”
Let’s come back to parliament. What do you think of the very procedure of voting in the members of the current Verkhovna Rada Presidium?
“Instead of picking out names, our party proposed first of all to hear the report of the previous parliament, and approve of the criteria to define candidates for the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, the vice-speakers, the prime minister, and ministers. We proposed the following criteria: 1) being not implicated in corruption and an obligatory written declaration of absence of any offshore banking account in the candidate’s name and in the names of his family members, even if this requires international inspection; 2) being not implicated in infringement on free speech and human rights; 3) respect for parliamentarism and for each individual MP.”
But these criteria were not accepted, were they?
“The fearful majority just listened and would not even talk about it. For them the main thing is having the right guy appointed. It is a vicious circle, but it must be broken. Imposing such criteria would become a premise for lustration of the government.”
Do you think Rybak’s appointment is a compromise settlement?
“If he takes the opposition’s interests into account, instead of just working for one party. I would refrain from personal assessment now. But I have questions to him as to the candidate, who ought to have been tested for the abovementioned criteria.”
How do you take the fact that the new presidium again includes a communist (this time Ihor Kalietnik was elected first vice-speaker)?
“Of course this should not have happened. Communists have for the umpteenth time betrayed their voters. This is political corruption, which by the way should become the subject of parliamentary investigation.”
By the way, what can you say about your candidacy as the first vice-speaker?
“There is no secret there. My nomination allowed to voice our views on anti-corruption criteria for the top posts in the Verkhovna Rada. We will come again and again to the theses which I declared in my speech, I promise you that.”
So, the UDAR was fighting for the vice-speaker’s post, which eventually was given to Roman Koshulynsky from Freedom?
“This political force had a wish to get this post. But it should be remembered that getting a post, one also gets responsibility with it. Proceeding from the fact that we believe in honest cooperation in the opposition camp, we decided to support Koshulynsky. We had no doubts or wrangling over that. But there are things which I demand of my colleagues from the opposition camp with regards to this appointment. We expect that the vice-speaker will be doing his best to promote laws which are really fundamental for Ukraine. For example, the law on acknowledgement of the unity of all Ukrainian state formations, on the status of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Voters’ mandate should be carried out. If this is done, then we will know that it was not in vain that we voted for a representative of Freedom.”
“TODAY, REPRESENTATIVES OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT STRUCTURES COVER WHOLE FURNITURE NETWORKS THAT DEAL IN ILLEGAL ALCOHOL PRODUCTION”
The whole case of throwing the Tabalov family out of the session hall was very dramatic and showing. Who do you think should bear more responsibility: people who got quotas in Fatherland, or the leaders who accepted them?
“I am convinced that MPs should bear personal legal liability. But at the same time, we need to make it legislatively possible to withdraw turncoats. People that change their political views, fool electors, do not vote in person, should be deprived of the people’s deputy status. We have never accepted traitors and we are never going to work with them. Too much slander was directed at our party, our ill-wishers even calculated the number of future turncoats in UDAR. But we demonstrate unity and eagerness to work productively.”
Procrastination in creation of parliamentary committees is another demonstrative situation. What is the problem? Is the division of sectors between the government and the opposition known already? Who will head them?
“I do not participate in these negotiations, committee positions are of no importance to me. Vitalii Kovalchuk, head of the campaign headquarters, was delegated to participate in the negotiations. He is a modern and talented manager. I know that UDAR carries out no backstage negotiations and it is ready to work in any field. Our staff’s potential allows to head any committee. We have a team of young professionals. Oksana Prodan is a person who really knows how to improve life for small and medium businesses and make economy more liberal. Pavlo Rozenko is an expert in social security with European approach. Viktor Pynzenyk is a high-level expert in finance and budget matters. Serhii Kaplin is a talented representative of Poltava oblast who is versed in local self-government and regional issues. Olha Belkova is expert in education development and innovative startup projects that involve the use of Internet and mobile technologies. Each one of us is a self-sufficient person. Our common goal is to implement our knowledge and beliefs in laws.”
In order to implement the knowledge, mechanisms are needed. What committees does UDAR aspire to achieve in the Verkhovna Rada?
“If we are talking about mechanisms, firstly, we are looking for more votes. It is known that some majoritarian MPs have joined us already. Secondly, UDAR will consolidate cooperation with non-parliamentary movements and organizations.
“Our primary task is fighting corruption. And in this context, for example, the main parliamentary committee has to finally retake its controlling functions over law-enforcement bodies in order to cleanse the government of corruptionists, which are so numerous. Today, representatives of law-enforcement structures cover whole furniture networks that deal in illegal alcohol production.”
In your recent column “Radio Freedom” you wrote that “Ukraine needs a fundamentally new structure: the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.” I would like to remind that in early 2000s, the then secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Yevhen Marchuk offered to create the National Investigation Bureau of Ukraine, which, among other things, would also investigate corruption crimes. But the then president Leonid Kuchma did not support the idea. Have you studied previous ideas, projects, and experience in this area?
“If corrupt rulers of the country had not prevented Yevhen Marchuk from creating such institution, the country would have been able to avoid numerous corruption crimes. I have not just studied previous experience, I know it well. I know what price Ukrainians have paid for corrupt officials. It was not Kuchma and Medvedchuk who paid back then, no, these two became billionaires. And this happened because they did not let the Bureau to be created.
“We have come to the Verkhovna Rada to realize our anti-corruption beliefs in practice. There will be no development until we stop embezzlement of state budget on the highest levels of government. Corruption destroys everything. I really hope we will keep in touch with Yevhen Marchuk in order to receive more advice on the subject and finally create the Bureau one day.
“For Vitali Klitschko and UDAR Party, which I represent, fighting corruption is the crucial factor in the process of creation of new Ukraine. We think that a significant decrease of the number of bureaucrats and their functions is required.
“We are going to create the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (ACB), and this institution is going to report directly to the parliament. The ACB has to be positioned beyond the system of executive branch of government and become the only institution that would fight corruption in Ukraine. It must be controlled by the public.
“The management of the ACB, its Supervisory Board should include three representatives from anti-corruption NGOs, from journalists, and the ACB officials. I wish a powerful anti-corruption social movement would appear in Ukraine. The parliament has to finally listen to people who are ready to fight for their rights.”
