Ukrainian top Communist MP sees chance in a decade for political reform

• Published in: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political p. 1
• Format: Newsletter
• Language: English
• Published: London BBC Worldwide Limited 08.10.2003
• Subjects: Martynyuk, Adam; UKRAINE

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's constitutional reform plan accords well with the Communist Party's vision of a parliamentary republic, Adam Martynyuk, the unofficial number two in the Communist Party of Ukraine hierarchy, has said in a newspaper interview. Martynyuk said that his party had come up with two tough conditions for cooperation with the authorities over political reform - elections on a proportional party-list basis and a ban on faction swapping by MPs. Much of the interview was devoted to the problems arising from the possibility that the president will be elected by parliament, the CPU's tactical alliances with other parties and the possibility of a single presidential candidate emerging from the opposition. Martynyuk cast doubt on rumours that he might be offered the position of deputy speaker in parliament. The following is the text of Martynyuk's interview with Viktoriya Chyrva, published in Ukrainian newspaper Stolichnyye Novosti on 30 September under the title "Adam Martynyuk: 'We weren't conniving with the authorities. It's just that our interests coincided'"; subheadings have been inserted editorially: [Martynyuk] Our Ukraine has recently begun to show some interest and to step up negotiations, since they realize that, if they don't, they'll be left out in the cold. As regards the "Three" [the Communists, the Socialists and the populist Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc], we are discharging our obligations. Of course, there are questions on the ideological level. For example, no particular liking can appear between Communists and a part of the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, the Sobor party. Despite that, the "Three" have kept going for more than a year, although we have not always been supported by OU. For instance, we tried to carry out a common policy of mass action. After all, we were united by a common misfortune - the current regime, which must be removed from power. You know the attitude that the OU bloc adopted towards that. At the actions that took place in Kiev, Our Ukrainians just registered their presence, but played no active part in them. Now, though, OU is trying to force an alliance on us. Previously they used to look down on us, but now the situation has changed. We shall keep trying to coordinate our efforts, particularly as far as the draft law is concerned.