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"The Sunday Telegraph": "Ousted PM eyes revenge as Orange Revolution sours"
20.03.2006, 11:46
"The Sunday Telegraph", Nick Holdsworth
Fifteen months after he was denied high office by the youthful protesters of Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Viktor Yanukovich is on the brink of an extraordinary comeback.
The pro-Moscow candidate, whose presidential ambitions were dashed after the disputed December 2004 poll, scents victory in the parliamentary elections in two weeks. Arguing that Ukraine made a terrible mistake by turning its back on its traditional ally, Russia, to woo the European Union, his Party of the Regions looks set to win the most seats – making him the king-maker in an expected new coalition government.
Mr Yanukovich, who was acting prime minister from November 2002 until December 2004, is too cautious to lay claim openly to the office again, but his message is clear: he is back.
"We aim to get power and overcome Ukraine's crisis and stabilise the country with a team of able and talented people," he said at his campaign headquarters, a 19th-century mansion in the Ukrainian capital.
In a swipe at President Victor Yushchenko, who seeks links with the EU and Nato, he said: "The government talks about European integration and the benefits that it will bring at a time when many people in Ukraine wonder why their standards of living are deteriorating. The country is living in a state of permanent crisis."
Joining Nato would be impossible, he added, because it would require a referendum – and "80 per cent of Ukrainians are opposed".
Looking every inch the professional politician, with his glowing tan and discreet blue suit, Mr Yanukovich, 55, exuded confidence and good humour – no longer the anxious figure embattled by Orange revolutionaries.
"Those people had no reasons to block the government offices," he said. "Actually, they blocked the life of the country." He insists the revolution was little more than a coup d'etat. "That was a well-prepared and implemented scenario. It was a seizure of power."
Since the revolution, not all has gone smoothly for President Yuschenko. The sympathy aroused by an attempt by pro-Russian opponents to poison him waned as Russia engineered a confrontation over gas supplies and the EU appeared lukewarm about possible Ukrainian membership.
Last autumn President Yuschenko sacked his prime minister, Yulia Timoshenko, a partner in the revolution, after politically damaging bickering. Some supporters of the revolution now feel disappointed by his failure to live up to his promises – a further boost to Mr Yanukovich's first steps back towards power.
(12/03/2006) | |
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