Ukrainian politicians were proud of their non-publicity. And they blamed their Russian colleagues for the incessant scandals. Until it came to the elections... 28-year-old resident of Zaporozhye Elena Solod, running for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,...

Ukrainian politicians were proud of their non-publicity. And they blamed their Russian colleagues for the incessant scandals. Until it comes down to elections...

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Olena Solod, a year-old resident of Zaporozhye, who is running for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, used the airtime granted to her by law on local television to strip naked in front of the camera. This show was approved by her potential voters. “At least they showed something interesting,” young people in Zaporozhye commented on the pre-election striptease.

When TV series are on, politicians are silent

Similar extravagant PR techniques should be borrowed by reputable Ukrainian politicians. All of them, dressed in the same costumes, speaking the same “state” language (you can’t call it Ukrainian), until recently appeared before the viewer as sort of clone brothers. To understand their true relationship, rife with secret intrigues and conflicts, the average Ukrainian had to try to master the huge articles in special political newspapers.

Since it was a burden for the average Ukrainian to do this, he read numerous tabloids. Scrolling through the front pages, where before him they tried to convey the opinion of the hosts on topical issues in an easily digestible (according to journalists) form, the average Ukrainian immersed himself in fascinating reading of crime stories and gossip from the life of stars (mainly world and Russian).

Until recently, television news was limited to three to five minutes. Kuchma met with someone, the owner of the channel gave a press conference. All. Further review of international news and sports.

Ukrainian politicians were proud of their non-publicity. Officials in streamlined tabloid interviews chided Russia for incessant scandals and shaking dirty laundry. And here we are, they say, this is not.

The authorities and the people in the country led an absolutely self-sufficient existence until the problem of a change of power was ripe. The upcoming parliamentary elections will become a kind of rehearsal for the presidential elections. In a little over two years, Kuchma's eight-year rule will end, and it is not yet clear whether the future president will become a purely castling figure, a more or less acceptable successor, or a revolution will occur. So to speak, the Yugoslav version.

It was then that they remembered the people, that is, the electorate. And the situation with him over the years of non-publicity was launched. What can distract the layman from the bust of a pop diva or a fresh corpse? Striptease only.

Andersen's fairy tale in Ukrainian translation

Naturally, no one wants to undress on their own. It is much more pleasant to expose a political opponent in front of the public. And today a group of comrades is trying to tear off the last fig leaf from the body of the incumbent president.

We are talking about an attempt to revive the so-called "cassette scandal". The week before last, the Verkhovna Rada heard information from the parliamentary investigative commission on the case of the deceased journalist Georgy Gongadze.

The human aspect of the tragedy is no longer of interest to anyone in Ukraine. The found body has not yet been buried and has not been finally identified. But what does it matter if in America an examination of the famous recordings made in the president's office was carried out. On the tapes, Leonid Kuchma, swearing, gives orders to falsify the election results, accepts huge bribes, and discusses dubious deals. But most importantly, according to the deputies-investigators, it was Kuchma who gave the order to kill Gongadze, as well as to beat one of their colleagues.

From the very beginning, no one in Ukraine doubted the authenticity of the tapes, which was confirmed by American experts so opportunely for the elections. The problem is different: their content does not shock anyone.

At the very beginning of the “cassette scandal”, a poll of Kiev residents showed that this is how they imagined the current government. The province showed no particular interest in the revelations, although many opposition regional newspapers published excerpts from the transcripts.

The one who wrote the script for the "cassette scandal" counted on the European public, which respects the law and the rights of the individual. Ukraine is no different. Yes, there were crowds of demonstrators in Kyiv, but they consisted mainly of students brought from the western regions. Unfortunately for the opposition, the facts were confirmed that some participants in the anti-presidential actions received stipends from the organizers.

Characteristically, in parallel with the anti-Kuchma unrest, a wave of thousands of rallies took place in Ukraine. The workers protested against the proportional electoral system. Naturally, only administrative resources could force people to do this in the cold. Something else is more important. The authorities did not even bother to respond symmetrically to the intrigues of the opposition. Therefore, the people were gathered under a political science slogan that was incomprehensible to them.

Back then, the non-publicity cherished by the Ukrainian regime paid dividends. She works for Kuchma today. The tale about the naked king in the Ukrainian translation looks like this: the opposition, straining, shouts: “But the king is naked!”, but the people do not want to hear these cries. Why didn't he see the king?

The "effectiveness" of the president's criticism is demonstrated today by the ratings of the two most notorious oppositionists, Oleksandr Moroz and Yulia Tymoshenko. Criticism of Kuchma does not allow them to cross the 4% barrier established by law yet. That is, their blocs most likely will not break through into the Rada.

Yushchenko repeated the feat of Elena Solod against his will

Viktor Yushchenko became the second object of undressing after Kuchma. He (more precisely, “a person who looks like him”) was filmed in a very Russian way in a bathhouse with girls. Vulgar political science presents Yushchenko as the darling of nationalists and the United States. Therefore, the conclusion about the "hand of Moscow" suggests itself.

But a politician who does not speak Russian well is not loved not only in the Mother See. Various sociological surveys attribute the Yushchenko bloc the most impressive rating (approximately 20%). So competitors regard him as a strong opponent.

The right-wing press writes a lot about the charisma of the former Ukrainian prime minister. The author of these lines has long tried to consider this very charisma in slurred television interviews. To no avail.

If you are not convinced by personal impressions, there are facts. Yushchenko was afraid to speak out against Kuchma during the "cassette scandal". He even signed a letter condemning anti-presidential speeches. But it did not help. With little to no explanation, his otherwise successful government was fired. Everyone understood why: the opposition, which had raged for several months, openly declared its sympathies for Yushchenko.

But even an unfair dismissal did not force the ex-premier to make harsh statements.

Today Yushchenko complains that he is being pressed by the administrative resources, but at the same time he does not dare to criticize the president. He speaks Russian poorly, and Ukrainian is unclear.

A month ago, an attempt was made to discredit the ex-premier by publishing a transcript of his talks with Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko. The politicians discussed the technology of eliminating Viktor Medvedchuk's political opponent. He was removed from the post of vice-speaker. In the second "cassette scandal", as in the first, it is not the content that strikes, but the form. The impulsive mayor of Kiev yells obscenities at the owner of the highest rating in the country, and he only agrees. That's such charisma.

Surprisingly, Yushchenko's popularity did not hurt much. (Obviously, the latest scandal will not affect her either. It turned out that the daughter of the politician was educated at the expense of the loudly ruined bank "Ukraine". Earlier newspapers wrote that Yushchenko directly influenced the policy of this financial structure.)

boomerang effect

This publication deliberately omitted all the complex and controversial aspects of the Ukrainian elections: economic, political, geopolitical. This is an attempt to present the future electoral show in a somewhat idealized form - as the will of the people.

Even if we discard administrative resources, US support, sponsors' money, Yushchenko's rating will still be impressive. What is the secret of the popularity of this weak, unconvincing and inert

language politician? Isn't the boomerang effect working against the system so lovingly built by Kuchma - the system of non-public politics?

Today this system deliberately self-destructs. By the will of fate and the opposition, the president was under an x-ray. He was seen not only without clothes, without skin. Kuchma today is public involuntarily.

His retinue, sensing the imminent change of scenery, began to move their elbows. No matter how bad Russia was with its scandals and showdowns, but at a turning point in history, Ukrainian politicians turned to it. The most influential oligarchs approached the elections with a solid media resource (Ukraine has never seen such an on-air attack on the voter). Add to this newspapers, the Internet and, of course, teams of Russian political technologists.

Politicum suddenly became bright from gray. Everyone wanted to be public, memorable, recognizable.

Perhaps, by overdoing it, they simply frightened the electorate. And the Ukrainian layman was drawn to the gray, inexpressive Yushchenko, who was called the messiah in the press. When he performs, you think: “God, why don’t image makers work with him? Where is his team spending money?

And you look at his ratings and ask yourself the question: “And who is so smart that he unraveled the secret of the incomprehensible hohlyatsky soul?”