“Elections in Ukraine will be in the fall”

In an interview with Vremya Novostei, Mikhail CHECHETOV, deputy head of the Party of Regions faction in the Rada, comments on the situation in Ukraine.

— How should the prime minister’s concession on the issue of holding early elections be assessed as a victory or a defeat?

- In this situation, neither the president nor the prime minister lost or won. Ukraine won .

— Viktor Yushchenko said that on May 8-9 the Rada could agree on a package of bills that would unblock the holding of early elections . How realistic is this, in your opinion?

- The working group formed by the president and prime minister on this issue must do everything possible to formalize a political compromise: to determine legislative acts that will allow the political process to be introduced into the legal field. The procedure for early elections must be brought into compliance with the law. After all, the election law is designed for a cycle of four to six months to prepare for them, while early elections are proposed to be held in a “truncated” time period - up to two months. It is necessary to correct the voter lists, cross out the “dead souls” and add 18-year-old people who received passports. Up to 15% of our voters in March 2006 were unable to vote due to incorrect translation of their last names from Russian to Ukrainian. It is important to ensure the neutrality of the judiciary so that it cannot be used to gain additional percentages of votes during elections. In short, elections must be fair.

-- Yulia Tymoshenko, who is a member of the working group, insists on introducing a system associated with an imperative mandate (a legislative ban on moving from faction to faction). Actually, Yushchenko dissolved the Rada due to the outflow of “orange” deputies into the coalition majority.

-- The law on an imperative mandate may be adopted, although the Party of Regions is not its supporter. We adhere to the European point of view - parties should not make deputies serfs.

- The compromise consists of two parts: the first is related to elections, the second is related to the distribution of power. Will both parts of the package be passed before the elections?

- This issue will be decided by the working group, as well as the country's leaders.

-- Will the Party of Regions vote for the bills agreed upon by the working group as a package in order to speed up the process and complete it within a couple of days, as the president proposes?

-- The Party of Regions believes that laws should not be voted on as a package, but as they are ready. During the presidential elections of 2004, the Rada, in order to lead the country out of the crisis, voted in a package for only two laws - on the third round of elections and on political reform. Now the “orange” are questioning the quality of the law on political reform, demanding its abolition. At the same time, we are now being offered to adopt a package of not two, but eight or nine laws. In general, the “orange” pursue a policy of “double” standards. We are not interested in the speed of the process, but in its quality.

— When, according to your forecasts, will early elections take place - in summer or autumn? Is it true that the prime minister has already given the go-ahead for elections in the summer?

- I don’t know such information. I think the elections will be in the fall to ensure maximum turnout. After all, in the summer people go on vacation.

-- The Prime Minister and the Party of Regions agreed to hold early elections. What will you get in return?

- The Party of Regions, as a party of the European type, thinks about the country, and does not bargain for the sake of interests. A prolonged crisis could lead to political instability and a decline in economic indicators and social standards. We couldn't allow this to happen.

— “Orange” does not hide the fact that they intend to win the parliamentary elections. Is the Party of Regions ready to give up its positions?

- They stole our victory in the 2004 presidential elections, and they want to steal it now, after the parliamentary elections, which were recognized as the most fair in the history of Ukraine. I have no doubt that the Party of Regions will win whenever the elections take place - in the summer or autumn. We will become the core of the ruling coalition.

Interviewed by Svetlana STEPANENKO, Kyiv