"Time" to the exit

The engine of the revolution has exhausted the resource

Tens of thousands of people in the square require honest elections-this picture of 5 years ago is no longer possible in Ukraine. What leaves with the era of Viktor Yushchenko - The New Times thought
People in orange scarves no longer go outside. In 2010, they chose to stay at home. The symbols of his reign are also leaving Viktor Yushchenko, including the “time” movement, which was the 2004 event engine. And if Yushchenko still had the chances of returning the “locomotive of the revolution”, now this is not even necessary to dream about it.

"No enthusiasm"
“During the revolution, I was a student. I learned that some student detachments are being created to protect honest elections, I went to meet in the Mogilyanka.

* * Kiev-Mogilyansk Academy is one of the main educational institutions of Ukraine. We were sincerely ready to go out in the square and defend our freedom, ”recalls the activist of the Orange Revolution Maria Stern from Kyiv. When asked why she has moved away from politics now, she answers instantly: “Not that. I do not feel the sincerity of the enthusiasm that was five years ago. Just go to the rally for the ideals of the Maidan, I am ready for Yushchenko, but I will not support the parties. "

The sunset of one of the main "orange" symbols did not immediately begin. In 2005, on the basis of the "Pore" the party of the same name was created, which many political scientists predicted success in the elections. The party led an aggressive election campaign, but squabbles and mutual misunderstanding appeared even then. “We collected idealists at the“ time ”. And then, at the expense of these idealists, adventurers climbed into politics, who covered themselves with a loud name of the movement, ”says Mikhail Svistovich, one of the founders of the“ Pore ”.

The rally of Yanukovych’s supporters at the CEC building did not resemble the folk performances of the “Orange Revolution”

The leapshack of leaders

The "time" did not go through the first electoral test. In the 2006 parliamentary elections, only 1.47% of voters voted in Blok with the Party of Reform and Order. After that, Vladislav Kaskiv left the leader’s post, and Yevgeny Zolotarev headed the “time”. “Transformation into a party is already agony“ pores ”. We can say that the “time” itself disappeared after we achieved our goal - we achieved honest elections in 2004, ”says Zolotarev, who led the party in 2006-2007. It was worse further: the founders of the party quarreled among themselves on the eve of the early parliamentary elections of 2007. The reason for this was support by the leadership of the “pores” of the newly created movement “People’s Self -Defense” by the current Minister of the Interior Yuri Lutsenko. The heads of regional organizations gathered in Kyiv and quickly shifted the party leadership led by Zolotarev, returning Vladislav Kaskiv. “Among the 12 apostles there will always be Judas,” one of the creators of “Pore”, and now the deputy of the Borispol City Council, Yaroslav Godunok, speaks harshly about his former one -party workers of Kaskiv. On the eve of the 2007 parliamentary elections, Godunok tried to lead the party and shift Kaskiv with a scandal. The “pore” leadership by that time was already entering one electoral block with the party of Viktor Yushchenko “Our Ukraine”, and Godunok tried to prevent this. Together with his supporters, he gathered an extraordinary party congress at the Express Middle Hotel. The participants in the Congress with Paphos swore in fidelity to the ideals of the Maidan, after which they went through the city center to the building of the Central Election Commission to declare: they are the real “time”. Vladislav Kaskiv eventually regained his leadership in the organization and became, following the election results, the only Verkhovna Rada deputy in the history of the “pores”.

The revolution has no end

The “time” has not disappeared, people continue to believe in the ideals of the Maidan, even if they are nominally not members of the party, ”Godunok says confidently. "Time" exists! In Lviv, Ternopol, Ivano-Frankivsk, we are very active, ”says Vladimir Kvurt, the current deputy mayor of Lviv, sitting in a Kiev cafe over a cup of coffee. He just returned from a meeting of the party’s political council. “In all mistakes, we were the most active during the revolution, and after that it became a source of new personnel: the head of the regional council of Ternopol Yuri Chizhmar, deputy mayor of Odessa Andrei Yusov, I am all the immigrants from the“ pore ”. We have deputies in city and regional councils. This is what was said about the revolution - a new generation came to power! ” - Kvurt is sure. However, he immediately admits: “I think that on the basis of“ pores ”it is necessary to create a wide social movement, perhaps a block of democratic forces, maybe something else. And from the name, no matter how sad it is, you can refuse. ”
“I do not want to be a veteran,” says another former leader of the “pores” Evgeny Zolotarev, who now spends most of his free time in the village, dedicating it to fishing. “Political corpses do not need to be reanimated, we must only look forward. The future is behind public organizations, and not parties with their functionaries. But I do not regret anything. We did our job, ”Zolotarev is sure.
In November 2004, the “time” was one of the first to call Ukrainians to reach the main square of the country - the Maidan of Nezalevniy - and support Viktor Yushchenko. On February 9, 2010, after the second round of the presidential election, the Pore Polit -Fireplane issued a completely different appeal: “The Civil Party“ Time ”says that the organization of mass public rallies discredits Ukraine in the eyes of the international community,” the statement said. “The end of the“ pore ”is not the end of the revolution,” Maria Stern is convinced. Time will tell which of them is right.