The leader of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Organisation of the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland and a candidate for People's Deputy on the party list Valerii Krainii — a politician with many years' experience. OPORA spoke with the first person of the Fatherland in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and his relationship with Tariel Vasadze, political defectors, and future results of the parliamentary elections.
– Valerii Hryhorovych what do you think of the crossover of the Mayor of Zaporizhzhia Oleksandr Sin from the YTB to the Party of Regions? How can this affect his relationship with the opposition?
– I have believed Oleksandr Sin is one of the strongest economists. This person's knowledge of the economy is more than perfect. It was a mistake to dismiss Mr Sin from the office of the Deputy Head of the Oblast State Administration. For such experienced people should work for the economy of Zaporizhzhia region and the country. Those who held this office after Mr Sin were weaker than Oleksandr Chensanovych. Well, some time after his dismissal, Mr Sin said he was ready to cooperate with the Fatherland, therefore it was decided to elect him to the Head of Zaporizhzhia City Organisation.
Under such circumstances, together with Mr Sin, we were preparing for the election. Just before the local elections, we were talking about the nomination of Mr Sin as a candidate for the office of the Mayor of Zaporizhzhia, and came to the respective decision afterwards. I'm convinced that in the last year election, a range of factors worked out — the main of them were political opportunities of the YTB and the potential of Oleksandr Sin himself.
Later, Mr Sin's crossover to the party in power took place. My attitude to this fact is definitely negative. In my life, I saw many crossovers, and very few of them were really worth it. The reaction of the party members was uneasy — people were in a state of shock. Still, time passed, we got over that event, and keep working within the opposition.
–The scope of your political activity covers the territory of both Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. Why did you decide to be nominated on the party list not in the single-mandate district?
– When considering possible candidates for nomination, the leaders of oblast party organisations believed that we had to be responsible for all the 9 party districts. When I see people personally I don't identify their affiliation to one of the districts deliberately. I have never asked which number I will be given on the list, and negotiated with no one.
After the headquarters were formed and the union with the Front for Change took place, Kyiv came to a decision independently. According to this decision, I have taken charge of the election campaign of the opposition, and the leader of the Front for Change — of the election headquarters. The head of the headquarters and his deputy went round the whole oblast in two weeks. They have formed headquarters, planned activities, and started campaigning work. In some oblasts of Ukraine, I've heard of complex relationship with the representatives of the Fatherland and the Front for Change but this matter wasn't of concern of the representatives of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. We have approached the case tolerantly realising that conflicts won't advance the matter. First, you have to create a favourable atmosphere in the oblast headquarters to spread humanity and understanding to subordinate headquarters as well. I have personally prohibited my employees to criticise members of other parties — this was our agreement before the election. The tension of this period for us.passed very quickly.
– Some media blame you for being on friendly terms with Tariel Vasadze. Could please comment on that?
– I met Tariel Vasadze when I was the Deputy Director of Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant. He was then one of the managers of the company. I gave 37 years of my life to ZAZ. It was Mr Vasadze whom I learned from how to respect staff and build a business. And regarding the crossover of Tariel Shakrovych to the Party of Regions — this is the problem of our country. Smart people who have their own business often become hostages of political arrangements. Although, theoretically, they should be either above politics or out of it. Businessmen should run their business and not be afraid of pressure.
Journalists often ask me about my political views. So — they are clear and fundamental. And you can make sure of this yourself by tracing my political career and loyalty to one political ideology.
– Do you communicate with representatives of the party in power?
– Ideologically, we differ very much. I support the European vector. This is what we must do for our children and grandchildren. Since in Europe moral and economic values are quite different. And the Party of Regions in its mentality remains in the 80s.
Regarding the relations with representatives of the PR, many representatives of this party in Zaporizhzhia Oblast are the people whom I have spent my whole life with. For instance, the candidates for People's Deputy Yaroslav Sukhyi and Valerii Baranov are my friends. Ideologically, we are on the opposite sides but personal relationships have lasted decades. Furthermore, in Verkhovna Rada it often happens that we help each other. For example, Mr Sukhyi can ask me to support the programme for aviation building, and I turned to him for support when there was a working group for mechanical engineering.
– Will the election 2012 be critical for the country?
– Unfortunately, no. Our main problem is the election process itself. If there is fraud we will respond to it according to the law and with the help of observers. With the presence of international observers, I will beg them to be next to me. Furthermore, we have office equipment, experienced lawyers, and mobile groups that will travel around Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
–The government did find a billion of hryvnias for cameras for polling stations. Will cameras help the election be more democratic?
– Actually, cameras are not that expensive. However, they work only with a very expensive server displaying video and audio. This is not practical since cameras will be installed at polling station, and they will only record people coming.
I didn't vote for this bill. This is millions of hryvnias wasted. I don't know why we need those cameras there. Indeed, with their help, the number of people who came to vote to a polling station can be counted. Another scenario is to intimidate people to vote 'properly'... But this is all nonsense. The law doesn't provide for the installation of cameras in booths; cameras also shall not record the counting process. However, they are needed directly during this process. Unfortunately, cameras won't increase the percentage of transparency of the election.
– What do you think of the mixed voting system?
– I think it is worse that the previous. Probably most of people residing in Ukraine and being below poverty limit are happy with the mixed system — because candidates give away things, promise things. Although, if we are heading towards Europe, sooner or later, we have to take the scheme of only two parties — pro-government and oppositional. However, their activities have to be transparent and fair, in compliance with the law. Now, in Ukraine we have 158 parties — this is absolute nonsense. I predict a gradual increase of the election threshold for each of the parties, and as a result, we will then come to the European system. Today, unfortunately, people's lives depend on who came to the district and and what he promised. We will come to the European voting system only when we forget about politicians knowing they make the right decisions.
– How do you assess the activities of the United Opposition in general?
– In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, today the opposition is represented by a powerful army of people who are ready to work. It looks like this. Back at the local elections in 2010, the representatives of the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland, the Reforms and Order Party, the Rukh, and the People's Self-Defence were elected for deputies in the City and Oblast Councils. The Fatherland shared its resources with them, made them deputies. Te best representatives of these parties work in the United Opposition. For example, a talented scientist Fedir Turchenko is a deputy of the ROP in the Oblast Council. All the history books he has published are classics. We are always happy to have more like-minded people, if they belong to our nation's elite. And here I mean spiritual purity of a person.
– In Zaporizhzhia, the opposition neither holds major events nor makes loud statements, unlike representatives of the party in power. Why?
– We are focused on work not on loud statements or promises. Huge amounts of work have fallen on the shoulders of the activists of our party. Our members organise a variety of events all over Ukraine. We set the biggest objectives for ourselves.
– Is the opposition strong this year?
– The opposition has reached the high standard it has been heading for for a long time. In 2007, being in power, we went through a lot together. There was tension in the relationship with the President, betrayal, political defectors... This year we did the main thing — we have united and agreed. Under such circumstances, it is not that hard to be strong.
– What are the principles of your electoral campaign?
– First of all, it is clear action plan, adopted at the convention, with clear instructions. Furthermore, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, we have held round-table discussions on the matters of agricultural issues and the development of industry. These events were effective. The VIPs of the United Opposition often come to the oblast — Ivan Kyrylenko, Arsenii Yatseniuk, Anatolii Hrytsenko, Serhii Soboliev, Oleksandr Turchynov, Oleksandra Kuzhel, Andrii Pyshnyi...
I know what needs to be done to improve the economic standard of living. Enterprises need to start working. This will create new jobs. Until then, there will be no order. High taxes brought SMEs to their knees. In other countries, by the way, their share amounts to 35–40%, and profits from foreign business allow to provide decent life to their families.
To finally restore the order in the country, laws which would work in favour of the economy of Ukraine need to be created and abided. We are a powerful country, and business is a market where we have to turn an honest penny.
– Why should voters believe you?
– There is no should. However, a reasonable person, having analysed my acts, will draw conclusions himself. Now, it is all dead easy — taxes are collected, and these funds are used to refurbish hospitals and schools. And then, it is written everywhere which party was involved in it. But these are our taxes, not any party's money. It can be done that thanks to our taxes factories will work and free medical service will be available. We need to divide bills and programmes into components and work on each separately.
Photo credits: Press Service of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Organisation of the All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland
Reference:
Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing violations through comprehensive civic action. Professional monitoring at all stages of the election process indirectly influences the quality of the campaign. The public opinion, both foreign and domestic is formed through gathering and spreading of information among the target audience.
From a strategic perspective public monitoring of elections focuses upon improving the system and certain procedures.
In 2012, during Parliamentary elections in Ukraine OPORA is carrying out a large-scale campaign of long- and short term observation, organizing a statistical vote-count by the results of voting with the proportional component of the electoral system on a basis of representative selection, will provide 100% coverage of polling stations by observers in separate single-mandate majoritarian districts. OPORA observers will work in all 225 electoral districts, and 3,500 activists will join them on the voting day. Organization will use the latest means of spreading information on observation results, including infographics and interactive maps.