Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko (Віктор Андрійович Ющенко) (born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician, former prime minister of Ukraine, leader of the Nasha Ukrayina (Our Ukraine) political coalition, and the main opposition candidate in the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004.
Biography
Yushchenko was born in Khoruzhivka village of Sums'ka oblast', in the family of a teacher. He studied economy in Ternopil' and afterwards worked as a rural accountant in Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast'. In 1976 he received a position in Sums'ka oblast's branch of the USSR State Bank and was later promoted to the higher position in Kyiv.
In 1993 he started working in the newly-formed National Bank of Ukraine and became his Head in 1997. As such he was taking an important part in the foundation of Ukraine's national currency, the hryvnia, and establishment of modern regulating system for commercial banking. In December 1999 Yushchenko was appointed prime minister by president Leonid Kuchma. Significant economic progress was made during the Yuschenko's cabinet service, though critics argue they were made possible by general situation in the economy. Soon his government (particularly, deputy prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko) have stepped into confrontation with influential coal-mining and gas industry leaders. The conflict resulted in 2001 non-confidence vote by the parliament for which tycoon-backed pro-president groups allied with communists. In 2002 Yushchenko became the leader of the "Nasha Ukrayina" ("Our Ukraine") political block, which won parliamentary election that year. Despite that, the number of seats wasn't enough for a majority, and the efforts to form it together with other opposition parties failed. Since then, Viktor Yushchenko is the leader of the "Nasha Ukrayina" parliamentary group (Ukrainian: фракція "Наша Україна", fraktsiya "Nasha Ukrayina") - the largest in Verkhovna Rada. He is reasonably regarded as the leader of anti-president opposition since other opposition parties are less influential and have smaller parliament seats.
Yushchenko is married to Kateryna Yushchenko-Chumachenko (being his second wife). She is a Ukrainian-American born in Chicago, earlier successful state official within U.S. State Department. Opponents of Yushchenko highly criticize her for staying a U.S. citizen. During election campaign Kateryna was even groundlessly accused of inflicting American state influence on her husband's decisions, being a CIA agent etc. Yushchenko has five children: three daughters and two sons.
Yushchenko's main hobbies are Ukrainian traditional culture (including folk ceramics and archeology) and mountaineering.
Political portrait and 2004 Presidential Election
Since the times of his government, Yushchenko has been a charismatic leader, extremely popular among ordinary Ukrainians. As of 2001-2004, his popularity rates were much higher than of current president Leonid Kuchma.
As a politician, Viktor Yushchenko is widely perceived as a mixture of West-oriented liberal and moderate Ukrainian nationalist. His opponents (and allies) sometimes criticize him for indecision and failure to reveal his position, while advocates argue these are the signs of Yushchenko's commitment to collective-work, consensus and negotiating. He is also accussed of being unable to form a united and strong team free of inner quarrels.
In 2004, as President Kuchma's term came to an end, Yushchenko ran for president. His primary rival was Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Yushchenko has slightly modernized his political platform, adding social partnership and other left-conservative slogans to his traditional ideas of European integration, freedom and fighting corruption. Supporters of Yushchenko are organized in "Syla Narodu" ("Power of the People") electoral coalition co-leaded by him and his recent political ally Yuliya Tymoshenko (with the "Nasha Ukraina" coalition being the main constituent force).
Yushchenko's campaign was built on face-to-face communication with voters since government has been preventing main TV channels from providing equal possibilities for candidates. While rival Yanukovych was frequently appearing in the news.
The campaign was often bitter, controversial and violent, with accusations of "dirty tricks" from both sides. Yushchenko became seriously ill in early September 2004 and was flown abroad for treatment. He was diagnosed with "acute pancreatitis accompanied by interstitial edematous changes", which was said to be due to "a serious viral infection and chemical substances which are not normally found in food products". In other words, chemical poisoning, which Yushchenko claimed was caused by the agents of the authorities. However, this accusation have not been proved yet. After the illness, his face became heavily disfigured (an effect very important for the charismatic ever-smiling politician - thus suspicious).
The poll, held on 31 October 2004, have not yet produced official results. As no candidate supposedly reached the 50% margin required for outright victory, a second round of voting will probably be held on 21 November, 2004. Although a 75% turnout was recorded, observers reported many irregularities, particularly in the regions where Yushchenko's support was seen to be strongest. Judging by the exit-poll results, he won voting in western and central provinces of the country.
See also:
External links
- Viktor Yushchenko Personal site My Ukraine (http://www.yuschenko.com.ua/eng/) - English version
- TAK! (http://www.razom.org.ua/set/en) (YES!) official presidential campaign website - English version
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Categories: Prime ministers of Ukraine