Recently, the corridors of the Lutsk City Council were stirred by a sensation. Deputy, member of the executive committee of the city council, coordinator of the public coalition "Lutsk is European" Oleksandr Martyniuk submitted a request to the city mayor Anton Kryvytskyi to terminate the powers of the executive committee member. Mr. Oleksandr explained the motives for this decision and strange act (after all, the force he represents won and is increasingly strengthening its positions, including in the city council) in a statement with which he acquainted, as they say, the general public. Because he is convinced that the reasons for his decision are not personal but social in nature.
After the 2002 parliamentary elections, the high results in the Lutsk electoral district for the "Our Ukraine" Bloc and its nominee Volodymyr Bondar, Oleksandr Martyniuk together with another representative of "Our Ukraine," regional council deputy Volodymyr Karpuk, was approved as a member of the city council's executive committee. Over three years, they contributed their ideas, proposals, and often gave critical assessments regarding the decisions being discussed. They interacted and worked synchronously with the "Our Ukraine" faction in the city council. Together they made corrections to decisions supported by the pro-government majority.
– Now the situation has changed dramatically, political ideas that just half a year ago were a sign of opposition, of struggle against the regime, a reason for oppression and persecution by the authorities – today have suddenly become generally accepted, relevant and even fashionable, – states Mr. Oleksandr. – Today, deputies have joined the faction thanks to whom very often decisions proposed by "Our Ukraine" were not adopted, deputies who distrustfully avoided "Our Ukraine members" so that, God forbid, the city mayor would not see them next to the opposition. Today these people are in the front ranks of the "orange," they are "Our Ukraine members."
According to Oleksandr Martyniuk, he, who headed Yushchenko's city election headquarters, was the author of hundreds of technological ideas, organizer of actions, speechwriter, sociologist, analyst and PR manager for the renewed faction, turned out to be "not orange enough." That is why he decided, preempting possible initiatives, to voluntarily leave the city executive committee, hoping that time will put everything and everyone in their places.
Now the "Our Ukraine" faction in the Lutsk City Council continues to exist and intensively increases its ranks and "builds muscle." At least this was convincingly and not without success stated at a press conference by the faction's co-coordinators Serhii Havryliuk, Viktor Shostak, Ihor Huz. They spoke about the faction's activities during the recent period, about the numerous problems of city life, particularly in the housing and communal services sector, which the city council deputies representing the faction helped to resolve.
Considerable attention at the press conference was devoted to the upcoming elections to the city council and city mayor. In particular, Ihor Huz believes that holding elections to the city council under a proportional system will harm voters. After all, now each deputy knows the boundaries of their electoral district, and voters know their deputies and approach them with specific problems concerning the districts, and can make claims against their deputy if necessary. But to whom will they make them when districts no longer exist, when all deputies from parties will represent the city and at the same time seemingly no one?
Answering journalists' questions, in particular the correspondent of "Volyn," Serhii Havryliuk, Ihor Huz, Viktor Shostak expressed their point of view regarding the events surrounding "Our Ukraine" in the city council. They are surprised by Oleksandr Martyniuk's act and see nothing wrong in the fact that new people are joining the faction. These deputies previously feared expressing their views, although in private or during voting they often supported "Our Ukraine members." The deputies recalled how they voted during the city council's recognition of Viktor Yushchenko as the nationally elected President of Ukraine. And in general, from their words, the impression was that, as the song goes, "the squad did not notice the loss of a fighter," even if this fighter is the recognized leader Oleksandr Martyniuk. Currently the faction numbers 11 deputies, together with the group "Lutsk is European" it comes to 16, and moreover five to six more deputies have expressed a desire to join the faction and soon there will be 23, that is, a new "Our Ukraine" majority will form and a real opportunity to oppose "authoritarian decisions of the city mayor."
Volodymyr LYS
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STATEMENT by the coordinator of the Public Coalition "Lutsk is European," member of the executive committee of the Lutsk City Council Oleksandr Martyniuk
The "Our Ukraine" faction in the Lutsk City Council continues its work in a new composition and with new leadership