On November 14, a round table was held at the Independent Public Press Center "Volyn Choice - 2006" on the topic: "The loss of the ideals of the Orange Revolution? Ways out of the crisis." The meeting was initiated by the Volyn regional organization of the civic party "PORA." Invited to the discussion were Volodymyr Bondar – head of the Regional State Administration, Anton Sosnovskyi – head of the political council of the Volyn regional organization of the civic party "PORA," Ihor Aleksieiev – head of the executive committee of the "PORA" party in Volyn, Yurii Kobets – deputy head of the executive committee of the Volyn regional organization of the "People's Union Our Ukraine" party, Mykola Pasaman – first deputy head of the Volyn regional organization of the Ukrainian People's Party, Viktor Oliinyk – head of the Volyn regional party organization of the All-Ukrainian Association "Batkivshchyna," Volodymyr Banada – head of the Volyn regional organization of the People's Movement of Ukraine, Hennadii Kozhevnikov – head of the Volyn regional organization of the Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor," as well as media representatives. "This topic for discussion was chosen not by chance. Soon we will celebrate the anniversary of the emergence of the Maidan as a phenomenon of public expression of will, where the desire was expressed to elect the President of Ukraine by the citizens of our state, to separate power from business, to return to the people what was stolen, to put bandits in prison, the aspiration to live in a democratic state," – with these words Anton Sosnovskyi opened the round table. – "Today we see in the eyes of Ukrainians deep disappointment and despair at what the current government, Viktor Yushchenko and his team, are doing. Why did this happen? How can we explain to citizens that Ukraine will become Ukrainian and the promises of the Maidan will be fulfilled?" According to Volodymyr Bondar, the ideals of the Orange Revolution are not lost. "Ten Steps of the President of Ukraine Toward the People" are now being successfully implemented and he is convinced that day by day we are beginning to live better. "Perhaps at the Maidan we set the bar too high for the rapid development of Ukraine on democratic principles. But we must move toward this swiftly. It is likely that those politicians who are in power are still too young and perhaps somewhat inexperienced, but we need to give them a chance, time. To try, even by trial and error, but to bring the state to the proper level. We talk about the loss of the ideals of the Orange Revolution. This has not happened, but a possible collapse of the Maidan lies in the fact that many declare 'I was at the Maidan.' The thought arises: is society or the state now somehow indebted to that citizen? When I went out to that same Maidan, I clearly understood why I was going there. I care whether my country will have the right to elect its President, what Ukraine's authority is at the international level, I want it not to be a ghetto state. The Orange Revolution gave all of us the opportunity to realize that we are Ukrainians, and not cattle, not goats. At the same time, every representative of the authorities is under the watchful eye of journalists, because we have freedom of speech in the country. Although, today the government has rolled up its sleeves and is working, rather than going out to the media…" Volodymyr Banada also places great hopes on the success of the President of Ukraine's team. "A year ago Ukrainians did a great deal for the state, for themselves, but to expect that within a year everyone will immediately live better – is impossible. Yes, we went out to the Maidan to replace criminal Kuchmism with a new government. Today we have to acknowledge mistaken personnel situations. There are many people who are not concerned with national ideas at all. However, despite this, we need to wait, perhaps another three years, four, five…" Hennadii Kozhevnikov is firmly convinced that "the spirit of the Maidan is set not by those present at it, but by the people who voice its ideals. Therefore, strategically speaking about the loss of the ideals of the Orange Revolution is absurd. Today the Ukrainian Republican Party 'Sobor' is considering the possibility and effectiveness of uniting political forces at the regional level for the purpose of jointly solving problems that exist and may arise. After all, neither Yushchenko's team, nor the team of Lytvyn, Tymoshenko, Poroshenko, or any others will be able to independently obtain at the elections the majority needed to form a worthy Parliament." Mykola Pasaman spoke with a somewhat different opinion regarding his predecessors: "The fact that we elected Viktor Yushchenko as President of Ukraine is not particularly something to rejoice about. Moreover, writing about everything, the right that is now granted to journalists – this is not all that we fought for. The face of the Orange Revolution is a team composed of: Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, Poroshenko, Tomenko, Zinchenko… And they are now apart. Another ideal – the fiery slogan 'Bandits to prison.' Although here too there is disappointment. New faces were needed in power, but they too did not justify the hopes placed in them. Another urgent example of this – Oksana Bilozir, who took the post of Minister of Culture and Tourism in Ukraine. And what? She quite quickly showed her lack of professionalism in this field. They clamored 'we will separate business from power,' as a result – the same power was until recently represented by Poroshenko, Zhvaniia, Martynenko… And a criminal at the local level will not be punished, since our courts are not yet 'new.'" Yurii Kobets called on everyone to show understanding and support the current government, because "today it is hard both for the President of Ukraine and for his team, which is somewhat not what it should be… We support the ideals for which we stood at the Maidan and must be one family in order to fight difficulties. We must go to the 2006 elections together." Viktor Oliinyk supported the majority of those present and also asserted that the ideals of the Maidan are not lost – "and this is already a shift and means that we are working. After all, a new political model has been formed, the programmatic principles of development of our state." At the conclusion of the round table, journalists voiced their remarks, whose views almost did not coincide with the above-mentioned opinions. A sharp reproach was directed at Hennadii Kozhevnikov, who in his speech said that "…the President of Ukraine did not satisfy the ambitions of his entire team, which is why a split formed," to which he received the answer – "but we did not stand at the Maidan for the ambitions of the team, or of its individual representatives…" Also, media representatives raised the issue of depriving journalists of the right to comment on the events of future elections. To this Mykola Pasaman said: "The law prohibits, but the Constitution allows speaking. It is bad that there are restrictions, but in this way it is necessary to destroy the temnyky and allow into the media information that would be presented only 'as advertising.'" As a result of the round table, the head of the political council of the Volyn regional organization of the civic party "PORA," Anton Sosnovskyi, proposed for consideration a "Development Package" – fourteen draft laws, by implementing which the government will be able to meet small and medium-sized businesses halfway. After all, it is time to move on…