Recently, a founding conference of the Volyn regional organization of the political party "Third Force" was held in the regional center. The governing bodies of the regional organization were created, and the delegates unanimously elected Larysa Romanivna Sirant as the head of the regional party organization. The newly created party structure was greeted by the head of the regional state administration, Volodymyr Bondar, the deputy head of the regional Council, Volodymyr Banada, representatives of other parties, and the clergy.\n\nAccording to the party leader, People's Deputy of Ukraine, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Rules, Parliamentary Ethics and Organization of Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Vasyl Vasyliovych Havryliuk, the development of political processes in Ukraine in recent years, especially after the 2002 parliamentary elections, is determined by the struggle of two forces – the government and the opposition. Therefore, our conversation with the leader of "Third Force" began with a request to characterize the first two forces...\n\n– The first force is the government, mainly the executive, although other branches of government are also part of this force. It consists of the presidential-governmental political group, which dominates the executive branch, constitutes the majority in the legislative branch and has a certain influence on the judiciary. Despite a certain heterogeneity, this force maintains a certain unity around the figure of the incumbent President, although some of its groups are also oriented toward other figures.\n\nThe second force is the opposition, which so far cannot boast of political homogeneity. And if the first force is united by the figures of the President and the Prime Minister, then the second force gathers around the idea of revenge for lost elections and attempts in the next elections, which are less than a year away, to remove the current government from the political Olympus. However, the political groups or parties of the second force have their own interests, whether business or political, and therefore to a certain extent contact and cooperate with the first force, while at the same time loudly declaring that they are opponents of the new government. Both of these forces are fighting for power, which is actually the essence of big politics. The autumn of 2004 showed the scale this struggle had reached, and only the wisdom and prudence of the Ukrainian people prevented the worst from happening.\n\n– Vasyl Vasyliovych, characterize the third force.\n\n– Who creates the political base of the third force? These are those groups, parties, individual politicians who are inclined toward compromise and cooperation on the basis of strict adherence to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. You know, they are part of both forces, and there are even more of them outside the party lists. When, as a deputy, I communicate with the voters of my district, they reproach me and ask pointed questions. People are interested: when will you stop fighting, brawling, when will you pass laws that would help people live normally? They are not at all interested in the fact that the first force (the government) must act this way and not otherwise. The same fully applies to the second force. People are not interested in any behind-the-scenes squabbles, any cunning political combinations. They ask: why is public transport in such a terrible state, and the local and state authorities have abandoned the beneficiaries to their fate? Why can't people be ill today, because everything has to be paid for? Why does a capable but poor child have almost no chance of entering a higher educational institution? And a myriad of other whys. What should we answer to people? When the opposition claims that the current government does not care about the people, and the government responds that everything would be much better if the current opposition had not at one time brought the country to a crisis – that is not constructive.\n\nThe task of the third force is to place at the forefront not uncompromising political struggle, but the political and legislative provision of stable development of the country and the resolution of urgent socio-economic issues, the improvement of the people's life.\n\n– What do you see as the difficulty in forming the party?\n\n– The difficulty of actualizing the third force lies, in particular, in the fact that as soon as one of the politicians or a political group tries to define their position or actions in the spirit of the third force, they immediately face reproaches and accusations from the first or second force, each of which proceeds from its own interests and is often not interested in objectivity.\n\nHowever, I can say that the party has found many supporters and sympathizers both in the West of Ukraine and in the East. And today's conference in Lutsk confirmed this. The hall gathered self-sufficient people who have clearly defined their life position. Our goal is to show solidarity with all who understand the necessity of moving from confrontation into the plane of interaction and to declare in a full voice: Ukraine needs a third force, because the country is extremely exhausted and tired of many years of political struggle at the top. Therefore, the attitude toward the formation of the third force can be an indicator of the political maturity of the representatives of the first and second forces, because the third force will not oppose the first two. I am confident that this force will come to the forefront of the country's political life and people will appreciate it.\n\n– What are the ways to achieve the goals and tasks facing the party?\n\n– In order to fulfill its statutory and program tasks, the party affirms the inviolability of the natural rights and freedoms of man. The party advocates bringing the legislation of Ukraine, judicial and administrative practice into full compliance with the principles and norms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.\n\nWe will take an active part in the development of state policy, in the elections of the President and People's Deputies of Ukraine, deputies of representative bodies of power at all levels and bodies of local self-government, as well as in the formation of executive bodies. We are for open and friendly cooperation with various public organizations and individuals who share and support the ideological principles of our party.\n\nTaking into account the historical trends in the development of local self-government, the political party "Third Force" consistently advocates increasing the role of regions in solving their socio-economic problems. At the same time, the forms of local self-government should be chosen by the population itself, determined by traditions, historical and cultural characteristics of each local community. In our opinion, the delineation of functions and harmonization of interests of territorial communities and local self-government bodies, on the one hand, and the distribution of competences between the center and the regions, on the other, should become the core of the administrative reform being carried out in the country.\n\n– I would like to hear about the economic and social priorities of "Third Force"?\n\n— The party's economic policy is against a return, on the one hand, to state socialism, and on the other – against blindly following the model of a free market. We advocate a third evolutionary path toward the circle of countries with a mixed economy. Among the party's priorities in the economic sphere are reducing the tax burden on citizens, ensuring the stability of the monetary, financial and credit system, investment and sponsorship, identifying priority sectors of the economy, state support for the development and introduction of the latest technologies in industry and agriculture, and state control over natural resources and strategically important sectors of the economy. This is precisely what will contribute to the fact that social assistance to the population should be differentiated and depend on the level of income, degree of employability, and in certain cases – in accordance with the nature of employment in social production. The state and society must be responsible for the fate of older people, who have the right to a dignified life today and in the future.\n\nVasyl CHERNIAK