Deputy Chairman of the UNP Anton Buteiko, in an exclusive interview with the newspaper "Volyn," reflects on current problems of party life and personnel placement \n \n \n– Anton Denysovych, you resigned while serving as Ukraine's ambassador to Romania in protest against Ukraine's entry into the SES. Later I saw you in Kyiv leading a column of Kyivans to the building of the Central Election Commission. And now you have been appointed first deputy minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine, with which the newspaper's editorial staff sincerely congratulates you and wishes you further significant successes in the diplomatic field. So tell us, will you continue to engage in party work? What are the priority directions of your work as first deputy minister? \n \n– Thank you for the congratulations. The Constitution and laws of Ukraine do not prohibit civil servants from engaging in party and political activity outside working hours. Therefore, within the limits permitted by law and when time is available, I plan to continue party work. Of course, I will not participate in purely party events, including congresses, on working days. In the ministry, most likely, I will be involved in implementing the course of President of Ukraine V. Yushchenko toward Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO as the most optimal instruments for ensuring the security and well-being of the Ukrainian people. \n \n– And yet there is much talk among UNP members that although they were in the vanguard of the Orange Revolution, the leaders did not receive portfolios? Why did this happen? \n \n– I will try to answer your question from the standpoint of modern European political culture. The Ukrainian People's Party was among those forces that fought to remove from power the former anti-people regime. This motive was the main one for us, not obtaining positions. Therefore, for the UNP it was fundamentally important to achieve victory and ensure the election of our supported candidate V. Yushchenko as President of Ukraine. This is the victory of all democratic forces. At the same time, we clearly understand the importance of fulfilling election promises. And they cannot be fulfilled without obtaining the proper governmental instruments of power. Lacking them, we continue the struggle to implement our program through the mechanisms available to the party. \n \nUnfortunately, our legislation still does not clearly regulate the issue of forming government bodies after presidential and parliamentary elections, including the distribution of positions. And this destabilizes society and harms the interests of the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian citizens. Therefore, I am trying at the party level to promote the idea that in the Ukrainian state, which according to the Constitution must be a rule-of-law state, this issue should be regulated at the legislative level. In the Ukrainian People's Party, a working group is working on a draft law that will establish modern principles and format for the organization of power and define several thousand positions at all levels that will be subject to automatic replacement in favor of the winners of presidential or parliamentary elections. Those who lost the elections go into opposition, whose rights and duties must also be defined by law. This is how it is done throughout the civilized world. \n \nAfter the presidential elections, the formation of a government of people's trust in the center and in the regions took place, in my view, without proper consideration of European standards, in particular, the requirements of democracy and transparency. Of course, certain proportions of the parties' influence on V. Yushchenko's victory were taken into account. At the same time, we believe that the UNP is today represented in central government bodies inadequately to its contribution to the Orange Revolution. After all, the UNP has a quarter of the people's deputies who were part of the "Our Ukraine" faction. According to the Ministry of Justice's re-registration data, the party was the largest in the "Our Ukraine" bloc. By agreement, we were responsible for election results in five regions, which turned out to be very positive. Our party was the most active force in conducting the election campaign in other regions of Ukraine as well. \n \n– What specifically did the UNP receive in the executive branch? \n \n– The minister of social policy of Ukraine and heads of state administrations in Rivne and Kyiv oblasts have been appointed. Deputies of heads of oblast state administrations and heads of district administrations in the oblasts have been appointed. Unfortunately, in my Volyn oblast, the role and contribution of the UNP's oblast organization to the election campaign were to some extent ignored. The UNP proposed worthy candidates for positions in this oblast. This is surprising: after all, the UNP is precisely a party of the Ukrainian type, which emphasizes the preservation and development of Ukrainian spirituality, Ukrainian people's values, the native language, culture, traditions, and social protection. But the liberal component of the "People's Power" bloc and non-party members, for example, the "Together" group, which represents the interests of a certain part of capital for whom national-democratic values do not have such priority as for the UNP, received preference in the formation of power. \n \nOr take the socialists, who joined the "People's Power" coalition only after the first round of elections. Oleksandr Moroz received only five percent of the votes. Whether all his voters voted for Viktor Yushchenko is still a question. After all, the socialists at the beginning of the elections opposed Yushchenko and were unlikely to take votes from Yanukovych. So, in my view, to claim and demand 1/6 of positions in the executive branch when 5 percent constitutes only 1/20 of the probable contribution to victory is not politically correct. And already completely "interesting" from the point of view of European political ethics were the attempts to join the distribution of positions in the executive branch by V. Lytvyn's party, which, as is known, was not among the active campaigners for V. Yushchenko's victory. Therefore it is not surprising that this caused corresponding resistance not only from UNP activists but also from other politically active citizens. And credit must be given to President of Ukraine V. Yushchenko, who promptly heeded the voice of the people in Khmelnytskyi and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. \n \n– How will the UNP act in the parliamentary elections? \n \n– According to the decision of the party's recent congress, we will go into these elections in a bloc with ideologically related parties or separately. The final decision will be made on the eve of the election process. Only after receiving a certain number of votes from the people will we be able to legally demand an adequate percentage of positions in government bodies for our candidates. \n \n– They say that the Orange Revolution will not leave the Verkhovna Rada aside and that a redistribution of committee chair positions will take place there. The name of Yurii Kostenko is mentioned as vice-speaker. \n \n– Given our contribution to victory, we believed that a quarter of positions should be allocated to the UNP in central and local government bodies. And party leader Yurii Kostenko had every right to claim the position of prime minister. The President chose another candidate – this is his constitutional right and we treat this with respect. Yuliya Tymoshenko is an excellent choice. Now we officially nominate Yurii Kostenko for the position of Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, and Valerii Asadchev for head of the Budget Committee. No other political force has such weighty grounds to claim these positions. And how the stars will align – time will tell. \n \n– Anton Denysovych, how do you assess the renaming of the Agrarian Party? Which party is the most people's party? \n \n– The thesis is already becoming nationwide: "In Ukraine there are many people's parties, but the Ukrainian one is only one!" The UNP represents the main Ukrainian force on the political arena in Ukraine. The UNP has a relatively powerful organizational structure and has grown to more than 120 thousand members. That is precisely why the former regime, oriented toward Russification, directed its main blows against it (recall the provocation with the Troieshchyna explosion and other persecutions of our activists). Now, sensing the attractiveness of people's ideology, those who are actually bearers of liberal philosophy and those who are urgently repainting their noses orange also want to put on the "people's" suit. In these processes one can also find elements of political technologies against the UNP, aimed at dissolving the Ukrainian element in Ukraine's political establishment. That is why attempts at cloning are being made, including with the help of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. \n \nGiven the proclaimed slogan of integration into Europe, the question cannot but arise: to what extent does such behavior correspond to the best European political standards? Recently at an international forum I asked European professors of political science: is it possible in a European country where a numerous people's party with a modern program already exists for another people's party to be created? The answer was unequivocal: no. In these countries, citizens who want to realize themselves in politics on the basis of people's ideology, as a rule, join already existing parties of such orientation. Unfortunately, in Ukraine there are no detailed legislative norms that would prohibit such cloning of parties. \n \n– How do you feel about the creation of a pro-government party under Viktor Yushchenko? \n \n– In my view, party building in Ukraine must take place on clear principles. First: it must lead to the political structurization of society and correspond to the interests of the people. Second: it must comply with the requirements of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. Third: parties must unite people who profess a certain related ideology. Fourth: this process must be based on democratic principles, in compliance with modern best European standards of political ethics and morality. Accordingly, the party's governing bodies must be elected from the bottom up, not appointed by the center. Society must not accept as the norm attempts to build a party by appropriating jointly acquired political property. The unification of various political forces from above under a personality, however respected that person may be, does not entirely correspond to the stated principles. And it is therefore no accident that the people feel it: something is being done wrong. I would not want orange Ukraine even minimally to repeat the CPSU, the creation of "Zlahoda," the NDP, "Za Yedu"... The UNP will not go for the unification of various ideological structures, because it does not wish to lose its Ukrainian political face. But it will cooperate with other political forces in order to implement the program of the President of Ukraine in the part that coincides with our party's program. At the same time, our responsibility will be adequate to party representation in power. \n \nInterviewed by Oleksandr NAHORNYI \n