YALTA – With the top seat in the opposition camp vacant, four of the upcoming generation of political leaders made their pitch to politicians, analysts and diplomats at the Yalta European Strategy conference – but left the audience underwhelmed.
While former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko sat in detention facing jail if convicted in her abuse-of-office trial, opposition politicians Vitali Klitschko, Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Nataliya Korolevska and Arseniy Yatseniuk were invited to present their “alternative vision for Ukraine” on Sept. 17.
This group of potential leaders is widely seen as less tainted by the corrupt politics and business of the 1990s than Tymoshenko and President Viktor Yanukovych.
But they disappointed the audience with speeches full of complaints about what is wrong with the government and watery comments about Europe, rather than presenting a clear vision or strategy for the country or the opposition.
“Everyone was horrified how primitive this whole thing was,” said one conference organizer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
First up was world-famous boxing champion Klitschko, who gave a typically wooden performance, ticking many boxes by talking about the value of democracy and the association agreement with the European Union. However, his performance lacked charisma and bite.
Anatoliy Hrytsenko, a former defense minister and leader of the Civic Position party, spoke in English and built his speech around the thesis that there is no real issue as to whether Ukraine should be joining Europe or not. Ukraine belongs to Europe “because the other choice for Ukraine is give up and go to the Kremlin wall,” he told the audience.
But even this main thesis sounded weak after two days of intensive public and private talks about the technicalities of this very integration process. Particularly hot was the issue of the release of Tymoshenko, which is being pushed for by the European leaders, who consider her case to be political rather than criminal.
Elmar Brok, a European Parliament deputy from Germany who is currently preparing a report on Ukraine, speaking just hours before Hrytsenko, said that all the technical problems around the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement are solved, and only political ones remain, such as the work of the justice system. Against that background, Hrytsenko looked like he was trailing behind the crowd in his assessment of the state of Ukraine’s readiness for integration with Europe.
“He looks like he has no advisers around to reflect back to him what he looks like,” said Oleksiy Haran, a political scientist and professor at Kyiv Mohyla Academy, who was in the audience.
Then came Natalya Korolevska, a parliament deputy from the Tymoshenko camp. Her speech was heavy on figures proving just how bad the state of affairs is in Ukraine, that corruption is devouring the nation and repressions prevail in both politics and business.
“Almost 20 years spent talking about European values and the principles of democracy has lead us to the world of illusions and double standards,” she said.
Korolevska did make some points about the alternative, in particular pointing out the non-government sector and its need to be more involved in decision-making. But generally her speech was so gloomy that former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski even asked her whether Ukraine is fit to even think about Europe if things really are as bad as she had described.
She replied by saying the most important thing was to give the right diagnosis, otherwise you don’t have a chance to cure the disease.
“If you have pneumonia, vitamins won’t help to treat it,” she said. Kwasniewski nodded, but didn’t look persuaded.
Yatseniuk, the leader of the Front of Changes party and the best public speaker of them all, spoke last. He glowed with confidence, but his speech lacked any significant insights or depth. Just minutes before his speech, Yatseniuk admitted to a Kyiv Post correspondent that he wasn’t really prepared, and asked what he should be talking about.
Then in the speech he said it was difficult to present an alternative vision when it is unclear what the authorities’ plan is.
He said it was up to the young leaders to come up with a new plan for how the country should be reformed, but did not elaborate. His speech only lasted barely over two minutes.
The negative shockwaves from the speeches of the opposition politicians rolled all the way to the gala party, where their performances were one of the central subjects of conversation. Business leaders, political analysts and journalists lamented the dismal prospects for the nation with this set of leaders.
“You just have to live through it,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of Penta Center for Political Studies.
The organizers remained optimistic, however. Ivanna Klympush-Tsynadze, who leads the team of organizers, told Kyiv Post that YES was happy to become a platform that allows new leaders to show whether they have any alternative vision at all, and the public is to give the final assessment.
“I think the 2012 [parliamentary] elections are where the real assessment will take place,” she said.
