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Andriy Yusov, one of the leaders of the PORA People’s Party, above, says that for a union of democratic forces to make sense, a political bloc should bring together his party, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc, Our Ukraine and probably the Ukrainian People’s Party Serhiy Zavalnyuk Andriy Yusov, one of the leaders of PORA, a youth organization that gained fame during the Orange Revolution by providing security for pro-democracy street demonstrations, says in an interview with the Post that the party wants the newly elected parliament to disband and new elections to be held. Yusov said his party would like to form a bloc with most members of the original Orange coalition, but did not rule out opposition to the current president, Viktor Yushchenko

Yusov said his party would like to form a bloc with most members of the original Orange coalition, but does not rule out opposition to the hero of the Orange Revolution, President Viktor Yushchenko. PORA is active in the regions, according to Yusov, and continues to get financing from businessmen worried about protecting democracy.

KP: What is PORA demonstrating for now?

AY: The dismissal of the parliament. Right after [Socialist leader Oleksandr] Moroz’s betrayal [of the revived Orange coalition agreement between the Socialists, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc on July 6], we wanted to block his candidacy for parliament speaker and deprive him of this position. We fought against the creation of an anti-democratic, unnatural coalition [reference to so-called Anti-Crisis Coalition created by the Socialists, Communists and Donetsk-based Regions Party led by prime ministerial hopeful Viktor Yanukovych]. But today we understand that this has already happened and we cannot counteract it. Now we are calling for the dismissal of the parliament and, after that, the creation of a single democratic front that will take part in re-elections.

KP: What do you mean by “a single democratic front”?

AY: There are a lot of people who should have had seats in the Verkhovna Rada. I do not mean myself – I’m too young for this – or my colleagues, but experienced politicians who had the moral and political right but did not get in for various reasons. Thus, we ended up in a situation with businessmen in parliament who couldn’t come to an agreement with politicians. And as a result, we got Moroz’s betrayal and a disappointment for the people. Re-elections are the last chance to protect the values of the Orange Revolution and its achievements. And I’m pretty sure that those politicians who insist on their personal, political ambitions and refuse to join a wide democratic platform will not have a future in Ukrainian politics.


KP: What if your demands are not satisfied? What will you do?

AY: If the parliament is not dismissed, this will mean that Yushchenko will have to propose Yanukovych or another member of the Party of Regions for premier. This will mean that Yushchenko is no longer a democratic president who can unite the nation. It will mean that the executive and legislative branches have merged and they [the president and the Regions Party] will all be on the same team … Our Ukraine as a single organization will no longer exist … And Ukraine will have to survive a very harsh and painful process in undergoing a reformation of its political forces. In this case, PORA will definitely go into strict opposition to this Orange-Blue alliance [blue is the color of Regions] … We will fight for public control of the government’s activity.


KP: You position yourselves as an Orange party. During the presidential elections, you supported Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine. Whom do you support now?

AY: Before the Orange Revolution, when the PORA non-governmental organization was created, its objectives were a principled refusal to support any one candidate and the protection of fair democratic elections in Ukraine. At that time, fair elections were favorable for Yushchenko and unfavorable for Yanukovych. In terms of promoting democracy, we were allies with Yushchenko … But in many cases, PORA did not coordinate its activity with Yushchenko’s headquarters. It also did things that did not correspond to Our Ukraine’s position. For example, we strongly objected to Yushchenko’s talks with Yanukovych and [then President Leonid] Kuchma at Mariyinsky Palace [which were aimed at striking a compromise between Orange and blue groups].

Concerning our attitude toward the other political forces, I think that both Our Ukraine and BYuT [Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc] must take responsibility for what is happening in the Verkhovna Rada today … Among the parliamentary parties, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc is conditionally closest [to PORA] in terms of its tactical position regarding re-elections.


KP: Are you planning to participate in new elections if they are held?

AY: Absolutely. We are going to take part as a member of a single political front.


KP: Why didn’t you merge with another party for the March 26 parliamentary elections? Did you hope to overcome the 3 percent barrier alone?

AY: We were expecting to overcome this barrier. There were a lot of mistakes on our part and owing in no small part to Our Ukraine’s and ByUT’s campaigning against PORA … This is a political fight, sometimes it is not fair. But PORA was not created as a one-time political project for one parliamentary election.


KP: Which political parties are going to be united under the single democratic front?

AY: I think that in order for a union that makes sense, this bloc should bring together PORA, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc, Our Ukraine and probably the [center right] Ukrainian People’s Party – those political forces that performed well during the 2006 election campaign and didn’t disappear from the political spectrum after the elections. I also think we should negotiate with other political forces in order for this joint bloc to become stronger.


KP: Would you consider letting the Socialists join a single democratic front?

AY: A single democratic front will bring together people and citizens rather than parties. The Socialist Party has a lot of decent members who fought against “Kuchmism” and for democratic rights. The question here is whether they will exclude Moroz from the party or he will exclude them.


KP: Do you think Moroz’s expulsion from the Socialist Party is possible?

AY: He is the sole leader of the party and has been building a system for his own purposes for many years. But I think they will try to exclude him. If they exclude Moroz and those people who supported Yanukovych, then it would make sense to consider collaboration with the Socialist Party during a re-election. If this doesn’t happen, the democratic union’s duty would be to support those people [members of the Socialist Party] who were against Moroz and to cooperate with them.


KP: PORA is very active in Kyiv, but what has it done in the regions?

AY: PORA operates all over Ukraine. We have several hundred members in local councils throughout the country, including deputies of regional and district centers... We also have strong positions in the Chernivtsy and Ivano-Frankivsk Regional councils, the Ternopil City Council, and a range of city councils in central Ukraine. In these areas our positions are not just strong, but supported by the local authorities.

We are also active in the south of Ukraine. PORA has strong positions in Kherson and Odessa. I’m glad to say that today PORA is the most active non-parliamentary party in Ukraine.


KP: What about your influence in eastern Ukraine?

AY: We believe that we are very lucky that we have Yevhen Talyshev, the editor of Ostrov newspaper, the biggest opponent of [Ukrainian billionaire Rinat] Akhmetov and the Party of Regions in Donetsk, as the head of PORA in Donetsk Region. He has a very strong team there. And in spite of the electoral situation there, we have nothing to be ashamed of in Donetsk. In Luhansk, we have a young team: all members are under 30, but these people have shown their mettle and have earned everybody’s respect, even that of the Party of Regions.

We were the force of direct action during the Orange Revolution and we remain a party of direct action today. Where there is a chance to use this action from the platform of a city, regional or village council, we do it. Where we don’t have such a chance, we hold roundtable discussions, rallies and pickets. This is a workable approach, and we’re going to continue doing it this way.


KP: Recent polls show that public political activity has substantially fallen in Ukraine. Does this lower political activity hurt you?

AY: I think that on the one hand the reason for this is that most people just do not believe anymore that the president will sign a decree on holding new elections. On the other hand, the public is tired. My colleagues and I from the party are tired … And those people who took an active part in the Orange Revolution are also tired. They had faith that we could overcome our fear, overcome that regime, and they created all of the necessary conditions for politicians to govern the country and defend the people’s achievements from the Orange Revolution. Unfortunately, the politicians returned to their old rules and actions, and there was nothing we could do about it.


KP: Will this fatigue help the Party of Regions collect even more votes during a re-election?

AY: We’ll see during the pre-election campaign. There are two possibilities here: either a joint front of democratic powers will win, or the Party of Regions will … Political ambitions must not prevail, and PORA understands this …

There is a chance for the Socialists only if they join the Party of Regions, but this would be the end of Moroz’s political career … And this would be the usurpation of power by one political clan that is very close to Moscow.

If we do have re-elections, this situation won’t threaten us. The victory of one or another political force is not bad. The Party of Regions has a lot of normal and reasonable politicians who want normal political dialogue. But in the current Verkhovna Rada, this is no longer possible.


KP: What do you think about Yulia Tymoshenko’s proposition to raise the election barrier up to 7 percent? This would make it harder for small parties?

AY: Seven percent is too much, and the opinion of too many Ukrainian citizens wouldn’t be taken into account in this case. The European practice is 5 percent. I think such a barrier should be introduced in Ukraine, too.


KP: What are your financial sources? Are they different from those you had during the Orange Revolution?

AY: The Orange Revolution caused a lot of positive things. And one of them is increasing the activity of Ukrainian citizens, including the business elite, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. When recently we installed our first tents here on Independence Square, the very next day we began to receive calls with offers of support.


KP: Has the country’s decreased political activity lowered your financial support?

AY: Of course it has. We can feel it because there is also disappointment within the business elite … But they understand that PORA tried to protect their interests.


KP: Do those helpful businessmen have any plans for future influence in politics, like the Party of Regions, which has a lot of businessmen-politicians among its deputies?AY: No, these are businessmen who are occupied with business, and they get involved in politics only if there is a threat to democracy in Ukraine, and therefore to themselves.