Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The more we learn about the skulduggery between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and ex-Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych, the more justification we see for voters to put an end to their political careers at the next opportunity.

Lost in the flap over their back-door flirtations with carving up powers between them – mainly by eliminating the people’s right to elect their own president – was another chowderhead idea of dangerous proportions.

According to their proposed draft Constitution leaked to the press, Tymoshenko and Yanukovych inserted Article 34-1. It read in part: “The use of mass media for disinformation and for unconstitutional purposes is not allowed and is punishable by law. Mass media that spread such information will have their licenses revoked without the right for renewal, through a court decision.”

Tymoshenko and Yanukovych appear to want to take the nation back to 1999 and ex-President Leonid Kuchma’s style of intimidating news media. They don't understand the concept of a free press. They believe that government should be the arbiter of everything – from who wins in the economy to who decides what constitutes disinformation and which news media outlets live or die.

If Tymoshenko and Yanukovych want to counter disinformation, they can start with making government more open and accountable. Instead, they have perpetuated a closed, paranoid society where even the most basic information about how government operates is unavailable to the public. Disinformation also takes place when media, starved for advertising dollars in a mismanaged economy, are forced to rely on rich sponsors. It’s not surprising that these owners use their newspapers and TV stations to promote personal agendas. Judging from Vecherniye Vesti newspaper’s pro-Tymoshenko spin, the prime minister doesn’t mind it when misleading information flatters her.

Having a vibrant marketplace of ideas is the best assurance that truth will prevail. Truth triumphs by crowding out lies and disinformation.

Ukrainian media also deserve stronger protections from harassing libel and slander lawsuits. The laws, as written now, have a stifling effect on the search for truth by putting the burden of proof on the news media, not on the plaintiff who believes he or she has been aggrieved.

Tymoshenko and Yanukovych should be competing to make Ukrainian society more free. Instead, they are trying to yank the nation back to its not-too-distant authoritarian past. While both sides deny having anything to do with Article 34-1, they appear to have been caught red-handed trying to stifle press freedoms.

Thanks to a leak of the draft Constitution, published by “Zerkalo Nedeli” (Mirror of the Week) newspaper in its June 6-12 edition, we now know the true colors of Tymoshenko and Yanukovych – and they are not democratic hues. It just goes to show you what fabulous contributions a free press is capable of making to society.