Tymo Revels in Joan of Arc Ethos

As she addressed the Federation of Labor Unions, PM Yulia Tymoshenko mixed classic narcissism with grim reality and unintended humor.

PM Yulia Tymoshenko: I, for one, am lonely. I have a wall of absolutely vested interests before me, a team of officials that have long been working for these vested special interests, and if I want to snatch back something for you, they will first call me a populist, an unprofessional person, a person who ruins business, cooperation — whatever. But never in my whole life have I heard that this harmony between you and business should really be restored.

Exactly what harmony does she want to restore? Is this some kind of solidarist joke, given our labor unions’ track record of catering to special interests?

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Tymoshenko Outlines Her Privatization Credo to Yushchenko

We’ve offered, taking into account that the state will never be an efficient entrepreneur, the state will only be able to control three or four corporations such as Energoatom, Naftogaz — that is, to make business plans, keep things going... The idea is to have the state, where regulation is required, retain potent regulatory functions — this concerns oblgazes, oblenergos [regional gas and electricity companies], everything that really looks like a [natural] monopoly. The state spells out these potent regulatory functions via legislation. At the opposite end, we don’t make up a list of what we’re going to privatize, but rather, we make up a list of what cannot be privatized under any circumstances, complete with a comprehensive analysis of why a given enterprise cannot be privatized.

Here we go again, cruising the ideological avenues of the world: from solidarism to Thatcherism; from pondering membership in the Socialist International to praising Sarkozy; from advocating aggressive privatization to promoting the idea of mild government-subsidized mortgage rates. How does it all add up? Exactly where are we going?

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Photo courtesy of Ukrayinska Pravda

The Iron Ladies

During her brief visit to London, former — and perhaps even future — Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko lunched with former British PM Margaret Thatcher.

One of the most popular politicians in the Soviet Union of the late 80s, Maggie could have easily unseated Gorby in a free election. With her charisma and polished manners, she had commanded more respect than the leader of the economically stagnant Soviet state, slapped with severe food supply shortages.

In Ukraine, the Iron Lady franchise belongs to Tymo, who has reveled in the brand, despite casual zig-zags between left and right in her international political orientation. (Last year, her party subscribed to an ideology of solidarism and reportedly sought membership in the Socialist International. This year, in the runup to the French presidential election, Tymoshenko surprised experts when she made overtures to Nicolas Sarkozy.)

Thatcher signed a book of memoirs, The Downing Street Years, for her Ukrainian follower. Hanna Herman of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions speculates that Tymoshenko’s visit may have included a secret meeting with Berezovsky.

According to Tymoshenko, she was “impressed by the woman whom everyone called the Iron Lady, who was loved and feared, but despised by no one.” She added that “It’s hard to imagine the history of 20th-century politics without a person like Margaret Thatcher.” Former British PM, in turn, said she was ready to visit Kyiv to help her counterpart defend Ukraine’s independence.

If Tymo becomes PM again, let us hope that she will fight stabilnist as fiercely as Thatcher fought the Falklands War.

Sources: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/9/21/64234.htm