If you live in the land of the “Ukrainian Bell Carol” but speak Russian only, he’s your man.
Presidential candidate Yanukovych: New Year and Christmas are again coming to our house — with goodness, with hope, with faith that we all will be better off. I know we can overcome the difficulties. We’ll find ways to happy and joyful. Our kids will be growing up healthy. There will be tranquility and abundance in our every family. Accord, peace and prosperity will again rule supreme in our state.
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He forgot to mention one of his elixirs of tranquility and abundance:
Whether spontaneous or staged, tears put a human face on a politician. The Hillary syndrome has now spread to Ukraine. Tears have been shed in our presidential campaign.
Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn routinely blasts the oligarchs and claims being cash-strapped.
You’d think that makes him a thick-skinned materialist. Hell no!
When a fellow Lytvynite presented him with a rushnyk sewn by her mother, the gift moved the man to tears.
Presidential candidate Volodmyr Lytvyn: In...[fights back tears, falls short of igniting a standing ovation]...in Polissya...in a back-of-beyond Polissya village...[fights back tears, ignites a full-blown standing ovation]...my parents brought me into this world.
Yanukovych found himself in a similar situation during his tour of western Ukraine, where his opponents vastly outnumber his supporters.
An elderly woman mounts the stage, empathizes with Yanukovych’s childhood of growing up without a mother, gives him a vyshyvanka and wishes him the best.
Presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych: [smiles amid applause, crosses himself, bows repeatedly, thanks the woman, kisses her hands, ignites a standing ovation]: Thanks a lot, Hanna Mykhailivna! I’m deeply moved. I’m very grateful. In the area, in the region, in the land where I grew up, there’s a hu...huge industry. It was there...that I grew up, it was there that I was taught to work, to manage production, the economy. I grew up all by myself among people. Indeed, down there...nobody wore vyshyvankas...[gets sentimental]...and I’ve never worn it in my life. But I...I promise you that I will definitely wear it on holidays. [ignites a standing ovation, steps down, visibly tearful]
How does Tymoshenko debate with a shy guy like this?
Presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych: I wasn’t trained as an artist. Therefore, compe-competing...with Tymoshenko...uh...in this profession is something I won’t do. As a matter of principle. It’s not my profession.
Yes, it is. Always has been, always will be. You’re both artists. She just happens to be a better one.
She says her hubby runs a small business, yet she doesn’t even know the company’s name. When she comes home, he’s already asleep. When she goes to work, he’s still asleep. You know the story.
Now what’s your story?
On your tax returns, you say you sold a 140 sqm Kyiv apartment for Hr. 2,674,910 in 2008 — to buy that Mezhyhirya property (339 acres).
But the sales agreement says you actually sold a 384 sqm apartment — for Hr. 33,416,350 (about $7M in ‘08) — to MP Serhiy Klyuyev, a fellow Regionalist.
Moreover, it says you had obtained that apartment as a gift.
Kyiv in Colors 4 A Trip to Kyiv City Elections 2008
Part III Watch more balcony ads, explore the local housing market, attend a BYuT rally. May 20
On May 25, lets rid Kyiv of Chernovetsky! Katerynchuk Bloc, No.28. [Really? Is that the plan?]
Back to earth
Klychko banners did not appear until two weeks before the election, creating a recency effect.
Horbal is our mayor!
Klychko vs. Chernovetsky
They look like urban slums, don't they?
Facts and figures:
A 3-room apartment in a Soviet-built high-rise like the one pictured above sells at about $180,000-200,000, or $1,500-2,000 per month to rent, depending on design, furniture, and location.
A 3-room in a freshly minted condo will cost you upwards of $400,000, or $3,500-4,000 per month to rent.
The median monthly take-home pay in the private sector in Kyiv runs at about $600.
Chernovetsky Bloc: You support us, we won't fail you.
The gateway to a BYuT rally
Literaly, the caption reads "Buckwheat messes up your wit," a reference to Chernoco election handouts. Naturally, a creative translation would be "Don't be a buckwit!"
With a population of 300, 000, Obolon is a major district and has a strong BYuT base. The rally, which started at 7:00 p.m., drew a few thousand people. Most of them, of course, came to see Tymoshenko rather than her protege, Turchynov. (View this place on WikiMapia.)
As always, Taras Petrynenko and Tetyana Horobets warmed up the rally.
If I vote BYuT, will BYuT be on my side? Or on their side? "Pisnya pro pisnyu" ("A Song About a Song")
Taras Petrynenko, Tetyana Horobets "Bozhe, Ukrayinu zberezhy" ("God Save Ukraine")
Turchynov mounts the rostrum, launches into a lecture on the balance of power in the Ukrainian government.
Turchynov courts Kyivites
Tymo steals the show, fires up the audience, talks obstruction, wage & pension increases.
Tymo takes on post-Orange Revolution corruption, without sparing Yushchenko
Tymo blasts Vanco Prykerchenska, registered, in her own words, on Virgin Islands, to four Kyiv college girls. Digging further, she links the deal to the Party of Regions and its big shot owners, who, she said, already had plans to resell the oil field worth in the neighborhood of $450B.
Tymo exposes Yushchenko, Baloha and their shyrka plans. A man screams: "Yushchenka het!" (Down with Yushchenko!)
Ironically, the last time I saw Tymoshenko here in Obolon was in September 2002, during the "Arise Ukraine" anti-Kuchma protests. We then screamed "Kuchmu het!"
Times change.
As expected, the rally closed with "Ukrayina." The anthem of Ukraine's independence in the early 90s, "Ukrayina" was also the valedictory song that accompanied the Orange leaders' stage appearances at Maidan.
