I SEE DOZENS OF KASKIVs WHO SPEAK FROM THE PODIUM, BUT WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MAIDAN

Interview with Igor Lutsenko

December 18, 2013, 14:38

By Viktoriya Gerasimchuk

Source: Lb.ua — http://society.lb.ua/position/2013/12/18/248122_imenem_maydana_.html

Translation from Ukrainian by:  Oksana Sudoma

“Same old, same old”, – every day I send sms a friend who is on a vacation with no internet access. Same old means that Maidan remains and is intended to remain indefinitely. Powerhouses do not make any unexpected moves. Life becomes a routine with Maidan, protests at the government buildings, and fights for the political prisoners; all this is among the usual list of everyday chores. People somewhat relaxed and let go of the caps lock key posing more of the existential questions.

One of such questions is why should the politicians speak on behalf of Maidan? Why not choose Maidan people who will speak for themselves?

Certainly there are plenty of people on Maidan, some days the numbers raise to several thousands. But it is not easy to choose those who can speak on behalf of Maidan. It is not unclear who has such a moral right and who is authorized for it. Maidan is a horizontal formation, and whether it needs a vertical is a question unanswered.

LB.ua got a hold of an exhausted and smoke smelling deputy commandant of the Maidan and a journalist Igor Lutsenko. Igor certainly can claim to be the voice of the public, for this very reason he was thoroughly questioned by the authorities.

LB.ua:
Tell us who Maidan consists of today? And what organizations are included in the “Maidan public sector” definition?

Igor:
Maidan public sector is a very vague term, its easier to say who’s not included in it.

LB.ua:
Who would you personally include?

Igor:
Those people who work directly on the Maidan: those who deal with settlement, informing, feeding the protesters, managing the volunteers, and organizing various activities. All this work is very specific and because of it we know each other.

Let’s face it: Ukrainian general public and Maidan are not the same thing. The public generally supports Maidan, but they are not the same. These people are just the visitors of the Maidan, they accept the decisions offered by the Maidan.

LB.ua:
Do you collaborate with the political organizations?

Igor:
Formally, I belong to the headquarters of the national resistance, the chief of which is Alexander Turchinov. We hold general meetings involving political parties Svoboda, Batkivshina and UDAR, as a result some important decisions are made.

Actually everyone has its area of work. Politicians are preoccupied with the buildings and the stage. We have our own coordinating headquarters of about 30 persons; at the meetings we decide current issues, discuss upcoming events. We have a permanent team of volunteers of about 80 persons.

“DemAlliance” Party chose it’s goal outside the barricades, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and is very good at what it’s doing. “The Power of People” Association also works great behind the barricades – they collaborate with politicians, while not being present on the Maidan, but they attend meetings, arrange events. Students are active. We have entrepreneurs on the Maidan. Our cavalry Automaidan is effective as well.

What all the rest are up to I don’t know. What can you do outside of the Maidan and still be a apart of it? The most difficult thing is to be constantly in the field, in the cold, working with the people.

However, I still see dozens “Kaskivs” who write a lot of smart things in their blogs, sometimes speak from the podium, giving interviews around the clock, but they have nothing to do with the Maidan. Nevertheless, due to their media activity they have a shot at representing the Maidan.

LB.ua:
Do you realize that on the crest of the revolutionary glory such characters will raise, and not those who diligently monitor the lists of the volunteer security crews and the sandwich slicing shifts?

Igor:
This is logical, it always happens this way. Part of the moral capital created by the Maidan will be gone to the wrong address. Perhaps it will go nowhere, and perhaps to some random people.

The public is able to work effectively with very specific tasks and challenges. But the transition into the political arena – it’s like overcoming a supersonic barrier. Not everyone is able to carry it out.

LB.ua:
Can you name some names of the people who work with you, and who you consider to belong to the public sector?

Igor:
Elena Frankivskaya, Vladimir Vyatrovich , Yarina Yasinevich, Andrew Kohut , Hanna Gopko, Olga Galabala Dmitry Guziy, Alina Shpak , entrepreneurs (Rimma Belotserkovska) and many others who I apologize for the fact that I don’t have time to mention.

LB.ua:
Is it possible to form a representation of the Maidan people?

Igor:
I do not like the idea at all to choose the people. Let’s choose not people, but an ideological platform. In order to change the world, you still have to make regulations. Here we have prepared a package of documents that is called “The revolution program or what to do after defeating Yanukovych.” This is a part of the platform that can unite. And if you start simply selecting people, you’ll get the next instance of “two Ukrainians – three Hetmans”.

LB.ua:
But otherwise we’d have someone to attend the roundtables and other negotiations.

Igor:
All these roundtables are not the negotiations yet. There were no negotiations between the revolution and the counter-revolution yet. Yes, Maidan delegated the opposition leaders to these negotiations, so that they could pass our demands to those in power. There was only a joint press conference of politicians from both camps.

LB.ua:
Now there is a lively discussion of the possible involvement of certain politicians and public figures to the violent events of November 30 at the Maidan. They argue over who brought the voiceovers, who took it away, who knew of the upcoming bloodshed…

Igor:
It’s not the time to point fingers and make judgments. But that time will come, and it will be very nice if the reputation of some people would fit the role they played in the days before slaughter on November 30.

Today it amazes me how some sing praises to the Maidan, who a few days before the 30th planned to dissolve it.

LB.ua:
Let’s finally indulge some fortune telling. What do you think will happen next?

Igor:
There are three options.

Defeat – forceful dispersal. Ukraine becomes Belarus, authorities tightening the screws on us, catching activists one by one and put them away. However, this option does not seem real to me, the system seems to be no longer capable of that. At the very least because they are afraid of condemnation of the world community. Over the past weeks of dances and singing we managed to convince millions of people around the world that Ukrainians are very good, and our goals are very good. These people will not allow their governments to close eyes on the Maidan crackdown and tightening the screws.

Draw. The parties agree to re-election. Military influence is minimized; military and the election commissions become politically non-partisan. We begin to play fair as if we do not know that we play with the bad guys.

Victory. People manage so well to crush the power that its members depart from the country along with their brothers and relatives. To do this, we need to go back to occupying and to expand the occupation geography. We shall block the Presidential Administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the entire government block. And at the same time to protest at the informal centers of influence: the offices of Alexander Yanukovych, Rinat Akhmetov, Andriy Klyuyev. Push long and consistently. The question is to decide on it. Politicians so far are not sufficiently daring. A public sector is busy solving organizational problems.

Source: Lb.ua http://society.lb.ua/position/2013/12/18/248122_imenem_maydana_.html