The government’s biggest mistake was its “dull and inadequate” social policy, he said
President Victor Yushchenko visited the village of Nedryhayliv in Ukraine’s Sumy region on Tuesday and said to its residents the government’s biggest mistake was its “dull and inadequate” social policy, according to the President`s press-office.
Yushchenko said the Yanukovych cabinet should have used the country’s economic growth to benefit each citizen. The citizens, however, see almost no improvements in their life, he said and added that their growing incomes were outpaced by inflation.
The president lambasted the government for failing to stage transparent privatizations and said it “cannot respect the fundamental principles of our development, the principles of transparency and competition.” He said the cabinet’s “most dangerous” mistake was its “assault on the rights of the people” and its attempt to form a parliamentary majority through unconstitutional means in 2006.
Yushchenko reiterated his demand that Ukraine’s reelected parliament and its government must change social policy, urging the country’s political forces to unite for this. He outlined his social agenda, stressing the need to reform healthcare and education. He said Ukraine’s future should be built on the principles of democracy to make the country progressive and the national economy successful. The president again called on the democratic forces to unite. “The president needs a democratic majority in parliament, [he] needs a democratic majority which respects the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian prospects,” he said. “We must spare no effort to consolidate the democratic community. … There is no democratic force today which can be thrown away to say: ‘Your five or six seats in parliament are not important for me.’ No, they are important. Each seat counts.”
Yushchenko said those who want to divide Ukraine “have no prospects” and described this week’s parliamentary election as a “political stability test.” He expressed hopes the region’s residents “will make a wise choice” on September 30.