Kravchuk to Yushchenko: Cut bait, Mr. President!

Asked about who paid for the air time on central TV channels for him, Kravchuk replied: “I sent letters to TV companies and I have the copies. I have friends and former colleagues. There are independent, brave and free journalists. They all helped to put me on the air.”

Commenting on Yushchenko’s cutting remark that Kravchuk is being pulled out of the mothballs, Kravchuk said: “To speak of mothballs is no proper answer [to my suggestion to resign], just some fancy words.”

Commenting on Yushchenko’s other sharp metaphor that unscrupulous politicians throw veteran politicians [Kravchuk] under tanks, Kravchuk reminded of a popular film about WWII titled “Only veterans will go into battle” in which the veterans won the battle, Kravchuk reminded.

“If Viktor Yushchenko thinks that he is a tank, I doubt it very much. The tank that cannot fire its cannon is not needed. There are things which must be discussed seriously, without engaging in dubious metaphors and analogies. If you cannot do this, you’d better keep mum,” Kravchuk advised.

We cannot sit on our hands, waiting when the recession will hit Ukraine, Kravchuk went on.

Asked about the timing for his demand to Yushchenko, Leonid Kravchuk said he had appealed to the president several times before.

“I sent him open letters as well as private ones. But he hasn’t responded to any one,” Kravchuk stressed.

“This is my last appeal to the president. There won’t be any more appeals. We will think now how to change the situation for the better,” Kravchuk noted.

Still, Kravchuk doesn’t favor Yushchenko’s impeachment, calling it the last resort.

“I wouldn’t like Yushchenko impeached and his track record condemned. That is why I propose a more humane scenario: to resign and declare a pre-term presidential election,” Kravchuk concluded.