New Ukrainian Presidential Candidate Determined to Bring Together Pro-Russian and Pro-Western Voters

KYIV, Ukraine, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --  On Sunday, the Central Electoral Committee of Ukraine registered Valeriy Konovalyuk as a candidate in the special presidential election coming up on 25 May 2014.  The new candidate promulgated his program, according to which he intends to unite all political forces in Ukraine and expand the powers of local governments in the country's constituent regions.

Valeriy Konovalyuk said that his priority was resolving the political crisis, which has hit South-Eastern Ukraine particularly hard. He will do everything in his power to solve the problem through diplomatic ways: "Ukraine must not become a military exercise ground for geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, it is important to maintain the non-aligned status of Ukraine."

"A way, a mechanism to get out of the crisis must be found now. Those now in power as well as their opponents – all must sit down for negotiations. The time to cast away stones – the time to pick cobblestones out of the pavement – has passed. The time has come to gather stones together, a time to build," Valeriy Konovalyuk says.

Konovalyuk plans to correct the errors and failures by the Yanukovich administration. Among other things, he proposes expanding the regions' autonomy and encouraging a decentralization of power as much as possible: "Increased autonomy would help the development of local governments and would help raise the living standards of our citizens," the candidate's program states. Konovalyuk emphasizes the importance of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and proposes making the Russian language the second official language of Ukraine, which is very significant to the many Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

Valeriy Konovalyuk was a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics. He was among those who penned Viktor Yanukovich's presidential campaign program, which won the support of more than 12 million Ukrainians. However, as the former President failed to meet his campaign promises and obligations of the campaign, Valeriy Konovalyuk resigned and left the Party of Regions in the fall 2012.

"I resigned from my position of Advisor to President of Ukraine and left the Party of Regions because I disagreed with the policies of Yanukovich and his circle. They created a criminal, corrupt power system. As an outcome, we all got the most destructive crisis in the country's history," said Valeriy Konovalyuk about his decision to leave Yanukovich's political party.

This time out has enabled the politician to evaluate the current situation in Ukraine and formulate a well-thought out position for the government that should make it possible to pursue the path of effective development and overcome the crisis in the country. Valeriy Konovalyuk believes in responsible politics.

"If my program is not going to be implemented, I am prepared to resign after two years as President," Valeriy Konovalyuk says.

Presidential Candidate's Press
http://www.konovaluk.com
[email protected]
+38 044 253-2344

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140401/NY94737  

SOURCE konovaluk.com