Bad food or bad karma? What caused Ukraine?s opposition leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko?s serious illness still evidenced by a puffy red face, difficulty speaking, and the appearance of partial facial paralysis during his recent parliamentary speech? According to the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Vasyl Baziv, Yushchenko would have been fine had he drank enough vodka. Yushchenko?s campaign manager claims that doctors in Vienna, where he sought treatment, had found evidence of a ?viral infection and chemical substances not usually found in food products.? Yushchenko has accused the current regime of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma of trying to poison him in a bid to ensure the election of their candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Currently, Yushchenko is the favored candidate, but it is likely that it will be a very close election. The accusation that his poisoning was part of a state-sanctioned ?hit? is a serious charge. Yushchenko also claims that there was previous attempt on his life in August when a truck tried to run him off the road while he was campaigning. He also claimed that he was tipped-off the day prior to the incident. A similar ?accident? took the life of dissident and opposition politician Vyacheslav Chornovil in 1999. Although, it was claimed that that incident was a traffic accident, of which there are many in the Ukraine; an inquiry was later opened into his death.

The opposition party claims that non-ruling party politicians and journalists have been targeted by the ruling party–including Kuchma, specifically–and/or their cohorts. Is this the paranoia of government opposition or is the current regime responsible for the untimely demise of some of those critical of the regime? Although Kuchma has pledged to investigate claims of suspicious deaths, he has been embroiled in much of the accusations and controversy himself. In 2002, Ukraine?s Parliament backed a call to launch a legal inquiry into Kuchma?s role or potential role helping former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko organize the assassination of two members of Parliament. It was alleged that these two MPs were killed as a result of business disputes with Lazerenko. This measure was brought forward by the Anti-Mafia faction of the Parliament and requested that the General Prosecutor?s Office launch an investigation into the matter. In addition, a journalist critical of Kuchma?s government and big business named Georgiy Gongadze was later abducted and murdered. Allegedly, his killer has been found but has been only identified by an initial. Opposition leaders claim that recordings exist of conversations between Kuchma and his staff about getting rid of Gongadze. A key witness in the case died in police custody. A Parliamentary Commission investigating this killing stated that Kuchma should be impeached and criminal proceedings brought against him.

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