Yuriy Lutsenko
Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko (Template:Lang-uk; born 1964 in Rivne) is a Ukrainian politician and statesman. Presently, he is the Minister of Internal Affairs in the Cabinet of Viktor Yanukovych since August 2005 (after holding the same post in the Cabinet of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Yekhanurov). The Ministry of Internal Affairs is in charge of Ukrainian police, and Lutsenko became the first civilian minister in 2005.
Early political biography
Yuriy Lutsenko is a qualified engineer since 1989.
Lutsenko is a long-term member (since 1991) of the Socialist Party of Ukraine (after his appointment as a minister he stopped the membership in this party). He left the party in the summer of 2006 as a result of what he percieved to be the party leader Oleksandr Moroz's treason of the party's long term pro-democratic and anti-oligarchy stance by entering the Parliamentary coalition with the Party of Regions of current PM Yanukovych. He belonged to so-called "right wing" of SPU which takes a pro-European position akin to social democratic parties in the rest of Europe, rather than a post-Soviet conservative socialism. Prior to his appointment to the executive branch he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament).
2000s
Yuriy Lutsenko gained public fame as one of the leaders of the UBK (Ukraine without Kuchma!) campaign, which followed the Cassette Scandal of 2000. He was also one of the "faces of Orange revolution".
As a Minister, Lutsenko refused to run for office in up-coming 2006 parliamentary election with his party, preferring the statesmanship. However, he has been running for both the Kiev City Council and Rivne Oblast Council simultaneously in the lists of Socialist Party - "to make the point", as he explains. Having won these seats, Lutsenko refused of either in favor of his Minister's position.
As the Parliamentary coalition of anti-Presidential Party of Regions, the Communists and the defected Socialists began to take shape, Lutsenko stated flatly that he refused to continue serving as the minister in a future government formed by these parties. However, after President Viktor Yushchenko agreed to allow the forming of the cabinet in exchange for various key ministries, Lutsenko stated that the president asked him personally to remain as the minister, and he will do so.
See also
External links
- Template:Uk icon Lutsenko: There Are Several Criminal Cases on Companies Linked to Akhmetov... (June 2005 interview)
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