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Mykola Tomenko

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Mykola Volodymyrovych Tomenko (Ukrainian: Микола Володимирович Томенко) (b. December 11, 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and statesman. He has been a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for two consecutive convocations (including the one recently elected). In Verkhovna Rada he served as the Chairman of the Freedom of Speech and Mass Media Committee. In 2005, Tomenko served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine in the cabinet of Yulia Tymoshenko (coordinating social care and culture affairs).

Tomenko is a centre-right politician, currently a member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. He was also one of the leaders and most notable speakers of the Orange Revolution.

Biography

Mykola Tomenko (born in a village of Mali Kanivtsi, Chornobaivskyi Raion (district) in the Cherkasy Oblast (province) of Ukraine) is one of the few veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War among the Ukrainian prominent politicians. Between 1983 and 1985 Tomenko served his conscript service in the Soviet Airborne Troops, reaching a rank of Sergeant during the war.

In 1989, after his military service, Tomenko graduated from Kiev University specializing in Ukrainian political history. Shortly after, in 1992 he obtained his Kandidat degree (roughly equivalent to Ph. D.)defending his thesis on the topic "The issue of statehood in the program, documents and activities of the present-day parties in Ukraine (historical-political analysis)."

During his student years, after initially being a Komsomol activist, Tomenko later became the initiator of the local Komsomol organization's dissolution.

Tomenko began his professional career in 1992 at the Institute of National Operation and Self-government as the Head of the Political Science Department. Between 1992-1998 he was the vice-president of the Foundation “The Ukrainian Outlook”, the director of the Institute of Post-communism Society and the Institute of Politics (listed are non-governmental politics research organizations. At the same time he continued lecturing history and political science courses at Kiev universities, finally becoming the Head of the Politology department in the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”.

In mid-1990s Tomenko began his political career as a member of "My" (Ukrainian for Us) Political Union - a liberal-patriotic group close to Reforms and Order Party. In 1998 he was number 15 in the electoral list of Parliament candidates for Reforms and Order Party, but the party obtained no seats in parliament.

In 2002 Tomenko was elected to the Parliament on the list of the “Our Ukraine” Block (which contained Reforms and Order Party).

In late 2005 he left the party over a split on whether to back Yuliya Tymoshenko or President Viktor Yuschenko, and became a member of Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc. In 2006 Tomenko became elected to Verkhovna Rada on the list of that Bloc.

Mykola Tomenko authored several scholarly books, more than a dozen of journal articles, and, recently, an essay, like "Theory of Ukrainian Love".

Political style

Entering politics after studying it, Tomenko managed to become an effective public speaker and hot issues commenter, ever-interesting for journalists. This ability has recently been openly-criticized by his political opponents. In summer 2005, President Viktor Yuschenko became very dissatisfied with Tomenko's public attitude towards coalition allies and accused him of willigness to "comment anything on Earth" and inadmissable lack of in-government team-play sense.

The most questionable part of Tomenko's political career refers to the issue of 2005 Eurovision song contest happened in Kiev. He was openly supporting GreenJolly music group as a candidate for representative of Ukraine. This has caused a massive critic from show business professionals that alleged a poor choice and Tomenko's abuse of Deputy Prime Minister position during the process.

Further reading

  • Томенко М. Теорія українського кохання. К., 2004.
  • Кудряшов С., Томенко М. та ін. Карта Севастополя: тріумф і трагедія Президентів: Фонд "Українська Перспектива": Експертна оцінка. - К., 1996. (and other research papers of this foundation)
  • several studies of Ukrainian political history authored by Tomenko and S. Sliusarenko

External links

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