According to the expert, the tradition dates back to the period of Tsarist Empire and later of the Soviet Union. It has become an attribute of every state institution.
“It borders on the absurd when an official has several portraits of Mr.Yanukovych. This is an attempt to prove one’s hyper-loyalty to the President,” Nebozhenko points out.
“Meanwhile, the matter is not limited to the tradition. There are plenty of corrupted officials who decorate their luxurious offices with numerous portraits of Mr.Yanukovych under the cloak of his will. Thus, the love for portraits neither benefits Mr.Yanukovych’s rating, nor provides him with the personality cult, as his portraits are usually hung in the offices of slightly or largely corrupted officials. The President’s portrait is a means to disguise an official’s corrupted nature,” the political scientist says.
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He assumes that demonstrating in such a way their “love” to Mr.Yanukovych, officials take care of an opportunity to “emphasize they ‘love’ Yanukovych more than the officials next door, in case they are caught in a corrupted scheme.”
The expert says such a “tradition” could also be traced at the times of previous presidents.
“Still, Kuchma understood the bureaucratic hypocrisy at least, while Yushchenko and Yanukovych truly believe many portraits in the cabinets of officials are a sign of secret love of people towards their President,” Nebozhenko adds.
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He assumes the process of the “promotion” of ruling presidents’ portraits is to last a long time in Ukraine.
“It will take us several decades, as we can’t get rid of such a history in a flash. Maybe, the ‘second Orange Revolution,’ which is to destroy many old bureaucratic and hypocritical habits, will exterminate this tradition of the state leader portrayal,” he supposes.
As Tyzhden.ua has already reported, the attempts of Ukrainian officials to please and gain favor of Mr.Yanukovych mostly look absurdly and are often create ridiculous situations. In particular, even Ukrainian schools have the “cult” of Mr.Yanukovych. Teachers of all Kakhovka schools (Kherson Oblast) have recently been obliged to hang the President’s portraits in all the classrooms. Meanwhile last year, the portrait of the poet Taras Shevchenko, hanging in a school hall of Ternopil Oblast, was replaced with the one of Mr.Yanukovych.
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