Being A Playboy Politician In Ukraine Can Help An Official's Career

KIEV, Ukraine -- What sex scandal? Unlike in the West, extramarital affairs in this nation tend to enhance a public man’s reputation.
Politicians of many countries can envy their Ukrainian peers. If Ukrainians have an extra-marital love affair, not only does it not hurt their career, they can even get more public support. For example, the 56-year-old leader of the Communist Party, Petro Symonenko, turned out to be a real playboy and seduced 31-year-old journalist Oksana Vashchenko.Not only had the main communist been unfaithful to his wife of 35 years, he easily showed up in public with his younger lover. One result of the affair came on Jan. 22, when the lover gave birth to their daughter.Only one party colleague and rival, Leonid Hrach, wanted to kick Symonenko out of the party. Instead, Hrach got kicked out of the leadership structure of the Communists. But then again, Hrach’s opposition to Symonenko may not have been motivated by high moral principles. He plainly wished to move into Symonenko’s seat.One can assume that if society, and particularly, the moral electorate of the Communists had condemned Symonenko’s behavior, he would have been rejected by the party with the speed of a bullet flying out of a gun. But we still have the pleasure to observe him in the chair of the leader of proletariat. Communist parliament member Oleksandr Holub even went so far as to say that Symonenko’s private life was no one else’s business.Ukrainians are fairly tolerant towards amorous adventures of their leaders, unlike, say, the Italians. Their prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, also was at the center of an amorous scandal recently. The head of the Italian government has to take public attitudes into consideration. He had to publicly swear that he had no out-of-marriage relationships with girls. One of the young female visitors of his country house even wrote a book in his defense. There is a whole information campaign going on to prove his innocence.About 20 years ago, I visited the American town of Norfolk, Virginia, home of a U.S. -military base, a much-hated organization in this part of the world. It was during a trip of European journalists, organized by the U.S. government and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. We witnessed at the base that the Americans have no idea about this Ukrainian saying: “A female aboard a ship brings bad luck.”I cannot recall whether it was aboard the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, George Washington, or another ship, but we discovered there a uniformed, but very pretty, representative of the fair sex. It turned out during our conversation that there were more lady officers on board. We asked her many questions, and – among others – delicately questioned her about whether the male representatives of the crew ever try to seduce her during the long ocean journeys. Nature, we thought, is difficult to resist and the men aboard do not see other women for many months. She firmly said it was impossible and that she would cut anyone off who tried.I remembered this lady vividly before the beginning of the second American campaign in Iraq. The media then came out with a story of the resignation of Rear Adm. Steven Kunkle, commander of USS Kitty Hawk Battle Group. What do you think he was relieved from his duty for? That’s right, for an “inappropriate relationship” with a female officer, which resulted in “a loss of confidence in his ability to command.” His human nature took over his military discipline. The reason for his resignation was not the scandal as such, but the conclusion of his superiors that such behavior caused a loss of ability to command. I was even wondering if my old acquaintance from Norfolk could have been that female officer.There are almost no amorous scandals among politicians in Ukraine. Apart from Symonenko, I can remember very few of this kind. There had been rumors, of course, about a relationship between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and lawmaker Nestor Shufrych. It seems that we would hear about more of these scandals if the effect was more similar to what happens in the West. Anyone who may think of making such scandals public in Ukraine understands that even if they catch somebody red-handed, the person who is caught will be in trouble, but only at home.Among the people, the “hero lover” whose story gets splashed about press in tabloid fashion will only grow in popularity. He will even be more respected. His ability to lead an organization will not be doubted. On the contrary, the perception of his management skills will be improved. So, information about an affair at work will only enhance his reputation.The American press did not report in 2003 where the information about the admiral’s affair with a female fellow officer came from. Perhaps the lovers were discovered by their colleagues and reported in an appropriate manner. It seems that in the USA, reporting these private matters is quite normal.What comes to mind is the most famous love affair ever. Salivating, the whole world followed the intricacies of the investigation into the details of a tender relationship between the head of the world’s most powerful state, Bill Clinton, with Monica Lewinsky, the 22-year-old intern in the White House. So how did the world find out about it? It was revealed by a close friend of Lewinsky, Linda Tripp. She reported the love affair between the president and the intern to a relevant institution.Informers in America do not have to worry about their reputations. Possibly, that’s because Americans are more egocentric than Europeans and everyone does whatever they want. If somebody has the need to make an office romance public, it’s their right, and it is respected as such.In Ukraine, a person who would do such a thing would be considered a repulsive stool pigeon and would be treated with contempt.