"Even with only two of them, there still has to be a winner and loser. Which one do you think is more trustworthy?" Wang Ye continued with a smile.
Kuchma did not hesitate and gave his answer directly.
"Of course Yanukovych!
His governing philosophy is in the same vein as mine. He is the most suitable person to take over my position, and the transition would be smooth.
As for Yushchenko, he was just named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world this year.
Heh, they're building momentum for him..."
With things spelled out so clearly, Wang Ye naturally understood what Kuchma meant.
He probed, "Then... would you provide Yanukovych with some help?"
Though he was about to retire, Kuchma still wielded considerable influence, especially during his first term, when his approval ratings had been extremely high.
Unfortunately, no one knew whether it was simply bad luck or something else, but one incident after another had cropped up over the past two years, leaving quite a few people dissatisfied with him.
That was why he had leaked word so early that he would not seek re-election and was determined to retire.
He did not want everyone's guns trained on him. Right now, he only wanted to stay out of it and let the others fight it out...
If they ended up tearing each other apart, perhaps he might even get a chance to step in and clean up the mess.
Thus, regarding next year's election, he had never publicly supported or attacked any candidate, as though the matter had nothing whatsoever to do with him.
After hearing Wang Ye's question, Kuchma's smile faded. He speared a piece of steak with his fork, put it into his mouth, and chewed it slowly.
Only after quite some time,