Tymoshenko Party

Current Ukrainian stories, in which, one way or another, the name of the former prime minister appears, are of two types: “party” and medical-penitentiary. It is characteristic that these plots, as a rule, do not intersect. The first ones are related to real politics and the upcoming parliamentary campaign; they are talking about the “Tymoshenko party” and its prospects. The second is, in fact, with a prisoner of the Kachanovskaya colony. However, it seems that she is no longer a prisoner, and not the Kachanovka colony: one of these days Tymoshenko is to be transported to the central Kharkov hospital No. 5 (subordinate to the Ukrainian Ministry of Railways), - the hospital has already been renovated, security has been installed, Tymoshenko’s three-room “ward” was shown to journalists, - approximately in the same genre in which European-quality renovations were once demonstrated in the Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention center. In fact, the hospital is being prepared for the arrival of German doctors who are called upon to decide whether Tymoshenko needs treatment, and if so, she, in accordance with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, must remain in a civilian hospital. Otherwise, she must return to the colony. However, from now on the European Court will also decide whether or not Tymoshenko should return to the colony. So far, Tymoshenko has stated that she will not go to an exemplary hospital, but wants to be treated “on a general basis.” The "common grounds" are supposed to impress German doctors.

In parallel with the quasi-liberation (and the transfer to the hospital still means a change in the status of the main Ukrainian “prisoner”), there is talk about leaving for Germany for treatment. On the other hand, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office suddenly revived the 15-year-old case of the murder of Donetsk businessman Yevgeny Shcherban. Tymoshenko is still a witness in this case, but Shcherban’s son recently stated that Tymoshenko was involved in the murder of his father. The BYuT press service has already reported that the SBU is allegedly extracting testimony against Tymoshenko from the person convicted in this case. Be that as it may, the position of the Ukrainian authorities is visible, and it is as follows: in Germany or behind bars, but in any case, Tymoshenko should not take part in the autumn election campaign.

As for the campaign itself, which has already begun without Tymoshenko, but with the participation of her “name” party, it has its own stories, and the main one is the unification of the “Tymoshenko party”, or rather, what is left of it, with the “Front of Change” » Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The two opposition parties intend to put forward a common list, which will be headed by Yatsenyuk. The current head of BYuT, Alexander Turchinov, is number two, and Yulia Tymoshenko’s lawyer, Sergei Vlasenko, will speak third. Today they say about Yatsenyuk that he cynically uses “Tymoshenko’s resource”, as he used the resources of Yushchenko, Firtash and Pinchuk in his time.

The “United Opposition” hopes to repeat the success of 2002, when it won the elections in the wake of anti-Kuchma protests. But it seems that other opposition parties and movements are in no hurry to join the new bloc. Thus, Vitali Klitschko’s “Udar”, which is catching up with Yatsenyuk’s “Front” in ratings, is going to the elections on its own - political strategists assured the boxer that he represents the sacramental “third force”, and that he will be able to repeat the success of Sergei Tigipko in the last presidential elections . Moreover, Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine BYuT and the right-wing parties close to it do not intend to come to an agreement with the BYuT. Natalya Korolevskaya, who broke away from BYuT, initially created another social democratic party, but then, following Tymoshenko’s example, she made it a personal one, and from now on her party will be called “Natalia Korolevskaya’s Party “Ukraine - Forward””. It is possible that this is another “technological game”: Korolevskaya itself will score a little, but it will take away some points from BYuT.

Really, in the so-called "COD" ("Committee to Repel Dictatorship"), in addition to BYuT and "Front", today includes the virtual "People's Self-Defense" of Yuriy Lutsenko, "Reforms and Order", "People's Movement", "For Ukraine" of Vyacheslav Kirilenko and "Freedom" of Oleg Tyagnibok. Tyagnibok has perhaps the highest rating here, but Svoboda can only play seriously in the “majority” and in the western districts. Actually, real conflicts within the “united opposition” are expected precisely in the process of distributing list quotas and dividing up districts. But this is what the opposition leaders are really doing. Although it seems that's all they do. No coherent program and no ideas, other than the demand to release Yuriy Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko “from under the garrets,” were voiced at the unification congress held at the end of March.

And the moment of truth for the opposition may come in the summer: the term of the nominal mayor of Kyiv, Leonid Chernovetsky, expires in May, and, most likely, elections for a new mayor will be held in July. The current head of the regional administration, Alexander Popov, has the best chance. Only Vitali Klitschko can really compete with him if he becomes a single candidate from the opposition. But there is such a line of thought that it is hardly because of Klitschko’s intractability and his refusal to compromise with BYuT that the opposition today is ready to “surrender Kyiv.”