Congress No. 13

Spring began in Kyiv, and exactly on the day when, according to all climatic signs, this happened, the ruling party, the president and the prime minister launched the autumn election campaign. On the penultimate Saturday of March, the congress of the Party of Regions opened in the largest exhibition hall of the capital of Ukraine. He became the 13th in a row, but it seems that the regionals themselves do not see anything symbolic in this - only evidence of their own longevity.

Nevertheless, professional observers caught “bad omens” during the congress, the main intrigue of which, undoubtedly, was the merger of “Regions” with “Strong Ukraine” - in other words, the hero of the last presidential campaign, Sergei Tigipko, finally “joined in” (or “surrendered” ) into the ranks of the “Regions”. This did not come as a surprise, but first things first.

At first, messages from the fraternal parties were ritually read out: Viktor Yanukovych’s party was greeted by Boris Gryzlov’s United Russia and personally by Hu Jintao. Then we moved on to reports. There were three main “speakers”, the roles were written, and the speeches were predictable. Viktor Yanukovych spoke about “civil peace and stability”, called to “look into the face of the so-called opposition” - there is nothing but “discord and demagoguery” in this face (and isn’t that so?). As the latest mobilization trick, the Ukrainian president mentioned social guarantees and the Russian language. That is, the electoral program of the party in power has been determined, and it is not original.

If the “core electorate” of regionalists is still able to believe that Yanukovych’s party is able to change the Constitution and grant the South and East the coveted “bilingualism,” then it will collect a certain percentage of the votes. It is unlikely that it will be great; it is impossible to endlessly shout “Wolves! Wolves!”, at some point they still stop believing you. Just in case, let me remind you: the current rating of the ruling party is a little more than 19%, Batkivshchyna has only 4% less so far, and the Zmin Front has about 10%. Collectively, the opposition is already ahead, and if the Ukrainian oppositionists manage to unite, they will quite realistically take a majority in parliament. This is probably why the next speaker (it was Prime Minister Mykola Azarov) invoked a “threat to the legitimacy of the elections.” This should have been read as “we will take what we have at any cost,” but here’s a characteristic thing: none of the “key” strategists of the Party of Regions is seeking to head the election headquarters, and according to all signs (bad signs!) this will have to be done by the Varangian - Sergei Tigipko.

Tigipko already headed Yanukovych’s headquarters once, it was in 2004, and everyone remembers very well how it ended. But, one must think, the current Ukrainian rulers are not superstitious. Or they simply have no other choice. In the limited range of “regional” slogans, Tigipko is responsible for reforms. Actually, he began his first speech with reforms in his new capacity as the “frontman” of the party in power, but immediately misspoke and moved from “hard reforms” to the “new social policy” that “the president recently spoke about.”

They say it’s all about incurable ambitions, and Tigipko again - as then, in the unlucky year 2004 for him - wants to become prime minister. They also say that Tigipko is being framed again, just like 8 years ago. Life will not be easy, the prospects are bleak, and the presidential party has no chance of “winning fair elections,” despite Azarov’s incantations. This is probably why, if not superstition, then premonition did not allow the deputies to relax completely: the 13th Congress lasted an hour and a half, no more - it seems this is a record. However, in conclusion, the anthem of the Party of Regions was sung: “Regions of Ukraine - the happiness of every homeland.” “Rodina” in Ukrainian is a family, in the local political language it is a clan. And even if not every (“kozhen”), but some (“deyaki”) clans will certainly receive their “happiness” in the fall.