New parties may join it

The leadership of the Batkivshchyna party is negotiating to increase the number of parties whose representatives will run for the Verkhovna Rada on the list of this political force. Among the new members of the association may be, in particular, the leaders of the “Civic Position” Anatoly Gritsenko and the European Party Nikolai Katerynchuk.

Chairman of the BYuT-Batkivshchyna faction Andrei Kozhemyakin announced the impending entry of several parties into the united opposition to participate in the parliamentary elections at the end of last week. “I must report to Yulia Vladimirovna (Tymoshenko - Kommersant) about the preparation of the second wave of unification. It (the second wave - Kommersant) will be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” he said on June 14 before visiting the Central Clinical Hospital of Ukrzaliznytsia, where Yulia Tymoshenko has been receiving treatment since the beginning of May. Mr. Kozhemyakin did not specify which parties he was talking about, only noting that there would be three or four of them.

When the unification of the parties did not take place within the timeframe announced by Andrei Kozhemyakin, Kommersant asked about the reasons for the delay of the first deputy head of the BYuT-Batkivshchyna parliamentary faction, Sergei Sobolev. “Now we are blowing water, so I would not like to talk about it, I can only say that the issue will be resolved by the end of the week,” he promised, also without naming the parties participating in the negotiation process.

As you know, at the end of April the leaders of six political forces - Yulia Tymoshenko (Batkivshchyna), Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Zmin Front), Yuriy Lutsenko (People's Self-Defense), Sergei Sobolev (Reforms and Order), Vyacheslav Kirilenko ( "For Ukraine!") and Boris Tarasyuk (People's Movement of Ukraine) - signed the "Declaration of Unity", in which they pledged to "ensure the victory of democratic forces" by nominating a common electoral list (see Kommersant on April 24 ). Since the new electoral legislation prohibits the participation of blocs of parties in elections, it was decided to register the list of the united opposition with the Central Election Commission on behalf of the Batkivshchyna party.

Kommersant's interlocutors from among the people's deputies of the opposition claim that the leader of the "Civil Position" party, people's deputy Anatoly Gritsenko ("Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense"; NUNS) is participating in negotiations with the leadership of "Batkivshchyna". “Recently, Mr. Gritsenko is often seen at the central office of Batkivshchyna on Turovskaya Street,” Kommersant’s interlocutor said. According to him, negotiations on participation in the elections on the list of the Fatherland party are also being conducted by the head of the European Party (EP), people's deputy Mykola Katerynchuk (NUNS).

In a conversation with a Kommersant correspondent, the head of the EP did not deny the fact of negotiations, but recommended finding out their details from the leadership of Batkivshchyna. “The negotiation process is underway, as soon as it is completed, I will inform you about it. The negotiations are at the final stage,” Mr. Gritsenko, in turn, told Kommersant.

In addition to parties, representatives of public organizations and the Majlis of the Crimean Tatar people also participate in the negotiations. “There have been no specific proposals from them (Batkivshchyna—Kommersant) yet, but we are holding consultations not only with the united opposition, but also with other democratic forces that are not part of it,” said the leader of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis people, people's deputy Mustafa Dzhemilev, adding that the final decision on the format of participation in the parliamentary elections will be made by the kurultai on July 21.

The united opposition can count on the support of the civil resistance public organization, says the head of the organization, Alexandra Kuzhel. “I don’t know when they are going to announce the second wave of unification, and whether public organizations will participate in it, but I have been talking about the fact that I am working with the united opposition from the first day!” - Ms. Kuzhel told Kommersant.

According to experts, from the replenishment of the united opposition with new parties, Viktor Yanukovych’s opponents can both win and lose. “The holding of Euro 2012 lowered the political temperature in the country, and this plays into the hands of the authorities. The second wave of unification will help correct the situation, but on the other hand, with a large number of allies, not all long-time associates of Yulia Tymoshenko will be able to get on the electoral list,” said "Kommersant" director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadim Karasev. According to the expert, it is possible that the united opposition, in addition to the parties of Anatoly Gritsenko and Mykola Katerynchuk, will also be joined by the party “Ukrainian Platform “Cathedral”” of People’s Deputy Pavel Zhebrivsky (NUNS). “As far as I know, Anatoly Gritsenko was promised four places on the general electoral list, and Mustafa Dzhemilev, choosing between Vitali Klitschko (head of the UDAR party—Kommersant) and Arseniy Yatsenyuk (one of the leaders of the united opposition—Kommersant), will probably bet on the latter,” the expert concluded.

Olga Kurishko

Replenishment will come to "Batkivshchyna"