"We have a chance to form a majority"

Chairman of the Council of the United Opposition Arseniy Yatsenyuk almost always speaks Ukrainian in public, even when speaking in the Russian-language program “Big Politics” by Yevgeny Kiselyov on the Inter channel. However, during a break between debates, he spoke with a PublicPost reporter in fluent Russian.

— All the election campaigning that I managed to see here in Kyiv is in one way or another connected with the personality of Yulia Tymoshenko. Are you or your colleague Alexander Turchinov, as leaders of the coalition, not offended to actually speak on its behalf?

First, in politics you cannot be offended. Anyone who is offended in politics has nothing to do in politics. Secondly, you simply didn’t watch the advertisement, so you made such conclusions. Third, our campaign is being waged not by one, not by two, but by eight parties, the entire democratic camp. Fourth, the main people of the campaign who deliver the message are Yulia Tymoshenko and me. Fifth, we have 12 VIP speakers who travel around the regions and have held several thousand meetings. This is how the campaign is run.

— What specific actions do you intend to take to free Tymoshenko if you get into parliament?

There is only one measure. All external factors, all external influences have been exhausted. The only possible measure is to obtain a majority in parliament and vote for the amnesty law, which was introduced last year. This law provides amnesty not only for Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko, but also for several thousand more people who suffered from selective justice. This law also makes changes to the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

— Decriminalization of certain articles?

Including. It consists of two blocks - a classic amnesty and a change in the code. We understand that Yanukovych will veto it, but there is the possibility of pressure not only internal, but also external.

“Yanukovych has long made it clear that external pressure and the opinion of the European Union mean nothing to him. There has already been a disruption of the annual international conference in Yalta, a threat to boycott Euro 2012...

Opinion never means anything until it is backed up by action - from the European Union or anyone else. Russia also expressed its opinion through the mouth of Foreign Minister Lavrov.

— Are they putting pressure on you? Are they using administrative resources?

Any campaign is difficult, and this one is even more difficult. Criminal cases have been opened against a number of majoritarian candidates. We are fighting.

- And what was the result of the struggle? You probably did surveys for internal use.

Certainly. We have a chance to form a majority, everything depends on the will of the Ukrainian people. I remember well the studies of 2006 and 2007, when the same “Batkivshchyna” was given 10% less for 3-4 days than it actually received. It is very important how the votes are counted.

— Is there a possibility of falsification?

She always was. The question is scale.