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“European Solidarity” started the fight in the elections of the mayor of Kiev
The appearance on the streets of Kiev of billboards with a portrait of Petro Poroshenko and the slogan “Our goal is European Kiev” sparked rumors that the former president himself will compete for the post of mayor of the capital. A congress of the European Solidarity party was held on August 31, but no candidates for the mayor of Kiev or other regional centers were announced. Electoral legislation sets the deadline for the official nomination of candidates for mayor and deputy from September 15 to 24.
Therefore, the EU and Poroshenko himself still have 3 weeks to decide their participation in the elections.
And in the circle of the former president himself, there are rumors that Eurosolidarity will not nominate anyone for the mayoral elections, and his wife Poroshenko Marina will top the party list of the Kiev City Council.
“Strana” analyzes how the former president plans for the capital.
Save the rating of “Eurosolidarity” in Kiev
“Only chestnuts should be green in Kiev.” With this motto, the billboards of the People’s Deputy of “European Solidarity” Aleksey Goncharenko hung in the capital for several months. For a long time, it was he who was considered the EU’s leading candidate for the post of mayor of Kiev, and it was his personal qualification that was measured by sociological companies. Goncharenko himself, in a conversation with “Strana”, argued that the decision on who the party would nominate for mayor of Kiev would be taken by the political force closest to local elections.
But with the arrival of autumn, new advertisements flooded the streets of the capital. In it – the former president, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko and the slogan “Our goal is the European Kiev.” That immediately led to rumors that Poroshenko himself would be personally nominated for the post of mayor of Kiev.
7 years ago, even before the Euromaidan events, Petro Poroshenko had already tried to become mayor of Kiev. Recently, his former comrade in arms David Zhvania shared the details of how the negotiations on Poroshenko’s nomination were conducted. According to Zhvania, Poroshenko asked then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych for permission to run for mayor of Kiev.
“In 2012-2013, before the start of the Maidan, Petro Poroshenko really, really wanted to become mayor of Kiev. And he not only wanted, he tried to get a blessing from Viktor Yanukovych for this. He wanted Yanukovych to first appoint him head of administration. state of the city of Kiev, but then allowed him to stand for election, “Zhvania said.
According to him, for the sake of this, Poroshenko spoke with Yanukovych’s entourage and promised to carry out all of Bankova’s orders. “He humbly sat in the reception rooms of Lyovochkin and Klyuev. He promised to be a loyal Yanukovych soldier and carry out all the orders of the Presidential Administration, if only Kiev were given,” the former MP said.
Zhvania admitted that he helped Poroshenko negotiate with the Party of Regions leadership and even promised a bribe to help him solve this problem, but it was not possible to agree, as Yanukovych personally decided to reject Poroshenko. “He said that Poroshenko cannot be trusted, that he will cheat and betray,” Zhvania said.
By the way, Poroshenko himself in April 2013 on live broadcasts of various political talk shows directly said that he was ready to go to the elections for the mayor of Kiev from the opposition.
“There will be a candidate from the authorities, and his last name is not Poroshenko. From the opposition, maybe his last name is Poroshenko,” he told reporters.
“For those who are interested in political undercurrents, it is no secret that in 2010-2013 for Poroshenko, the post of mayor of Kiev was the pinnacle of dreams. He more than once behind the scenes said this and asked the support of the tyrannical velvet government of that period. Why are you asking now? Billboards with a renewed face? “- Elena Lukash, who at that time was the Minister of Justice, scoffs at this point.
But then Euromaidan began, as a result of which Poroshenko himself had the opportunity to occupy a much higher position than to sit in the chair of the mayor of the capital.
Seven years later, the question of the ambitions of the mayor of Poroshenko was updated again. But experts interviewed by “Strana” do not believe that the former president wants to change the chair in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada for the post of mayor of Kiev.
“Considering the fact that” European Solidarity “has no one who could be nominated for mayor of Kiev, they came up with such a political technology move that everyone would think Poroshenko would run in person. Goncharenko did not withdraw the elections. Turchinov was persuaded, he didn’t want to, so they use Poroshenko’s own brand, hoping that this will help save “European Solidarity in Kiev,” political analyst Vadim Karasev told Strana.
According to Strana sources, Poroshenko’s entourage is working on an option in which the party will not nominate anyone for the position of mayor.
“Poroshenko will definitely not become mayor of Kiev. The risks of losing are too great. Also, for now, the basic concept is not to nominate a mayoral candidate at all (who may not go to the second round, what which will be an embarrassment to the party), but will focus on promoting the party list in Kiev City Council. That’s why they put an announcement with Poroshenko. I mean, this is an issue for the elections to the Kiev City Council, not the mayor “says the source.
But, according to him, a person named “Poroshenko” could well participate in the elections.
“Now the option is being worked out and calculated according to sociology that the Eurosolidarity party list in the Kiev City Council will be headed by Poroshenko’s wife, Marina,” the source said.
Vadim Karasev also does not exclude the participation of Marina Poroshenko in the elections.
“After the situation in Belarus, when Tikhanovskaya went to the polls instead of her husband, the trend of nominating her faithful wives instead of herself has become very popular. All these family duets will now grow all over the world. And there is such a sign that I recommend the most valuable thing to them, that I have my wife, “says Karasev.” But of course there is no guarantee that this measure will work.
In any case, according to the calendar plan for the local elections, the official nomination of the candidates for the positions of mayor should take place at the conferences of the city party organizations from September 15 to 24.
So the former president still has three weeks to think.
Force Klitschko to form a coalition
Meanwhile, experts interviewed by Strana believe that whatever decision Poroshenko himself makes, whether or not to go to the elections in Kiev, the posters with the former president’s face in Kiev carry an important strategic task for the entire political force in local elections in the capital, do not just go to the Kiev City Hall, become the core of the ruling coalition there (for example, with “Blow”) and appoint your own secretary. This, and not participation in the mayoral elections, was originally the main objective of the party.
And there were certain possibilities for this. As recent opinion polls show, “European Solidarity” was consistently in the top three, along with “Servant of the People” and “Blow.”
But these indicators in the capital were measured even before the moment when the showman Sergei Pritula announced his campaign for the mayoral elections in the “Voice” party. And its electoral field intersects, first of all, with “European Solidarity”.
Therefore, the situation for Poroshenko’s party worsened not only for the mayoral elections (it was bad before, since a significant part of the party’s supporters would vote for Klitschko anyway), but also for the party’s list.
“After Pritula’s announcement of a campaign for the elections to the mayor of Kiev, the issue of the second round of the elections was closed for the EU party. And if their representative is not in the second round, it turns out that they have no moral right to form a coalition with Klitschko, who will obviously win this election. Poroshenko fears that Klitschko will form a coalition with the “Servant of the People”, or choose a smaller and weaker coalition for him and agree with him on his own terms, and “European Solidarity” will be forced to oppose it. he will be dedicated to maximizing the outcome of the game, “believes Ruslan Bortnik.
Political analyst Andrei Zolotarev believes that Poroshenko’s main idea is to become president again. And Kiev cannot help him in this regard.
“I see here an element of political pressure on UDAR and Klitschko personally. Poroshenko has a fixed idea: this is revenge. He sleeps and sees himself as president. But he does not have that percentage of support in Kiev, as in Lvov, to enter in the campaign from the wheels. If you had support in Kiev, you could quickly implement your solution of ideas. Otherwise, getting involved in the elections at the risk of obtaining a harbuz is too great a political and reputational risk. Your real goal is to get a good representation in the Kiev City Council, which will give you the opportunity to influence the situation in Kiev. This is the only reason you use your name as a locomotive. Start now, you really face Klitschko, someone else will win , for example, Vereshchuk, who has a clear and predictable electorate, and will definitely never come to terms with her, “says” Country “Zolotarev.
