ELECTION NOTEBOOK
by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau
- KYIV - Any hopes of forming an Orange coalition during the parliamentary
elections are virtually extinguished after former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko signed and submitted on February 21 her own version of an agreement
which the other political blocs didn't agree to and aren't expected to
sign.
The key points in Ms. Tymoshenko's proposal are cancellation
of Ukraine's natural gas agreement with the Russian Federation and forbiddance
of any Orange coalition member from forming a coalition with the Party
of the Regions.
Our Ukraine bloc leaders aren't seriously considering uniting
with her bloc, Ms. Tymoshenko said on February 22, charging that they are
engaged in coalition discussions with the Party of the Regions instead.
She said she chose her course of action because she wanted
to make clear which of her bloc's policies and proposals aren't supported
by President Viktor Yushchenko.
Ms. Tymoshenko's coalition proposal is also a likely reaction
to warnings in recent weeks from leaders of the Pora-Reforms and Order
Bloc that they will reveal which political forces are preventing the formation
of an Orange coalition.
Ms. Tymoshenko said she believes the Pora-Reforms and Order
Bloc is a political technology hatched by the Our Ukraine coalition to
draw voters away from her bloc and carry out political operations against
her.
- KYIV - Providing further verification that no Orange coalition will
form during the campaigns, Socialist Party Chairman Oleksander Moroz said
on February 22 that he won't sign any such agreement before the March 26
elections. He said forming an Orange coalition will only be possible after
elections. "We carry with us the responsibility of the maidan not
only before Ukraine, but also before Europe, which supported us,"
Mr. Moroz said in Brussels. "That's why we didn't go into opposition
against [Viktor] Yushchenko and didn't submit to any projects that oppose
the coalition to this day. "We stand against any revenge from those
representing the prior government, and against those who demonstrate disappointment
and dissatisfaction with the President's actions."
- SYMFEROPOL - The Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
voted on February 22 to hold a referendum on election day on whether Russian
should be the second language of the Ukrainian government. Crimean Procurator
General Viktor Shenchuk immediately filed a legal complaint against the
bill and President Viktor Yushchenko called it illegal.
- KYIV - If the parliamentary elections in Ukraine were held this coming
Sunday, the new Verkhovna Rada would be composed of deputies who represent
the Regions Party (31.5 percent of the voters), the Our Ukraine People's
Union bloc (22 percent), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (15.3 percent), the
Socialist Party (6.1 percent), the Communist Party (6 percent) and the
Lytvyn People's Bloc (5.7 percent). These were the results of a sociological
survey by the Ukrainian Institute for Social Studies and the Social Monitoring
Center, reported Ukrinform.
As far as regional differences are concerned, in western
Ukraine the OUPU is the obvious leader. Eastern, southern and central Ukraine,
as well as the city of Kyiv are dominated by the Tymoshenko Bloc. Meanwhile,
northern Ukraine is split between the OUPU and the Tymoshenko Bloc.
The three top politicians trusted by the public are Party
of the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych, President Viktor Yushchenko and
Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, who are trusted by 42 percent
of the respondents.
The poll also revealed that over 80 percent of eligible
voters intend to cast their ballots on March 26.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February
26, 2006, No. 9, Vol. LXXIV
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