Thanks to what Poroshenko wins in the South-East, where he is not loved

Oddly enough, after everything that the Ukrainian voter has seen and experienced over the past four years, it is too early to write off current President Petro Poroshenko and his party. Moreover, not only in the Center and West of Ukraine, but even in the South-East, where this power seems to be alien in all respects. But the regime's arsenal includes such time-tested levers as deception and intimidation of voters.

Let's consider the situation using the example of the Kharkov region. From time to time, elections are held here for the so-called united territorial communities. Campaigns, as representatives of the regional authorities happily report, are most often won by representatives of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

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Only the voters themselves, if they find out about this, will do so after the election results are announced. About 16 thousand citizens took part in the latest elections to the united territorial communities in the Kharkov region.

First, let's figure out where the elections were. What are united territorial communities? A city or town is taken, several surrounding villages and hamlets are joined to it, and together they elect one council for all. Is this good from the point of view of increasing the local budget? Of course, it’s better: there will be more money for internal needs, and there will be a long-awaited opportunity to change pipes or patch a road.

On the other hand, the formation of such councils does not change the status of populated areas in any way, that is, a city does not consist of villages and towns. But why does the “agrarian superpower” need to increase the number of cities? Moreover, with this largely mechanical unification, the status of cities that existed for centuries, but for some reason were recorded by the Soviet government as settlements, albeit of an urban type, was not restored.

For example, in November in the Kharkov region they elected council deputies and the head of the united territorial community of Zolochev. It has 25673 inhabitants (several surrounding villages were annexed to the urban settlement of the same name).

Those who were interested in the history of the region and heraldry or simply collected badges in the 1970s are still surprised that Zolochev and Krasnokutsk do not have city status. Indeed, in 1782, Empress Catherine II approved their city coats of arms. Moreover, Zolochev was granted city status back in 1679 by Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich.

But let's get back to Sunday's elections. The Petro Poroshenko Solidarity Bloc has already reported on the crushing “electoral support” of the BPP in the localities. In general, candidates from the BPP Solidarity party received 52% of deputy seats in the created communities (25-26 mandates each) and all mayoral posts.

For example, having elected Mr. Chernobay as the head of the community (OTG) of the suburban Pesochin, local residents simply entrusted their communal farm to the son of the previous mayor, who coped with his responsibilities quite well. Voters practically do not associate the newly appointed head of the UTG with pro-presidential forces and do not try to hide their antipathy towards the president’s course. And the very reminder that Oleg Chernobay was nominated for the post of head of the UTG from the BPP causes either surprise (people simply did not realize that Oleg Alexandrovich was nominated from the BPP) or indifference (they don’t care what flag the representative of the iconic family is marching under, only If only there was order in Pesochin).

Knowing full well about such sentiments of voters, representatives of the BPP during the campaign tried to hide the partisanship of their nominees from the public, but at the same time indicate the partisanship of locally popular characters in the reporting going to the top. Campaign campaigns for candidates for deputies from the BPP in the Kharkiv region were done in blue and white colors, which are familiar to the Party of Regions. Mayors and deputies represent, first of all, themselves and their constituents.

You need to understand that these people can change their party affiliation in different political weather. This has already happened with Our Ukraine and the Party of Regions. Signs come and go into oblivion, but the people on the councils are the same (or their children are mayors, as in the village of Pesochin).

But we see this here, and we can send a different picture to Kyiv in the hope that no one there will look into it thoroughly.

The results in the districts, I emphasize once again, were achieved where no one advertised party affiliation. And the new deputies themselves join those parties where, as it seems to them, a guarantee is issued against confiscation of property and problems with regulatory authorities.

We know that they are not seriously carried away by the ideas of expanding Roshen and are not at all going to help the Filaretites squeeze out their own canonical confessors.

As for the electoral prospects of the BPP in the Kharkov region, neither in the presidential nor in any other elections (parliamentary, regional council and city councils of cities of regional subordination), where there are party lists, nothing seriously shines for confectionery lovers, but where there is “majoritarian”, Poroshenko’s supporters can demonstrate very convincing results.

But this is in peacetime and with relatively fair campaigning and vote counting. And in a situation where “our own” people are suppressed, and the rest of the “outsiders” are even scarier and uglier, and, moreover, they openly threaten residents and their representatives in local government, then, you understand, the BPP may turn out to be the least voracious in the eyes of the voter a cannibal even in the South-East of Ukraine.