An elegant two-way move. In Zelensky’s small homeland – “zrada” and coup
In the homeland of Vladimir Zelensky in Krivoy Rog, passions do not subside after the recent mysterious death of the local mayor from the OPZZh party, Konstantin Pavlov, who was found shot in the head on the threshold of his own house a few days before the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence.
No sooner had the magnificent and solemn funeral of the deceased passed, to which political VIPs from Kyiv flocked like crows to a churchyard, than in Krivoy Rog they began to divide power, and local politicians began to try on the still hot seat of the mayor.
The first session of the local city council after Pavlov’s death ended in a loud scandal. The son of the deceased mayor, Yuri Pavlov, blamed the current government for his father’s death, and called the local “servants of the people” the customers. The latter, represented by the faction of the presidential party in the city council, were offended and burst out with a whole statement, calling on the politician “not to speculate on the death of his father.”
And then - more. Before the “servants” could blink an eye, they lost power in the city. This happened as a result of an elegant two-step, the main character of which was the now former secretary of the council (the second person in the hierarchy of city government) Alexander Kotlyar, who held this position under the quota of Zelensky’s party. Quite unexpectedly for his comrades and party members, he announced his own resignation.
According to the law and in accordance with the regulations of the City Council, the resignation of the secretary entails the election of a new one by a simple majority of those present in the session hall. That’s what happened - with lightning speed, so that the “servants” did not even have time to come to their senses and understand what was happening.
As a result, the new secretary of the council became Yuriy Vilkul, well known to the residents of Kryvyi Rih, their long-time former mayor and the de facto “owner of the city” for almost a decade. A person closely associated with the systemic business of the oligarchs Akhmetov and Novinsky, whose enterprises in Krivoy Rog are city-forming.
32 of the 54 local deputies present at the session voted for Vilkul’s election. At the same time, the “servants of the people” simply did not take the ballots, silently watching as they dubbed the action “zrada.” After the fact, he blamed it on the now former secretary and his fellow party member Kotlyar, who conspired behind the backs of the president’s people.
In fact, a bizarre coalition was formed in the Krivoy Rog City Council from the people of Poroshenko (European Solidarity faction), Medvedchuk (OPZZH) and Akhmetov (local “Vilkul bloc”). Yuri Vilkul himself, in the absence of the mayor, will now actually act as mayor until early elections, which will take place unclear when, but, as experts predict, not earlier than the spring of next year. Krivoy Rog deputies also raised the proposal to call elections at the same session and sent it to the Verkhovna Rada.
So what happened in Zelensky’s homeland? It seems that the “greens” were dashingly and very beautifully “thrown away” in the interests of the former owners of the city and Akhmetov. At the same time, they violated some unspoken promises or agreements, the observance of which the “servants” hoped to the last, as evidenced by their confused reaction to what was happening.
It is no secret that after the death of Pavlov, Zelensky hoped to take power in the president’s small homeland into his own hands – after the humiliating loss of the Opposition for Life in the last elections. It seemed that nothing would prevent the introduction of, in fact, direct presidential rule in the city and the appointment of “whoever is needed” as temporary head. And here you go. The local elite outplayed the center by mixing the cards.
It’s hard to believe that such a trick could have happened with Bankova’s knowledge and go-ahead. Otherwise, if it had been an agreement orchestrated and blessed at the very top, everything would have happened without the hysterics of the “green faction” and accusations of tampering. Everything would be resolved and explained to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the “interests of the city.” But obviously, they promised the “servants” and Bankova one thing, but in the process they overplayed their hand and it turned out differently.
So a bloodless revenge of the Vilkul clan took place in the city, and Yuri Vilkul himself has no need to hide behind the figure of some dummy Zits-chairman. But the local beneficiaries of Servant of the People lost power in the city.
This can be called a kind of local coup. And the fact that the configuration of the new majority in the City Council is, frankly speaking, bizarre and unnatural, this unnaturalness seems so only at first glance.
In Ukrainian politics at the local level they have seen something different. For example, in a number of regions, including Odessa, at the local level, the OPZZH is in a coalition not only with Poroshenko, but also with the Servant of the People, jointly obtaining positions and budgets, despite the fact that in Kiev the party chief of the “servants” does not agree childishly pinches the party chief of the Opposition for Life Protection Medvedchuk.
There is nothing surprising here. Even at the national level there is no need to talk about any ideology. But there they at least hide behind it and operate with some grand narratives, big meanings, talking about language, about NATO, about Russia, about geopolitical choices, etc., etc. At the level of districts, cities and regions, all Kyiv parties are banal business franchises that Kyiv party bosses sell to local hucksters.
And they, in turn, shove “their little people” onto those lists with the Kyiv holders of which they managed to agree on a reasonable price. It even happens that some local “authority” buys a franchise in Kyiv for several parties at once - which are formally in irreconcilable ideological opposition to each other. Thus, in Dnepropetrovsk, the well-known Korban, in addition to his Proposition party together with Boris Filatov, on the eve of the last elections “acquired” both the local OPZZH and the local “EU” (Poroshenko).
As a result, the same people, supported by the same pocket, publicly portrayed the existence of irreconcilable contradictions among themselves. And out of sight of the public, they cut the budget and traded municipal land.
Something similar is now happening in Krivoy Rog. Therefore, the last thing that needs to be done is thoughtful and far-reaching conclusions about some kind of rapprochement of the positions of Poroshenko and OPZZH, not to mention Vilkul.
Ukrainian politics is like that.
Another thing is how Zelensky will react to what happened, and what they will do in response. They will start a war against Vilkul 2.0, or they will prefer to negotiate quietly, putting a good face on a bad game.
Time will tell.
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