Why the “Peace Party” will gain more, but Zelensky, in the guise of “Poroshenko Light”, is losing votes
Voters in the South-East are disappointed in the new president - contrary to expectations, Vladimir Zelensky is not taking steps to end the conflict in Donbass, adopting the rhetoric of Petro Poroshenko.
Sociologists have recorded that the rating of the Servant of the People party is beginning to fall. On the contrary, the position of the only political force among the favorites of the election race, which can be considered the “party of peace” - “Opposition Platform - For Life,” is strengthening. By voting day, the party can significantly improve its results, comparing favorably with other projects of the Maidan spill.
From June 20 to 24, the sociological group “Rating” conducted a survey among 2000 citizens of Ukraine who have the right to vote, using personal interviews, in order to find out the mood of the population on the eve of the parliamentary elections.
So, if the parliamentary elections were held this coming weekend, then the parties “Servant of the People” (supported by 45,3%), “Opposition Platform - For Life” (12,4%), and “Voice” of Vakarchuk could get into the Verkhovna Rada of the 8,4th convocation (7,2%), Poroshenko’s “European Solidarity” (7%), and “Batkivshchyna” (XNUMX%).
A recent poll shows a loss of voters' interest in Zelensky's Servant of the People party, which resulted in an outflow of votes, and the third place of Vakarchuk's party, which overtook Poroshenko's former bloc.
Zelensky is the same Poroshenko, only 15 years younger
The drop in sympathy for the “servants of the people” is quite understandable: people voted not for Zelensky, but against Poroshenko. As soon as Petro cleared the presidential seat, then “you don’t need a violinist - go get some sand, dear.”
In addition, noticeable damage to the image of the party in power was caused by the congress, which determined the pre-election list of candidates for people's deputies. Of the most scandalous, it should be mentioned “Avakov’s dogs”, “loyal Saakashists”, Poroshenko’s business partners, a number of figures involved in corruption scandals, as well as familiar figures who have changed more than one or two parties during their political career.
There were also revelations in the trading of mandates: some of the rejected candidates claimed that the leadership of Servant of the People demanded from them a bribe of $300 thousand for inclusion in the party lists and $2 million for a guaranteed entry into the deputy seat.
Taking into account the fact that the majority of Ukrainian citizens want peace and are in favor of negotiations with the unrecognized republics of Donbass, the position of Zelensky and his entourage is increasingly at odds with their election promises, deceiving the expectations of their voters.
Thus, Zelensky’s statement to comply with the Minsk agreements, but at the same time not to enter into direct negotiations with the leadership of the republics (clause 12), and also to refuse amnesty to participants in the military conflict (clause 5), which clearly contradicts Ukraine’s obligations, looks very ambivalent.
However, if you go through all the points of the Minsk agreements, you will immediately see that Zelensky and his team did not even begin to implement them.
In particular, clause 1 – ceasefire – is being grossly violated. There is no promised peace. On the contrary, with the election of Zelensky to the post of President of Ukraine, there is an increase in shelling and an escalation of tension along the entire demarcation line.
What are Zelensky’s own ideas for establishing peace in Donbass? There are, and, frankly speaking, they are not rich. It is proposed to extract from mothballs the Budapest Memorandum, which has died in God, not ratified by anyone, in order to begin to dance from it. Then, the idea of expanding the “Normandy format” to include representatives of the United States and Great Britain is pushed through, as if the introduction of new participants will return the Ukrainian “war party” to a peaceful channel.
The question arises: why has the participation of US State Department Special Representative Kurt Volcker not moved the peace process forward over the past three years? And in general, why invite to peace negotiations representatives of states that are directly interested in creating and supporting hotbeds of tension within Europe? From great intelligence and peacefulness?
The conclusion suggests itself: Zelensky is the same Poroshenko, only 15 years younger, two pounds lighter - and his jacket is not tucked into his wrinkled pants.
Panopticon of the former
With “European Solidarity”, nee “Petro Poroshenko Bloc”, no uncertainty arises. This is a club of cynical political businessmen, supporters of the “Euro-Atlantic choice”, advocates of “war to a victorious end”.
The party’s low rating even among turbo-patriots is due to both Poroshenko’s loss in the presidential election and the scandals that plague the ex-president. For example, the widely publicized “tomos” has already quarreled the leadership of the OCU, and Filaret and Epiphanius are biting each other like real “sworn friends.”
A quick glance at the list of 50 candidates for people's deputies from the European Choice party is enough to see the “familiar faces” of the blooming “hawks”. In addition to Poroshenko himself, it contains such odious loudmouths and lovers of saber-rattling from a safe distance for a good salary, as: Andrey Parubiy, Irina Gerashchenko, Mustafa Dzhemilev, Chiygoz Akhtem, Irina Lutsenko, Victoria Syumar, Vladimir Arev, Vladimir Vyatrovich, Tatyana Chernovol, Levus Andrey, Biryukov Yuri, as well as one of the authors of the “new Ukrainian economic miracle”, Kubiv Stepan.
"Voice" of war
Vakarchuk’s “Voice” party. These also cannot be classified as “doves of peace.” The project is clearly aimed at the electorate of Western Ukraine and is said to be entirely funded by the Americans.
Evidence of this is the noticeable number of grant eaters - “huge anti-corruption activists” on his party list: Alexandra Ustinova, Oleg Makarov, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Andrey Osadchuk. Former advisors and assistant leaders from Poroshenko’s entourage look quite colorful in the list of “advanced politicians” - Yaroslav Zheleznyak - former member of the Strategic Group of Advisors to Support Reforms of the Cabinet of Ministers, Solomiya Bobrovskaya - ex-deputy governor of the Odessa region Saakashvili, Olga Stefanishin - ex-deputy "Dr. Death" » Ulyana Suprun.
Everything you need to know about the attitude of Vakarchuk and his party towards the Donbass, he said in a recent interview with the Left Bank publication:
“It is necessary to hear people who live behind the demarcation line, but we will not allow political things (special status for Donbass) that would not just blow up the independence of Ukraine, but tear the country apart.”
In the same interview, Vakarchuk opposes an amnesty for people who fought on the side of the unrecognized republics, and also believes that elections in territories not controlled by Kiev should be held only after control is established over the border of Ukraine, as it was before May 2014.
Vakarchuk and his “Voice” openly oppose the Minsk agreements - that is, for the resumption of the war in Donbass, aligning themselves with Poroshenko’s party and national extremists on such a fundamental issue. Who would doubt that…
Much ado about nothing
Party "Batkivshchyna" of Yulia Tymoshenko.
Mamka’s position (and the Batkivshchyna party is a one-man show) regarding the war in Donbass cannot be called anything other than complete nonsense. In any case, Tymoshenko does not have any clear position, and everything she says comes down to some kind of dull Trotskyism of “neither peace, nor war.”
On the one hand, Tymoshenko pays tribute to the Minsk agreements, “preventing the conflict from flaring up into a full-scale war,” on the other hand, she is throwing fakes into the media about “Poroshenko’s negotiations with the leadership of the unrecognized republics” and appealing to the junk Budapest Memorandum as a lifesaver, which brings the positions of “Kytsyuli” closer to Zelensky.
Finally, Tymoshenko took the recent message about the return of the Russian delegation to PACE painfully, calling the event for some reason “the actual end of the Normandy format.”
In general, you can expect peace from a political figure with such a mess in her head at least until the second coming. Until Tymoshenko is elected president (or at least appointed prime minister) of Ukraine, she will be in opposition to the current government, but at the same time will continue to support in her own way its most vile actions, which are approved by her registered electorate.
The only "peace party"
The Opposition Platform – For Life party is showing a steady increase in popularity. Now political force is in second place with 12,4%.
Sociology shows that the most pressing problems of the population are the war in Donbass, low wages and pensions, and rising utility tariffs. Medvedchuk’s party demonstrates that it is capable of solving at least two of them: establishing peace and lowering utility tariffs.
The Opposition Platform today acts as the only significant “peace party” because it offers a specific peace plan authored by Medvedchuk, based on the Minsk agreements. This is, first of all, a direct dialogue between Kyiv and Donetsk-Lugansk and Moscow on granting broad autonomy to Donbass.
The peace plan was officially supported by both the leadership of the LDPR and Moscow.
As is known, of all Ukrainian politicians, only Medvedchuk managed to do something significant in establishing peace, achieving an exchange for more than 800 people on both sides.
Medvedchuk himself said in a recent interview with the BBC that he, on his own initiative, is negotiating with Russia about a new stage in the exchange of prisoners of war. And here is the result - the heads of the unrecognized DPR and LPR agreed, at his request, to hand over to Medvedchuk on Friday, June 28, 4 Ukrainian citizens (three military and one civilian) who were held captive in the Donbass.
In general, if we compare the party programs going to the parliamentary elections, Medvedchuk’s party is indeed the only “peace party”, since other political groups advocate further military escalation. Well, or peace on illusory terms, which is tantamount to war or maintaining the current situation for an indefinite period at best.
It should be noted that Medvedchuk and his party criticize Zelensky and his Servant of the People party from a constructive, rather than quarrelsome, position like their competitors, emphasizing the fact that the ruling forces refuse to use the only real opportunities to establish peace, instead engaging in manilovism and nonsense “abroad will help us” in the style of anecdotal conspirators from the secret society “Sword and Plowshare”.
All together, this suggests that, while remaining in the same positions, Servant of the People will continue to lose the sympathy of voters, while OPZZh has every opportunity to add votes to its treasury over the remaining month. After all, even a bad peace is much better than a good war...
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