The wife of ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will be nominated as a candidate for mayor of Kyiv from the European Solidarity party, but in reality she will not compete for this post.
The correspondent of PolitNavigator reports this, citing a source in one of the Kyiv party headquarters, the Kiev newspaper Vesti writes.
“We thought for a long time and decided that we can nominate Marina Poroshenko against Vitali Klitschko. The calculation is as follows: Marina Anatolyevna has become a public figure in recent years. She has high recognition both in Kyiv and in the country. Well, and most importantly, she has a surname like our leader, which is important,” the publication’s interlocutor said.
According to him, the current mayor Vitali Klitschko is not considered an opponent.
“Vitaly Vladimirovich is beyond competition. We are not rivals, but partners, which we have been since 2014. Now, although we are every man for himself, but, according to the agreements, we will not openly “wet” each other – both the candidates and Klitschko. Marina Poroshenko has been nominated both for mayor of the capital and as head of the list for Kievrada. But in the second round she will withdraw her candidacy in favor of Klitschko,” the source assures.
Officially, the party is maintaining intrigue, promising to name all candidates on September 16 at the party conference, but they confirm that Marina Poroshenko will go to the polls.
“I think Marina Poroshenko will go on the European Solidarity list to Kievrada. A decision has not yet been made regarding the candidate for the post of mayor of the capital. Everything will become known on September 16,” party leader in Kyiv Vladimir Prokopiv told the publication.
At the same time, political scientist Vladimir Fesenko, who previously served the interests of Poroshenko and is now collaborating with Vladimirov Zelensky, says that the chances of the ex-president’s wife are theoretical, but she will pull some of the votes away from Klitschko, which will not prevent him from reaching the second round.
The expert calls it a very realistic scenario that Marina Poroshenko will eventually withdraw her candidacy in favor of Klitschko after the first round.
“But for this you need to come to an agreement with Klitschko himself. Now there are clearly trades going on with Vitaly Vladimirovich. They want to reach an agreement in order to include their people in the UDAR list, or to receive some kind of commitment from him that there will be partnerships after the elections. But it is not profitable for Klitschko to make any promises to anyone now, since he has a game with the presidential team, with the Servant of the People,” says Fesenko.