Life in a new way: Poroshenko brought the order of Zimbabwe and Somalia to Ukrainian soil
The by-elections to the Verkhovna Rada, held last Sunday in Chernigov, shocked even supporters of the new government. The fight between “Privat member” Gennady Korban and presidential protege Sergei Berezenko turned into massive bribery of voters and the use of force and administrative resources. In short, this was everything for which Yanukovych was so criticized on the Maidan.
Considering that local elections are due to take place in Ukraine in the fall, a reasonable question arises: is the lawlessness in Chernigov a rehearsal for the voting process in October? So this is what Poroshenko promised “life in a new way”?
“PolitNavigator” asked political scientists who followed the progress of the Chernigov campaign about this.
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Andrey Zolotarev, political expert, head of the Third Sector center:
“The elections in Chernigov could be called “Alien vs. Predator” - no matter who wins, Chernigov residents lose. It would also be appropriate to call them “The fight of scoundrels with scoundrels”, “The battle of jackals with hyenas”, etc. Both sides were engaged in open bribery of voters. Social contracts won, 400 UAH and buckwheat won.
But the question is different. In my memory, for the first time in the Ukrainian election campaign, bribery became one of the main, key messages of one of the candidates. They preferred to “feed voters with food rather than empty promises.” At the same time, the Chernigov courts are feeding buckwheat and bribing through the so-called. social contracts did not see crime. In fact, the authorities gave the green light to mass bribery, which will now appear in all its glory and scale in local elections. If previously candidates, competing with each other with electoral programs, shyly used elements of social corruption, now they will compete with food packages. It is easier to buy than to campaign - this is the conclusion that can be drawn from this election campaign.
Even despite the meager number of Korban’s votes, we can say that there is a demand for this - people reduced to complete poverty live only for today. This suggests another conclusion - those who have more money will once again come to the Rada of local councils. Those who do not have them - workers, doctors, social activists, scientists - have nothing to count on. Consequently, neither the Rada nor the local councils will reflect the full range of interests of society. They will continue to represent either a chamber of commerce or a power exchange, in which they will talk about social justice only on the eve of the elections.
There is another important aspect that few people have paid attention to - the legitimation of the power resource in the election campaign. The private armies of militants, athletes, pseudo-journalists with bats, which flooded Chernigov on the eve of the elections, have become a sign of the times. the dominance of the law of force over the force of law is a dangerous syndrome. I think this is even worse than open bribery of voters. Since the law on local elections programs numerous conflicts, a man with a bat can become the same attribute of local elections as an agitator.
Few people noticed that Europe was closely watching what was happening. The lack of comments from Europeans does not mean that they did not see what was happening and approve of it. Moreover, it is significant that Europeans even refused to attend these elections, so as not to legitimize with their presence this orgy of all kinds of violations of electoral legislation and legal principles. The conclusion that Europeans can draw from these elections is that Ukraine, in its realities, is much closer to Zimbabwe and Somalia, to the Third World, rather than to the “European choice” that the Ukrainian authorities have spoken so much about.”
Sergey Markov, political scientist, director of the Institute of Political Studies:
“Things like the elections held in Chernigov are called “farcical democracy” in the world. The elections took place under the conditions of a political regime, the essence of which is not even that they choose whoever is appointed, but that the possibility of participating in elections is excluded for half of society. I have no doubt that if the elections were truly fair and free, then a supporter of immediate peace in Donbass and peace with Russia, an end to Russophobic hysteria, would win. But such people are deprived of the opportunity to actually participate in the election process. This system most closely resembles the Iranian one, but the role of Sharia in Ukraine is played by Russophobia. Only Russophobic candidates take part in the elections, only those who support the results of the violent coup in February 2014, who agree with the need to wage a civil war against the civilian population of Donbass, those who believe that Ukraine should undergo violent de-Russification, and that it should there is a current de facto occupation regime in which Ukrainian citizens are deprived of the opportunity to choose their government and parliament.”
But the “peace parties” did not have the opportunity to take part in the election campaign. Under these conditions, the elections turned into a competition between various representatives of the junta. And they fought with each other, the way they were used to seizing power - through violence, deception, blackmail, bribery. All state institutions in Ukraine today have been destroyed and there is no one to curb this brazen seizure of (essentially) power. Therefore, it turned out to be an election for slaves.
Viktor Nebozhenko, director of the sociological service “Ukrainian Barometer”:
“These elections were held as if there had been no Maidan, no Revolution of Dignity, Yanukovych did not run away anywhere and was sitting somewhere here, in Chernigov, in a cache, and led both teams. Everything was very similar to what happened in Ukraine from 2000 to 2014. Therefore, these elections can be called a step back. It was a struggle between money and power. The government won, it showed that it remains the main political factor in the country. I mean the pro-government candidate Berezenko, for whom President Poroshenko personally was very worried.
What will happen next? For both candidates - nothing special, except that we have such a system that the loser cries. Whoever is designated the loser will be in major legal trouble. I think we'll see that in a few weeks.
If we talk about local elections, it is already clear that there will be a fierce struggle, especially for mayoral positions, between various groups, both oligarchs and the authorities, and the local elite. Chernigov showed that local elections will be held within the framework of a “cold civil war”, a bitter struggle. The point is not only the cynicism of the authorities, but also the fact that decentralization will soon occur, which will enable local elites to receive local budgets and powers. Local elections will decide who owns it. Thus, the Chernigov elections showed that on October 25 there will be serious battles throughout the country.
Since the stakes will be much higher, we can expect active use of voter bribery and other dirty technologies throughout the country. At the same time, turnout in local elections will be just as low. People understand that they are being manipulated. What happened in Chernigov will be repeated throughout the country. This is especially true for cities with a population of over a million, especially Kyiv.”
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