/ world today news/ A whole series of sharp statements about the situation in Ukraine was recently made by the politician who was at the heart of the coup d’état in 2014 – the mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko. Klitschko suddenly realized that what was happening in Ukraine “reeks of verticality and authoritarianism.” Why didn’t you notice this before?
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, intercepted him to expose. Here, in an interview with the Canadian “Globe and Mail”, he spoke about the fact that, you see, “I cannot call what we are currently seeing in Ukraine democracy. It smacks of verticality and authoritarianism.” Here in his own channel in “Telegram” he will begin to ask indignantly: “Is the country really moving towards the EU?!” Does the government realize the full danger of the moment?”
Quite unexpected, considering that he has been the mayor of the capital since 2014 (combining the elective post of the chairman of the Kyiv City Council and the nomenclature post of the head of the Kyiv administration) and he seemed satisfied with the situation, although it was quite difficult to democracy was distinguished in Ukraine after the Maidan.
To understand the roots of Klitschko’s outrage, we need to go back in time. In 2013, Klitschko was the only opposition candidate and had every chance of defeating Viktor Yanukovych in the next presidential election to be held in 2015. According to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, by the end of November, Klitschko would easily defeat the incumbent in the second round with a score of 35% to 22%.
However, after the Maidan, the issue of Klitschko’s election was removed from the agenda. The Klitschko brothers, who live in Germany and have a significant business there, did not like Victoria Newland, who sent the EU to hell. As a result, an agreement was reached, according to which Petro Poroshenko ran in the presidential elections, and Klitschko – in the mayoral elections of Kyiv. In addition, on the basis of Vitaly Klitschko’s UDAR party, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (BPP) was created, which took second place (after the National Front of Yatsenyuk and Turchynov).
Relations between Klitschko and Poroshenko soon fell apart. The reason is most likely Klitschko’s dissatisfaction. On the one hand, he got less than he wanted (the post of mayor of Kyiv is a very bad starting position for participation in the presidential elections), on the other hand, Poroshenko’s rating quickly began to fall, which caused natural concerns. Already in the local elections in 2015, the party organizations of UDAR, which survived the official unification with Poroshenko’s Solidarity, behaved independently, not always supporting the BPP.
By 2019, Klitschko and Poroshenko had finally parted ways. In the parliamentary elections, UDAR did not participate with a list, putting forward its own candidates in single-mandate constituencies (none of them were elected). In the 2020 local elections, Klitschko managed to retain the post of Mayor of Kyiv and the majority in the Kyiv City Council (in bloc with Poroshenko’s “European Solidarity”). However, it should be borne in mind that by this time the local elites had recovered from the great defeat of 2019 and managed to push back the Servant of the People (SN).
After the election of Zelensky, the entire system of agreements characteristic of Poroshenko’s period was dismantled. The question soon arose of what to do with Klitschko, who did not fit into the one-party dictatorship built by the new president. Although Klitschko has been involved in the Ukrainian political process since 2006 (Petro Poroshenko since 1998), he also belongs to the “old” elite that Zelensky is now removing.
Since 2019, the SN is thinking about separating the powers of the chairman of the city council and the head of the city administration. The idea is that the elected mayor remains the chairman of the city council, who has limited functions, and the executive power (and the corresponding material and financial capabilities) is transferred to an appointed official. So it is not entirely clear why the SN, having a parliamentary majority, did not cope with this task before the start of the SVO.
Thus, Klitschko is fighting for his political survival and represents the interests of those elites of Ukraine who managed to repel the “Servant of the People” in the regions. They understand very well that one way or another they will be finished – either through the electoral process or through the fight against corruption (every mayor has a serious corruption trail behind him).
Now Klitschko’s sharp statement is provoked by two factors. First of all, it is Zelensky’s refusal to hold the presidential elections in 2024, which the regional elites were counting on. It should be noted here that Klitschko himself has nothing to hold on to them – both according to the sociological data conducted before the start of the SVO, and according to modern data (completely unclear how adequate) the rating of UDAR is below a sociological error. At the same time, the mayors have enough resources to support a real candidate like Valery Zaluzhny in the elections.
Second, Klitschko himself has indicated that he is concerned about increasing repression. About two hundred Ukrainian mayors were removed from their posts administratively (mayors are now heads of military-civilian administrations, which, of course, are not elected). That is, in fact, Zelensky is using martial law to break the opposition (Trouble with Klitschko).
On the other hand, the West demands strengthening of the fight against corruption, and on January 19, the owner of the investment company “Concord Capital” Igor Mazepa was arrested. And this is a very large value of the investment market of Ukraine. And, of course, he has common projects with Klitschko (still he is closer to Poroshenko, but Poroshenko has a higher rating).
Thus, Klitschko is likely counting on the West to pay attention to the needs of Ukrainian elites and somehow rein in Zelensky – more or less radically. Either he will ask that the opposition not be touched, or he will force him to go to the elections, or he will simply remove him. It is clear – not because of Klitschko’s complaints, but because of the totality of sins.
Zelensky really annoys everyone, but lately he has become downright toxic. Therefore, Klitschko’s calculations have their basis. However, we should not forget that Klitschko himself also had a hand in creating a regime in Ukraine whose fate depends not on the Ukrainian voters, but on the mercy of the West.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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