>> UKL Translations
Kolesnikov Might Lead the Opposition at the 2006 Elections
by Anastasia Preobrazhenskaya
Strana.ru, 11 April 2005
[translated by Lisa Koriouchkina for UKL]
[Original
text]
The power disposition among the political opposition might significantly
change after the head of the Donetsk Regional Council, Borys Kolesnikov,
was arrested. First of all, one could expect the Party of Regions (PR)
and the SDPU (O) to unite as one political bloc. Now that the party ideologist
of the current opposition is arrested and assets of the PR's and the SDPU(O)'s
leading political actors are under scrutiny, both parties have much in
common. They could only defend themselves from the new authorities by
joining their forces.
On Saturday, April 9, the newspapers Salon Dona I Donbassa (Donetsk) and
Segodnya (Kyiv) proclaimed that Kolesnikov might lead the opposition during
the 2006 Parliamentary Elections. Rinat Akhmetov, a Donetsk businessman
who sponsored Yanukovych's elections campaign, owns both newspapers. According
to a Strana.ru correspondent, Rinat Akhmetov has recently "acquired"
the Labour Ukraine party that was previously headed by a former head of
the National bank and a leader of Yanukovych's elections headquarters,
Serhiy Tihipko. In a press interview, a young ambitious deputy and a member
of the Party of Regions, Valeriy Konovalyuk, confirmed that he was approached
with an offer to lead "Trudovaya Ukraina.". He did not specify
the conditions of this offer. It is important to mention that during the
last elections campaign, while supporting Yanukovych and his political
platform, Konovalyuk did not succumb to the level of primitive populism
as many of his colleagues from other fractions such as SD ("esdek")
member Nestor Shufrych or Regions of Ukraine member Taras Chornovil did.
Also, as an assistant to the head of the budget committee, Konovalyuk
has never been too enthusiastic about government proposals regarding the
budget and was never afraid to criticize certain aspects of those proposals.
In the corridors of the Verkhovna Rada, there are rumors that Akhmetov
"purchased" Labour Ukraine as a backup in case the Party of
Regions and its leaders fail to restore the party's authority among the
majority of the Ukrainian society. If prior to the elections the Party
of Regions retains its fairly high ratings (currently, sociologists forecast
that in 2006 PR could receive 12-17%), both parties would enter the elections
as a single bloc.
At the same time, according to Ukrainian political analyst Vadim Karasyev,
a real opposition in Ukraine would only arise in a couple of years and
would represent those who supported Viktor Yushchenko during the last
elections. As Karasyev remarked in an interview to a Strana.ru correspondent,
"the current opposition is lacking new leaders and a clean reputation."
"A new leader of the opposition should have a sense of a mission
and a clean biography. Also, he should not be connected with the political
regime of Leonid Kuchma. Put all of this together, and one gets what political
analysts call a charisma", the analyst said.
Political scientists have pointed out a long time ago that Viktor Yanukovych
has few chances of leading the opposition that would be comprised of parties
currently labeled as opposition. First of all, Yanukovych is an "armchair
politician." Secondly, his closeness with an ex-president Leonid
Kuchma, falsifications of the last elections results, and, finally, scandals
surrounding financial support of his campaign at the expense of the state
budget as well as problems with few biographical facts negatively affect
his ratings.
As recently as two weeks ago, political analysts entertained a possibility
that the leader of SDPU(O), Viktor Medvedchuk, could take on a role of
a real leader of the opposition during the 2006 Parliamentary campaign.
Now it seems the situation is changing. Boris Kolesnikov lays claims to
the role of the opposition leader. Yanukovych continues his struggle for
a release of his former assistant even after the Pechirskii raion court
of Kyiv declined a complaint filed by a lawyer Andrei Fedur questioning
the legal basis of Kolesnikov's arrest. The court satisfied a request
of the General Prosecutor to retain Kolesnikov without bail. Let us remind
our readers that Kolesnikov was arrested on April 6 on charges of extortion
when he was called to the General Prosecutor to testify in a case regarding
separatism. As an official leader of the Party of Regions, Yanukovych
promised that unless authorities initiate a dialogue with the opposition
regarding Kolesnikov's arrest, actions of protest would be initiated.
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