People’s Front expels MP for election stunt

The People’s Front party decided at a Jan. 17 meeting
to expel from its parliamentary faction Yuriy Tymoshenko, who registered his
candidacy for president in the elections scheduled for March-April. Tymoshenko
not only has a similar name to leading presidential contender Yulia Tymoshenko,
but also the same initials. “The formal reason was for violating faction
discipline,” wrote on his Facebook page MP Leonid Yemets. “The informal reason
was that he received money as a deposit and plans to compete for president.”

Zenon Zawada: This is a
standard tactic during Ukrainian presidential elections to trick voters into
wasting their ballot for a non-competitive candidate. It’s almost certain the
Petro Poroshenko re-election campaign recruited Yuriy Tymoshenko for this
stunt.

This decision doesn’t necessarily confirm the
existence of a political alliance between the Yulia Tymoshenko campaign and the
People’s Front party, which has formed the parliamentary coalition with the
Poroshenko Bloc since 2014. But it does confirm that the People’s Front has yet
to form an alliance with the Poroshenko re-election campaign.

That’s particularly important because People’s
Front member, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, controls the national police
force and National Guard. So far, Avakov is neutral in the competition between
Yulia Tymoshenko and Poroshenko, which is positive for Ukraine’s prospects for
stability during the presidential vote scheduled for March-April.