Boyko, Rabinovich merge pro-Russian parties as Akhmetov MPs oppose

The leaders of Ukraine’s two largest Russian-oriented
political parties, Yuriy Boyko of the Opposition Bloc and Vadim Rabinovich of
the For Life party, signed an agreement on Nov. 9 to merge into a new political
party, the Opposition Platform For Life. Announcing their alliance in
parliament, they invited opposition parties to join their political platform
based on (1) securing unconditional peace, (2) ending the economic genocide of
the Ukrainian people and (3) establishing Ukraine’s neutral status, independent
of NATO. Rabinovich referred to this vision as “the Switzerland of Eastern
Europe.” The new party has yet to agree on a presidential candidate, Boyko
said.

Boyko signed the merger agreement with Rabinovich without
the authority of the Opposition Bloc party, billionaire oligarch and Opposition
Bloc MP Vadim Novinsky told the pravda.com.ua news site on Nov. 9. Novinsky
controls numerous industrial assets jointly with Rinat Akhmetov, another
Ukrainian billionaire. In creating the new party, Boyko acted as a private
individual, Novinsky alleged. The party’s political council will convene on
Nov. 12 to sort out the situation, he said, adding that a party congress is
also being planned. Another Akhmetov ally, Boris Kolesnikov, echoed Novinsky’s
views, adding that he supports consolidation but doesn’t support the new
party’s likely presidential candidate.

The faction of Russian-oriented MPs led by Rinat
Akhmetov withdrew itself from the merger between the Opposition Bloc and For
Life parties, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on Nov. 9, citing an
anonymous source. “I don’t know what they decided without us,” the source said.
“But we are self-reliant people and don’t believe it’s worth rushing on such a
delicate topic.”

Zenon Zawada: Two scenarios are apparent in this reorganization of Ukraine’s
Russian-oriented forces. Either the Akhmetov group of the Opposition Bloc will
succeed in rejecting this declared merger and take control of the party, or
they will abandon this new project and launch their own political force. In
which case, there will be three major Russian-oriented political forces
competing in the elections. Depending on how they conduct themselves, this
alignment will either bring out the maximum results in favor of Russia, or they
will end up cannibalizing the Russian-oriented vote.