Poroshenko, Tymoshenko MPs argue over who is closer to Russia

MPs with the Poroshenko Bloc and the Fatherland party,
led by leading presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, engaged in an argument
during the Sept. 6 session over whose leader has closer ties to Russia. First
Vice Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko pointed out from the tribune that Andriy
Portnov, appointed as news director of the NewsOne television network with
links to the Kremlin, was a member of Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party not long
ago. To which Fatherland Faction Head Serhiy Sobolev responded that President
Poroshenko was serving in the cabinet of Russian-aligned former PM Mykola
Azarov when Tymoshenko was illegally imprisoned in 2011. “When you recall this,
recall where your leader was when the whole country was warring with
Yanukovych. He sat in Azarov’s cabinet,” he said in response. He alleged that
Poroshenko was Gerashchenko’s patron, prompting her to respond that Sobolev’s
patron could be Putin. Poroshenko Bloc MPs then demanded an apology from
Tymoshenko for Sobolev’s comments.

Zenon Zawada: This conflict reveals that the presidential candidates will be trying
to portray the other as having closer ties to the Kremlin throughout the
campaign leading up to the vote (scheduled for March). It will be a nasty
conflict that will dirty the reputations of the candidates. The biggest threat
in this nasty conflict is whether the losing party will concede victory, or
allege vote fraud. And if vote fraud is alleged, the next critical question is
whether mass protests will erupt.