EuroMaidan council demands single opposition presidential candidate

The Maidan Citizens Council issued a Jan. 9 statement calling for the three parliamentary opposition factions to agree upon a single candidate by Jan. 10 or else face protest activity. The Council also called for the factions to block the parliament’s work in order to force its dismissal. Its MPs should surrender their mandates if they’re incapable of forcing the parliament’s dismissal, the Council said.

“We understand the argumentation that in nominating a single opposition candidate, he could be poisoned or they could do something else. But believe us – there are ways to avoid that to the extent that it’s possible,” said Pavlo Zhovnirenko, a council member and veteran political observer. “Why do we need a single candidate? So that the citizenry can perform an audit of the candidate, beforehand, in order to offer its support. The election campaign would begin the next day. Enough time has already been wasted.”

Zenon Zawada: We agree with the need for a single opposition candidate. However, he must be buttressed by a clear, post-election program based on the committed adoption and implementation of EU Association Agreement provisions. He must also be buttressed by a transparent list of who will serve alongside him the key posts, with backups named for all of them (including the presidency) in case he’s eliminated from the election campaign, whether through technical or violent methods.