Boyko files police complaint against Opposition Bloc party member

Yuriy Boyko, the head of the Opposition Platform For
Life party, filed a police complaint against Oleksandr Kasianiuk, a member of
the political council of the Opposition Bloc party, for allegedly forging party
documents to organize a party congress, the Opposition Bloc press service said
on Dec. 11. The complaint was submitted on Dec. 8 alleging the crimes of
interference of the legal activity of a political party and forging documents.
In letters sent to the party’s regional organizations, Kasianiuk allegedly
announced the political council was no longer functioning and called for a
congress to meet on Dec. 15. In response, Boyko said the Nov. 12 political
council meeting didn’t reach these conclusions and any decision on calling a
political council requires the approval of its co-chairs, namely him and Borys
Kolesnikov.

Zenon Zawada: We are
witnessing a battle for the remnants of the Opposition Bloc party, formerly the
Party of Regions, Ukraine’s most influential party that had been led for a
decade by former President Viktor Yanukovych. From these events, it’s apparent
that Boyko still controls the party apparatus to some extent, including the party’s
press service, despite having been evicted from the parliamentary faction. It’s
possible we will see a statement in response from his rivals, those loyal to
oligarch Rinat Akhemtov, claiming to be the political council and press
service.

At this point, it’s still unclear whether the
Akhmetov group will field a presidential candidate to compete against Boyko. If
it does, it will almost certainly be Oleksandr Vilkul, who will is unlikely to
capture his own electorate and will only chip votes away from Boyko. It’s also
unclear whether the Akhemtov group will keep the Opposition Bloc brand for the
October parliamentary elections, or undergo a rebranding.