Klitschko calls on Tymoshenko to remove her presidential candidacy

Vitali Klitschko, head of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), called upon presidential contender Yulia Tymoshenko to remove her candidacy on behalf of Petro Poroshenko, the easy favorite to win the May 25 election. Klitschko and Poroshenko have an agreement to consolidate their political forces with the goal of ensuring a convincing victory of the pro-EU, democratic forces in the next presidential, parliamentary and Kyiv mayoral elections.

“Our country stands before not only the necessity to fulfill enormous reforms, but also before the threat of a military intervention from Russia,” Klitschko stated in an article submitted to the German newspaper Bild, published on March 31. “That’s why I have been openly stating for a long time: we should nominate a common candidate for the presidency from all the democratic parties in order to not split the country any further.”

Zenon Zawada: Nice try, Vitali, but Tymoshenko isn’t the type of step aside for anyone. Moreover, she and Poroshenko are bitter rivals, having been at the center of the conflict that brought down the first Orange government in 2005. We agree with Klitschko’s position that the pro-EU integration forces should consolidate. But the polls indicate that Tymoshenko won’t pose much of a threat to the united Poroshenko-Klitschko front anyhow.