Opposition Bloc accuses Boyko of colluding with Poroshenko administration

The Opposition Bloc party accused its former co-chair,
Yuriy Boyko, of being “an essential part” of the politics of the presidential
administration of Petro Poroshenko in a Jan. 2 statement. It accused Boyko of
launching his new party, the Opposition Platform For Life, without consent of
party leadership, to the advantage of the government. It pointed out that the
Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine hasn’t attempted to remove Boyko’s
political immunity for criminal prosecution, as it did with Oleksandr Vilkul,
the Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction co-chair. The statement accused Boyko
of shifting responsibility for an offshore drilling corruption scandal onto
another party member, Yevhen Bakulin, prompting him to flee the country. The
statement also accused Boyko of writing incriminatory reports about fellow
party members.

The party’s attack statement came in response to
Boyko’s Jan. 1 television interview in which he accused Opposition Bloc members
of dividing the Russian-oriented opposition and working for the Poroshenko
administration. Boyko announced the launch of the Opposition Platform For Life
party on Nov. 9. He was expelled from the Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction
on Nov. 20. Afterwards, Boyko formed the Opposition Platform parliamentary
group.

Zenon Zawada: What’s
ironic about the situation with the split in the Opposition Bloc, the successor
to the once-dominant Party of Regions, is that both the Boyko and Vilkul groups
are trying to depict themselves as being Russian-oriented and opposed to
Poroshenko’s politics, while they both truly support EU integration, and most
importantly, are in cahoots with the Poroshenko administration. As we reported,
Boyko’s close associate in forming the Opposition Platform party, Putin
confidante Viktor Medvedchuk, was exposed for engaging in extensive secret
meetings with the president, even at his home.

As for the Opposition Bloc led by Oleksandr Vilkul,
the party’s main sponsor, Rinat Akhmetov, is widely recognized to have formed a
political and business alliance with Poroshenko soon after he became president
in 2014. It’s also worth considering the Opposition Bloc parliamentary action
co-chair, Vadim Novinskiy, shares ownership in numerous enterprises with
Akhmetov, most notably the Metinvest group of companies.

Vilkul and Boyko are competing against each other in
the presidential elections. However, Boyko has the clear advantage over Vilkul.
Not only does he have higher poll ratings, but the Kremlin’s latest round of
sanctions announced on Dec. 26 indicated its endorsed candidate is Boyko (since
he hasn’t been targeted by Russian sanctions, but Vilkul and Novinsky were).

As for the October parliamentary elections, it’s
unclear how these parties will brand themselves and what their political
platforms will be. As this point, they appear identical and they will
cannibalize each other’s shared electorate if they don’t develop distinct
positions.