People’s Front announces 2019 election bid without Poroshenko Bloc

The People’s Front party will compete in the 2019
presidential and parliamentary elections, its head and former prime minister,
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, told the party congress that convened on Nov. 10. While
Yatsenyuk didn’t announce a merger with the Solidarity Poroshenko Bloc, he also
didn’t exclude that possibility in his remarks. Among his main positions,
Yatsenyuk called for constitutional amendments to reduce the president’s
authority. The party will decide on its presidential candidate in 2018, he
said.

Recall that the People’s Front party had been in talks
with the Poroshenko Bloc to compete in the 2019 elections together. The
Poroshenko Bloc has the most parliamentary seats at 138, while the People’s
Front has the second-most at 81. Together they form the parliamentary majority
on a de facto basis (though their coalition lacks seven votes to have a de jure
majority).

Zenon Zawada: The
Poroshenko Bloc and People’s Front haven’t been able strike a deal yet, but we
expect this deal will be reached in 2018. This was hinted at by numerous party leaders
at the congress, and the lack of a presidential nominee leaves the door open to
nominating Poroshenko. (The party doesn’t have any strong candidates for
president.)

It’s worth considering that the People’s Front has
almost no chance of qualifying for parliament as its poll ratings are
non-existent. Moreover, the pro-EU “patriotic” electoral niche is already
oversaturated by the Poroshenko Bloc, the Fatherland party, the Civic Position
party and the Self-Reliance party, all of whom have better chances to qualify.