Poroshenko, Tymoshenko are most popular politicians, polls confirm

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko would win re-election if a vote were held in early November, according to a poll conducted by Kyiv’s Razumkov Center between Nov. 4 and 9 and released on Nov. 22. Poroshenko would earn 16.2% of votes, compared to the populist former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who would earn 11.5%. The Russian-oriented Yuriy Boyko would earn 9.4%, populist Oleh Liashko 6.0% and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi 5.7% of support of the poll’s 2,018 respondents.

In another poll conducted on Nov. 22 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 21.3% would vote for Tymoshenko, 18.5% for Poroshenko, 11.7% for populist Vadim Rabinovych, 10.5% for former Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko, 9.4% for Boyko, 9.4% for Liashko and 7.2% for Sadovyi.

The Razumkov Center poll showed that if parliamentary elections were held, 13.3% of voters would select the Poroshenko Bloc, 12.2% for Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party, 10.6% for the Russian-oriented Opposition Bloc, 8.9% for Sadovyi’s Self-Reliance party, 6.3% for Oleh Liashko’s Radical Party and 5.1% for the populist For Life party.

In the KIIS poll, 19.1% would vote for the populist Fatherland party, 13.2% for the Poroshenko Bloc, 10.1% for the Opposition Bloc, 9% for the Radical Party, 8.1% for the For Life party, 6.1% for the Civic Position reforms-oriented party, 6% for Self-Reliance party and 5.5% for the nationalist Freedom party.

Zenon Zawada: These polls confirm that Tymoshenko is a serious threat to Poroshenko’s wide grip on power that he consolidated this year. The Poroshenko entourage is well aware of this, having criticized her in the media throughout the year, including a recent call by Liashko (widely believed to be at the president’s request) to deprive her of citizenship.

These polls also confirm that early elections are counter-productive because they won’t lead to improved reforms or anti-corruption efforts. Only three new parties could come to parliament and they’re not capable of making serious change, not only with their small percentages but their shady personalities.