Tymoshenko calls for halt to farmland market after strong election results

Yulia Tymoshenko, the head of the anti-IMF Fatherland
party, identified five priorities for its representatives in local councils at
a Nov. 23 press conference. They are (1) immediately learning the situation in
all hospitals and laboratories and forming a list of urgent measures, including
the creation of a COVID-19 fund, (2) learning the situation with small- and
medium-sized enterprises and provide them with urgent aid, (3) learning the
situation with all ruinous aspects of education in Ukraine, (4) learning the
ecological conditions of various territories and creating a list of actions to
minimize the threats and (5) halting the launch of the farmland market.

The People’s Servant party, the pro-presidential party
with a nebulous geopolitical position, drew the most support in the Oct. 25
local elections from Ukraine’s central-southern regions of Kirovohrad,
Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolayiv, according to a report published on Nov. 23 by the
Rating Sociological Service. The party finished among the top three
vote-getters in 16 out of Ukraine’s 24 regions (and the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea).

The Fatherland party, which had the second-most votes
in the Oct. 25 elections, drew the most support from the central-west regions,
particularly Kirovohrad in the center and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west. It
distinguished itself with its fervent opposition to the launch of the farmland
market backed by the IMF.

The European Solidarity party drew the most support
from the pro-Western hubs of Kyiv and Lviv, while the Putin-aligned Opposition
Platform For Life party had the strongest backing in Ukrainian-controlled
Donetsk and Luhansk. The For the Future party, led by Ihor Palytsia, had the
strongest support in his base of the Volyn region, as well as other parts of
western Ukraine. The survey was based on data from territorial election
commissions and its own monitoring in September and October.

Borys Filatov, the mayor of Ukraine’s fourth-largest
city of Dnipro, won re-election in a second-round runoff held on Nov. 22, the
city council confirmed the next day. Vitali Klitshcko won re-election in
Ukraine’s largest city of Kyiv, Hennadiy Kernes won re-election in Ukraine’s
second-largest city of Kharkiv and Gennady Trukhanov won re-election in
Ukraine’s third-largest city of Odesa. All four mayors lead their own political
parties.

Zenon Zawada: Tymoshenko
earned a lot of political capital with her vocal opposition to the farmland
market, which is shared by the majority of Ukrainians. Her Oct. 25 election
results provided her with the dividends. But these dividends won’t be shared
with the public since we view it as highly unlikely for the farmland market to
be overturned at this point (though anything is possible in Ukraine in light of
the scandalous Oct. 27 Constitutional Court ruling disrupting the
anti-corruption infrastructure). Beyond its farmland market opposition, the
Fatherland party has little to offer the public and has waned in influence.

Also declining in influence is The People’s Servant
party, despite its leading position in the Oct. 25 elections. The party has its
base in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the native lands of Ukrainian President
Zelensky. Given his lack of conviction towards either the West or Russia,
Zelensky is unlikely to regain the leading position in Ukraine’s key cities of
Western-oriented Kyiv and Russian-oriented Kharkiv.