Key Fatherland leaders abandon party

Most of the leaders of the Fatherland party founded by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have decided to abandon its ranks, said on Aug. 27 Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. They include Avakov himself, Tymoshenko’s closest and longtime confidante Oleksandr Turchynov, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Social Policy Minister Liudmyla Denysova, Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko, and others. Avakov didn’t mention which parties these politicians would join, however they are likely to be aligned with the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

The reason for their departure is the failure of a recent meeting of the party’s political council to approve his proposal of signing an agreement to form a wide coalition of pro-European forces united during the election and not competing against the Poroshenko Bloc, Avakov wrote on his blog. “I respect that opinion of my friends and politicians in Fatherland who believe the opposition to Poroshenko brings more good to the country,” he wrote. “I understand the logic of their answers and arguments, I understand the shades and conditions of a possible unification. But I honestly express my opinion that it’s not right and unacceptable in the current situation. Only unity, above all. To overcome one’s own ego and persuade others of the tactic of alliances. I wasn’t able to convince my friends. Time will pass and I will try again.” He also proposed that Yatsenyuk lead the election campaign as first on the party list, while Tymoshenko remained the party chairman.

Zenon Zawada: Avakov’s commitment to his declared principles deserves some concessionary admiration, but a significant factor in his colleagues’ abandonment of Fatherland was Tymoshenko’s falling political star. It’s clear that the Poroshenko Bloc holds the keys to the next Cabinet of Ministers and access to government posts, with the spoils that go along with them.

We have long foreseen that competing forces to the president’s party will emerge, with a pro-EU orientation (as opposed to those with a pro-Russian orientation). They look to be the populist Fatherland party and Radical Party led by Oleh Lyashko. Although many are wary of the threat that populism can pose to the president’s agenda, we see the competition as healthy. Also we are not convinced that Tymoshenko will take the populist path of Lyashko as recent developments have indicated she will attempt to rebrand herself by recruiting young activists and reformers, such as Igor Lutsenko, Kyiv’s leader against illegal construction.