People’s Servant will inevitably cooperate with pro-Putin party locally, MP says

The pro-NATO European Solidarity party is a direct
political opponent to The People’s Servant party and “people won’t accept any
cooperation with it,” People’s Servant MP Oleksandr Kachura said in an Oct. 11
television interview. Therefore, it’s “inevitable” that People’s Servant MPs at
local councils in Ukraine’s Russophile southeastern regions will have to
cooperate with MPs with the pro-Putin Opposition Platform For Life party, he
said. “I think there will be significant support for this party. Therefore,
some kind of a framework will need to be built,” said Kachura, who serves as a
non-staff aide to President’s Office Head Andriy Yermak.

In her turn, People’s Servant Parliamentary Faction
Deputy Head Yevhenia Kravchuk said her party won’t form any political alliance
with the Opposition Platform. “If the issue is exclusively about administrative
matters, we understand there will be separate voting with various factions,
depending on the composition of this or another local council,” she told the
liga.net news site. Local elections are scheduled for Oct. 25.

Kachura was accused by MP Tetiana Chornovol of having
worked in 2013-2014 for the Ukrainian Choice political project launched by
Viktor Medvedchuk, widely viewed as Putin’s righthand man in Ukraine.
Medvedchuk was among the founders of the Opposition Platform For Life party.
The 30-year-old Kachura denied the accusation and said he filed a slander
lawsuit.

Zenon Zawada: The
People’s Servant faction is so diverse that it includes both pro-Russian and
pro-NATO MPs, with the majority holding a basic pro-EU position. Kachura seems
to belong to the pro-Russian wing, and it’s very revealing that he feels
comfortable enough to make such a statement. His comments indicate his regret
that The People’s Servant swung too far to pro-Western positions, thereby
losing a large chunk of its pro-Russian electorate to the Opposition Platform.
Yet others have criticized the faction for being too Russian-oriented. We
expect this balance will be maintained between the pro-NATO and pro-Russian
wings for as long as Zelensky is president. What we don’t expect is much being
accomplished with such drastic differences in worldview in the president’s
parliamentary faction.