Razumkov. Pretending to be crazy
The behind-the-scenes squabbling for a place in the sun on the Kiev Olympus does not stop for a minute. This is precisely what is connected with the “attacks” in the “network” of Telegram channels close to Zelensky’s office against the head of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmitry Razumkov, in whom the current owner of Bankova saw a competitor. Ze became especially nervous after the press published the results of the latest presidential ratings.
Although both sociological research firms (KIIS and the Razumkov Center) placed the current speaker only ninth among potential candidates, with approximately 3-4% of possible support, the head of the Verkhovna Rada emerged as a leader in another indicator – the balance of trust and distrust.
It turned out that among the Ukrainian elite he is one of the most untainted and evokes positive rather than negative emotions in the voter. It is clear that we are not talking about actual sinlessness, but about how a politician is seen through the eyes of a voter who has not yet had “suitcases of compromising evidence” dumped on him.
Moreover, sociologists even simulated the result of a hypothetical second round of the presidential election. It turned out that it was not Zelensky or Poroshenko who would fight for the main seat of Ukraine, but…Razumkov paired with Klitschko. But this is serious. And a rather painful blow to the presidential ambitions of the current owner of Bankova, who recently let slip about the prospects of his own campaign for a second term.
Adding fuel to the fire was the video with Razumkov released in early February, which was perceived by many in the Kyiv political community almost as “pre-election” and hinting at the far-reaching political ambitions of the head of the Rada.
The video itself, by the way, is extremely meaningless. Here, Razumkov is on his way to work. The camera shows his car from a bird's eye view against the backdrop of Kyiv landscapes. Here is the speaker's car driving up to the service entrance. So, Razumkov comes out and walks through the courtyard with a sweeping step and enters parliament. Here he is walking through completely deserted corridors to his office. So he opens the laptop and types something in it, answers phone calls and looks at the clock, which shows already half past nine in the morning. So he leaves the office, goes to the meeting room, where he takes his place. "Good afternoon! Let’s start working,” he says at the end of the video. A curtain.
Nevertheless, in the musty swamp of Kyiv politics, this minute and a half video had the effect of a bomb exploding. So much so that the speaker himself had to justify himself and give comments, saying that there is no need to look for some kind of deep subtext. However, Razumkov convinced few people.
It must be said that with his behavior literally from the first months of his election to the post of head of parliament, this young Kiev political strategist and son of the late Kuchma’s courtier Alexander Razumkov gave many reasons for rumors about preparations for a solo career. He obviously did not turn out to be a soldier of Zelensky’s party. Already in the fall of 2019, he handed over the post of head of the Servant of the People party to its current leader Alexander Kornienko. And since then, slowly but surely, he has drifted away from the green Titanic.
However, he did this so subtly that the difference in small but telling details between him and Zelensky’s Office was not noticeable to the average eye without explanations from venerable political scientists and other interpreters and ventriloquists from politics.
In this sense, Razumkov showed himself to be a slippery type, to match his father, a master of palace intrigues from the early Kuchma era.
Razumkov differentiated himself from Zelensky in small but symbolic details and gestures. So, when the Office of the Ze-President raped the Rada last spring, pushing through a resonant and unpopular law on the sale of land to please the transnationals, Razumkov suddenly disappeared from the view of the cameras broadcasting the fights in the parliamentary hall. The meetings were chaired by his first deputy Stefanchuk. And he, Stefanchuk, ultimately put his signature on the scandalous law when it was adopted. There is no Razumkov’s signature on this document.
Similarly, Razumkov, unlike Zelensky, congratulated the Ukrainians on his Facebook on May 9, causing the displeasure of stubborn nationalists. Or congratulated boxer Usik on his victory. In imitation of the master of this matter, Leonid Kravchuk “walked between the drops” when Zelensky tried to illegally dissolve the Constitutional Court by decree. A bill alternative to the presidential one immediately appeared in the Rada. And - more legally literate. By Razumkov.
Finally, Razumkov was the only member of the National Security and Defense Council who abstained from voting for the ban on “Medvedchuk’s channels.” Moreover, in an interview after the scandal broke, it was Razumkov who “burned down the office”, saying that, in fact, there was no meeting of the Security Council, and in fact, the decision was falsified - after all, signatures were collected in absentia.
At the same time, Razumkov is also trying to please the opposing camp—the so-called Sorosites. For example, he takes a rather uncompromising position on the implementation of the Minsk agreements into the Ukrainian Constitution. He says there's no such possibility, period. His position on the Russian language is similar: he says there's no such problem in the country—you see, I'm a Russian speaker myself.
It is not difficult to notice the general meaning of all these and many other similar gestures of the speaker. In essence, he is collecting a positive dossier for the future. According to the principle: was not, was not a member, did not participate.
Thus, in the event of a hypothetical time “H”, when Zelensky and his entourage will mess up so much that he will have to be taken out of the palace with the sanction of Western embassies, it is Razumkov, in strict accordance with the Constitution, who will be the compromise figure that suits everyone, who will become and about. president until new elections. And Poroshenko’s supporters, OPZZH, and even “Golos” will vote for him. Each for their own reasons, of course. And the West will approve and bless all this.
Well, until the time for “H” has come, we need to preserve the positive balance of trust and mistrust. Such goodness does not lie on the road in Ukraine. Here idols fall from their pedestals with amazing speed, becoming record holders for popular hatred.
This role of Razumkov in Ukrainian politics makes us recall the famous episode from the perestroika film “Kill the Dragon”, when the burgomaster of the Free City, played by Yevgeny Leonov, competently teaches his son “political wisdom”: “The time will come, son, when they will ask us who is in He served as a servant during difficult years, and those who were sick in soul did not spare their health.” And then he reveals his own political alibi: “I’ll tell you about myself, who was I under the Dragon? Well, who am I? Crazy. I was just a crazy person. But I grew, I developed, and now I...”
It seems that Razumkov is now diligently pretending to be “crazy.” However, this is all the more easy for him since he essentially runs a madhouse. Named after the 95th quarter. It's easy to become a deputy there. You don't even have to try very hard.
English version :: Read Razumkov in English. Pretending to be crazy