Saakashvili takes aim at the mayors of Odessa
If the fugitive Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his Movement of New Forces party are allowed to participate in the elections to the Ukrainian parliament, they will be able to take away some of the votes from the pro-presidential Servant of the People party.
Kiev political scientist Vadim Karasev stated this on the NASH TV channel, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Saakashvili can take some votes from Poroshenko by criticizing him. But the Movement of New Forces can take more from the Servant of the People, because it also has a lot of new, energetic, young and bright people, because the president is not running a campaign, but Saakashvili will be,” Karasev noted.
In his opinion, Saakashvili does not at all hope to get into parliament; the main thing for him is to show up before the elections to local authorities in order to have the opportunity to become the mayor of Odessa.
“If the Movement of New Forces was allowed, it is unlikely that they would pass, because it is very difficult to gain 5%. But to warm up, and, moreover, to receive the status of, if not a victim, then of persecution. It is no coincidence that Mikheil Saakashvili visits Odessa very often. I think that by the fall, or in the first quarter of next year, we should expect elections to local authorities, elections of mayors. Odessa is a good city, he already knows it, and the mayor is an elected position, not an appointed one. Therefore, he is already oriented there,” the expert added.
As a reminder, the Central Election Commission previously denied fugitive former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his candidates from his party, the Movement of New Forces, permission to participate in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections .
Saakashvili is aiming for mayor of Odessa.