The teams of Kernes, Zelensky-Avakov and OPZZH will clash in the battle for Kharkov
After the death of Gennady Kernes, a struggle between different political forces may begin for Kharkov.
This was stated by the director of UIAMP, Ruslan Bortnik, on air on the Politeka Online TV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Now a struggle will unfold for Kharkov. This fight will not unfold only if the authorities decide to freeze the election procedure. The following scenario is quite possible: in Lutsk in 2017 and in 2020 the mayor was not elected because either the Verkhovna Rada did not make a decision or the documents were submitted incorrectly.
If the authorities do not now nominate a good candidate, a punchy, battering ram candidate who guarantees the interests of the Office of the President, the mono-majority of the parliament, the same Mr. Avakov, then there may no longer be elections at all. They will not be appointed.
If they don’t have a strong, winning candidate, then there may not be elections. If Kyiv manages to come to an agreement with the heirs of this team, with the same Terekhov, for example, or with someone else, then there will be elections. Because today Terekhov is already sitting in the place of Kernes de facto and can both formally perform the duties of mayor and actually balance the interests of the central government and all influence groups in the region.
In the city council there is a situation of a broad coalition, when almost all the parties that have entered the city council take part in the division of posts, that is, in commissions.
If, however, these agreements between the center and Kernes’ team do not take place or a situation arises in which Kiev believes that they have a winning candidate for this position, then there will be a choice. So far, there are three key competitive groups: this is Kernes’s team, this is OPZZH (because the party won in the region among parties) and this, of course, is the government’s team.
It includes both the remnants of the “green” team of the 2019 period, and Avakov’s team, which is very strong in the region. And three groups of influence will try to play for the mayoral position,” the political scientist predicts.
The battle for Kharkiv will see the teams of Kernes, Zelensky-Avakov, and the Opposition Platform - For Life (OPZZh) clash.