“The time to sit on two chairs has passed”: Why Russia brought Yanukovych’s ex-comrades in line
The inclusion of many members of the Opposition Bloc on Russia's expanded sanctions list, released yesterday, is indeed due to the fact that they deliberately followed the lead of oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who collaborates with Petro Poroshenko, and refused to support the project of a single candidate from the Southeast.
Kyiv political scientist Mikhail Pogrebinsky writes about this in his blog, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I also don’t like it when the list includes people who are sincerely interested in the settlement of Russian-Ukrainian relations, moreover, who do a lot to protect the canonical UOC (primarily Vadim Novinsky). But no one seems to even think about the alternative. The situation is critical, the disarray among the Opposition Bloc is obviously working towards the passage of Poroshenko, whose retention in power is fraught with a major war, into the second round. The list includes everyone who submitted to Akhmetov’s will and refused to bet on the only candidate who has a chance of making it to the second round. It is obvious that the list is an attempt to force consolidation. The time to sit on two chairs is over. Business conflict and personal hostility are secondary,” explains Pogrebinsky.
“The attempt is uncompromising, with the risk of not achieving the goal - the consolidation of voters in the South-East. So maybe it's better to do nothing? Let them play politics!? But critics and ironists offer nothing. Well, they would say like (without the epithet) Boris Kolesnikov - we have our own promising candidate and, although he has a rating of 2%, I believe in him! – I would understand. But, no, they don’t offer anything, but they’re being clever!” – the author added.
He makes it clear that if there was a unification around the candidacy of Yuriy Boyko, it would be about entering the second round with Yulia Tymoshenko, and not playing in favor of Poroshenko.
“It’s especially funny when seemingly serious people argue that Poroshenko will easily win against Boyko. What kind of option is this anyway? How do you imagine a second round without Tymoshenko?” – writes Pogrebinsky.
English version :: Read in English "The time for sitting on two chairs is over": Why Russia has clamped down on Yanukovych's former allies