Tymoshenko is running for the Verkhovna Rada without Yatsenuk. Poroshenko will run with a new party

Photo: Ivan Chernichkin

The major players in the election race are ready for the elections to the Verkhovna Rada on October 26 and are completing the last negotiations with potential allies. However, because of the upcoming elections the effectiveness of the current parliament raises strong doubts.

VR will not work too hard

As member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Oleksandr Shelestov said in an interview to Capital, the elections will be held according to the current legislation, which stipulates a proportional and majoritarian electoral system. “The commission is ready to hold the elections, so starting August 28 we will open the registration of candidates,” he said.

The CEC estimates that the elections will cost UAH 980 mn, which the Cabinet will allocate from the reserve fund in the national budget. But the CEC also plans to cut the amount of expenses for amending the election law by UAH 140 mn. Namely, it proposes to cancel the provision on financing parties’ and candidates’ election campaigns at the expense of the national budget.

Vice Speaker of the VR Ruslan Koshulynskiy said the MPs intend to examine the issue of introduction of changes to the legislation on September 2. Yet the MPs themselves cannot give a definite answer regarding the effectiveness of the parliament’s work in this transition period.

Authorized Representative of the parliamentary group Sovereign European Ukraine Oleksandr Doniy told the publication that the parliament is ready to support all legislative initiatives of the president, including ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU, given that the vote on this issue is scheduled for mid-September. But Deputy Chair of the Batkivshchyna faction Dmytro Shlemko does not believe the VR will succeed in this initiative. “There will not be enough votes. MPs from majoritarian districts will not waste time of the campaign in order to participate in plenary sessions,” he said in a conversation with Capital.

By the way, for the remaining two months MPs decided to reduce the plenary week to one day. Such an agreement, according to Capital’s information, has been achieved during consultations between the president and the faction leaders.

Tymoshenko runs without Yatsenuk

Even before the official announcement of the start of the election campaign, the main contenders began choosing their strategies and allies. Thus, the political council of Batkivshchyna decided to run for the VR on its own without those parties that formed the parliamentary faction. The party’s congress is scheduled for September 5 when it will approve the program, the electoral list and candidates in first-past-the-post districts.

Lawmaker Volodymyr Yavorivskiy said in a conversation with Capital that the electoral list will be headed by Yulia Tymoshenko, while Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whom the Batkivshchyna party will support as the next head of the Cabinet, will run in the elections with members of the Front for Change party. “This decision was made by the political council and I do not think there will be any changes,” he said. “Yatsenyuk outwitted himself as his name is not on our list. He was looking for a place in both the president’s team and the team of Tymoshenko,” explained Shlemko.

Poroshenko’s team, according to Capital’s information, is discussing the possibility of formation of a joint list with Vitaliy Klitschko’s UDAR. Member of the UDAR Political Council Valeriy Patskan confirmed that such talks were held. “The meeting of the party’s political council will take place by the end of the week. All of its members urgently gathered in Kyiv. I believe a decision will be made there and the date of the congress will be scheduled,” he said.

A source close to the process of negotiations says that the Solidarity party is hoping to use the regional structure of the UDAR, seeing as so far it has not managed to develop its own structure. “We have no time to promote an independent brand of our party and deploy full-fledged party headquarters,” said the source.

As it was previously reported by Capital the heads of regional organizations of the Solidarity party are now focusing on preparations of its candidates in majoritarian districts. The first congress of the Solidarity party is planned for today. Chairman of the Kyiv City Organization of the party Ihor Kononenko said that the congress may consider changing the name of the party.

The Communist Party and the Party of Regions announced their participation in early elections, but they will decide on the dates of their congresses after examination of the presidential decree on the dissolution of the parliament. Leader of the Communist Party Petro Symonenko said in a conversation with Capital that he did not rule out the possibility of merging with other left-wing parties.

The future parliament is already being dissolved

Vice President of the Association of People's Deputies Oleksandr Barabash predicts that the future composition of the VR will be updated by half and the president’s influence in the parliament will increase. Despite this, Barabash predicts that the parliament of the new convocation will not last long – no more than two years. He says the reason for this is that elections are based on the old electoral law. “The parliament will not solve the political crisis as was the case in 1994, when after the full reload of the parliament Leonid Kuchma received several years of stable work for reforms,” he said.

Political scientist Taras Berezovets also predicts short-term existence of the new parliament. Yet former MP Taras Chornovol said in a conversation with Capital that the current status of the early elections should affect the smooth operation of the VR. He said the two previous parliaments elected in early elections functioned for their full terms.