Yatsenyuk and Turchynov will run for the Verkhovna Rada under the cover of Maidan and ATO heroes

Oleksandr Turchynov and Arseniy Yatsenyuk assigned role in the new party

Photo: Konstantin Melnitskiy

Yesterday, Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk and VR Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov officially registered in Kyiv their political divorce from the Batkivshchyna party and its leader Yulia Tymoshenko. However, they have so far failed to form a new pre-election union with President Petro Poroshenko.

There is a party, but no program

The congress of the new political project in the Teacher’s House in the nation’s capital started with a small delay due to an extended meeting of the government with the president. That is why the delegates had to wait not only for Yatsenyuk and Turchynov, but also for the ministers who decided to join the new project. They are Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko, Social Policy Minister Lyudmyla Denysova, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov and Minister of Infrastructure Maksym Burbak. There were also more than a dozen people’s deputies from the Batkivshchyna faction and commanders of several volunteer battalions in the hall. “It is symbolic that all battalions that were up front during Maidan and in the ATO zone united into the People’s Front,” said former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Parubiy. However, the commanders of the battalions and other active participants of the ATO were not included in the management of the new party, namely its political council. Turchynov explained that the law prohibits servicemen and law enforcers to be members of any party. Due to this, a military council of the People’s Front was formed from the law enforcers. “We will meet, express our proposals on strategic planning, military doctrine of the country and reform of the army,” coordinator of the Informational Resistance Group Dmytro Tymchuk told Capital.

The official political council of the new party includes people’s deputies and members of the Cabinet, as well as advisor of the Minister of Internal Affairs Tetyana Chornovol.

According to the decision of the congress, Yatsenyuk was elected the head of the political council and Turchynov received the position similar to the one he earlier had in the Batkivshchyna party, namely the head of the central headquarters. “With this team we will move forward. We have formed a strong new team in which everyone is responsible for what they know and how to fulfill their task,” said Yatsenyuk.

The next session of the congress is scheduled to be held in several days and the remaining time will be used to draft the party’s program, said Turchynov. MP Ihor Vasyunyk (Batkivshchyna) said that the party plans to approve the electoral lists and candidates in the majoritarian constituencies on Friday. “The negotiations continue about the format of participation in the early parliamentary elections. One thing is for certain – this will be a union of democratic forces for the common victory and the election of a pro-Ukrainian majority in the parliament,” said Vasyunyk.

Despite the fact that electoral lists are not yet ready, a number of participants of the congress have already announced their plans. For instance, Chornovol told journalists that she will be running for the parliament on the list, where she was promised the fifth spot. Tymchuk confirmed that he will also be running on the list, but his place has not yet been discussed. Euromaidan activist and Cossack Vitaliy Havrylyuk did not rule out the possibility of running in a majoritarian constituency.

Two days for thinking

The leaders of the People’s Front must resolve the most important issue prior to the new session of the congress – namely, running in the elections independently or jointly with the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB). MP Mykola Knyazhytskiy (Batkivshchyna) assured Capital that the negotiations on possible unification with the presidential party continue. “If they were over, we would have heard about it at the congress,” said Knyazhytskiy. He supports the idea of joint running in the elections, but pointed out that creation of a common list cannot be achieved “at any cost”. “This must be a decision that is equally beneficial for the People’s Front and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc,” says Knyazhytskiy.

A source of Capital in the PPB confirmed that the negotiations are still under way. “Every time, they have new demands. Now there is the issue about adding the People’s Front to the name,” he said. He confirmed that at the moment an agreement was reached on joint participation in the elections with UDAR. A source in UDAR also confirmed that Vitaliy Klitschko’s party congress will be held soon, at which a number of party members will temporarily leave the party in order to run in the elections on PPB lists.

As a reminder, according to the calendar plan of the elections the deadline for nomination of candidates from the parties is September 15.