The parties of Ukraine’s President Petro Poreshenko and Kiev’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko’s merged in August, and with local elections upcoming all eyes are on Ukraine as pro democracy parties seek to consolidate their seats against more pro-Russian sentiment. The recent actions by President Poroshenko to grant more autonomy to the separatist regions have angered the nationalists within Parliament, and the far right. Along with the parties merging, this has caused upheaval in Kiev and has raised the possibility of snap elections in which a slew of new candidates could be vying to take over for Poreshenko and Yatsenyuk’s embattled governments. There’s talk that Mikhail Saakashvilli, the current Odessa governor and former President of Georgia, will go for the position.Saakashvilli recently received 26,000 signatures on a petition to President Poreshenko demanding that Saakashvilli become Prime Minister. The petition supporting Saakashvili’s candidacy for the prime minister’s post was officially submitted on September 3. The same day, Ukraine’s Channel 5 television network, which is owned by Poroshenko, aired an interview with Saakashvili, who lambasted current Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s reform agenda, Radio Free Europe reports.. While Saakashvilli has said that he will not run for the position, many believe that he is still entertaining at least some notion of running for election, particularly when his popularity has risen of late.
Sakashvilli gained support last week when he and Ukranian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk skirmished over Sakashvilli’s assertions that Ukraine’s government did in many ways resemble that of an oligarchy, and that the promised reforms were not happening at an appropriate rate. However, Saakashvilli has more than a few skeletons in his political closet including the unsuccessful war with Russia in 2008, and the accusation of fleeing the country of Georgia when he was president due to charges of corruption.
Dmytro Fritash, who is one of the minds behind the Agency for the Modernisation of Ukraine (AMU), is also a potential front-runner. Backed by some of Europe’s most senior recent administrators and political figures, it promises a comprehensive recovery plan based on investment, not repayment. It is a model which speaks the language of hope, a breath of fresh air which anticipates generating an estimated $300billion for Ukraine’s coffers.
Full Article: Ukraine: Snap elections ahead?.