"Will focus on populist forces": Saakashvili’s party announced its intention to participate in elections to the Rada

The party of the former governor of the Odessa region, Mikhail Saakashvili, “The Movement of New Forces” intends to participate in the early elections to the Verkhovna Rada, which are to be held on July 21. This was stated by one of the party leaders, David Sakvarelidze, in an interview with the Ukrainian edition of Apostrof.

“We have the legitimate right to freely participate in elections,” he said.

“We, as a party, will go to these elections and will defend the philosophy and those projects that we want to carry out as a political force ... This is not only our desire, but an obligation to voters who are waiting for successive steps,” said Sakvarelidze.

He also answered the question whether the “Movement of New Forces” party supports the decision of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky about dissolving the Rada and holding extraordinary elections.

“If we were selfish now and thought only of ourselves, the answer would be“ no, ”since there is not enough time to turn around. When we think about the country, and not about our own personal ambitions, we believe that this is the correct course of Zelensky, because the current Verkhovna Rada has been illegitimate for four years now. There is neither a coalition, nor ideas, nor sane people, ”the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine added.

We add that the party "Movement of New Forces" will be another debutant in the upcoming parliamentary elections in July. They will be attended by a whole range of new political forces that have never before attempted to go to the Rada, including the party “The Servant of the People” Vladimir Zelensky, the “Voice” of Okean Elzy’s frontman Svyatoslav Vakarchuk and the Ukrainian Strategy Vladimir Groisman resigned as prime minister.

Saakashvili's return

On Wednesday, May 29, Mikhail Saakashvili himself must return to Ukraine, to whom Vladimir Zelensky returned Ukrainian citizenship the day before. On his Facebook page, the politician posted a photo of his ID card for returning to Ukraine.

“The wonderful Consul of Ukraine issued me an ID card at the embassy in Warsaw for returning to Ukraine! And now - to the airport and to Kiev! ”, - says in his message.

The 51-year-old native of Georgia lost his Ukrainian passport in July 2017 by decision of the former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. At the same time, in the autumn of that year, a politician, accompanied by his supporters and a number of Ukrainian politicians, broke through the cordon of servicemen at the Sheghini checkpoint on the border with Poland and passed through the checkpoint into the territory of Ukraine.

However, in February 2018, the Ukrainian authorities sent Saakashvili to Poland. The rationale for this was the fact that the politician was illegally on Ukrainian territory.

"Zelensky hopes that Saakashvili will" bite "his political opponents"

The next election campaign in Ukraine promises to be very entertaining, says Gevorg Mirzayan, assistant professor of political science at the Financial University under the Russian government.

“We can expect big scandals, loud revelations and hysteria. Of course, the party of Saakashvili will focus on various kinds of populist forces. It may even overcome the minimum barrier to passing to the Rada, given the disappointment of Ukrainians in the traditional Maidan forces. We expect a lot of fun. It is too early to talk about who will become the main forces in parliament, ”the expert noted.

He also drew an analogy between the return of Ukrainian citizenship to Mikhail Saakashvili and the release from prison of Yulia Tymoshenko.

“Saakashvili is becoming for Zelensky a symbol of persecution of the political opposition by the previous regime, as was the case with Tymoshenko during the presidency of Poroshenko. Of course, at the same time Zelensky hopes that Saakashvili will “bite” his political opponents, above all Poroshenko, and discredit them. But you need to understand that Saakashvili is like a mad dog, he bites everyone: both his own and others, ”said Mirzayan in an interview with RT.

According to Leonid Kalashnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Compatriots Affairs, the Movement of New Forces party has a chance to get significant representation in the Ukrainian parliament. At the same time, she can join the Verkhovna Rada coalition with the Batkivshchyna Party of Yulia Tymoshenko.

“Saakashvili is not a Zelensky man. To a greater extent, he, after all, is a man of Tymoshenko. It may be recalled that she met him at the border, conducted through her, supported the ex-president of Georgia. Therefore, most likely, Saakashvili will go with her, but Tymoshenko will already go with Zelensky. Do not expect the coalition of the party Zelensky and Saakashvili. They never knew each other and did not work together, ”the interlocutor believes.