Former Ukrainian president and leader of the European Solidarity Party, Petro Poroshenko, said that his political force has a candidate for the post of the future prime minister of the country. He said this on the TV channel ICTV.

“European Solidarity” has a prime minister’s candidacy. In my opinion, she is decent, she is the best. We will be able to offer it after the composition of the Verkhovna Rada is determined, ”Poroshenko noted.

Who exactly is it, the politician did not specify. At the same time, to the question whether he plans to claim the position of the head of the Cabinet himself, Poroshenko left the answer, noting that he was already the president of the country, and he did not have a higher position in the country.

"This is a crisis of the career genre, since there is nowhere else to go," added the former president of Ukraine.

Recall that in late May, the current Ukrainian head, Vladimir Zelensky, signed a decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada (BP), calling early parliamentary elections for July 21. At the same time, the obligation to ensure their funding was assigned to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Prior to that, Zelensky called the main reason why, in his opinion, the parliament should be dissolved.

“The main argument for the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada is the very low confidence of Ukrainian citizens in this institution - 4%,” explained the Ukrainian president.

According to him, this attitude of the inhabitants of the country suggests that the results of the activities of the Rada are unsatisfactory.

“I, as a guarantor of the Constitution, are obliged to guarantee the rights of Ukrainian citizens,” Zelensky stressed, adding that there is a legal basis for the dissolution of parliament - the absence of a coalition from 2016.

No connection with reality

According to analysts, Poroshenko has no chance of himself becoming the prime minister of Ukraine or promoting his supporter to this post.

According to the public opinion poll of the sociological service of the Razumkov Center, published on July 15, Poroshenko’s party is supported only by 8.3% of Ukrainians who intend to take part in the voting and have already made their choice. Thus, this political force is in fourth place. The first place with 41.5% is occupied by the “Servant of the people” by Vladimir Zelensky.

“The chances that the representative of“ European solidarity ”will receive the premiership will be exactly zero. Most will form the Zelensky party. But even if it is not absolute, the “Servant of the People” will definitely not take the political force of Poroshenko into a coalition, ”said Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, in an interview with RT.

At the same time, the expert clarified that only the person whose coalition will support the candidate can become prime minister. And the ex-president of Ukraine, according to Pogrebinsky, makes such statements in order to “give more weight to his political claims.”

“For Poroshenko, this is a way to make a statement a few days before the parliamentary elections - the pug builds an elephant,” the analyst said.

  • The building of the Verkhovna Rada in Kiev
  • Reuters
  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

As Pogrebinsky believes, it’s not a fact that Poroshenko will be able to remain in politics because of the criminal cases initiated against him.

“In order for Poroshenko to have at least some political chances, he first needs to deal with all the accusations against him related to offshore accounts and corruption. However, there is no guarantee that the former president of Ukraine will not end up in the dock or even behind bars, ”the expert believes.

According to the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, Vladimir Shapovalov, Poroshenko’s words are not related to the real political situation.

“His European Solidarity party is balancing on the brink — it may not go to the Verkhovna Rada. In addition, the results of opinion polls indicate that the rating of this political force is steadily falling. Poroshenko is losing ground, his party will clearly not be the second most important political force and, at best, will hardly overcome the 5% barrier, ”the analyst explained in a conversation with RT.

Shapovalov believes that Poroshenko in Ukraine is now viewed as a policy of the past, and his party as a leaving political force.

“Such statements by the former Ukrainian president should be regarded as ritual political spells that are supposed to demonstrate that the party has“ the potential ”to fulfill serious political tasks. However, the Ukrainians have already seen all these people and what they are capable of - in this case such a move cannot be called a winning one, ”the expert emphasized.

Shapovalov also does not exclude that Poroshenko had in mind himself, speaking of the candidate for the post of head of the Ukrainian Cabinet.

“Because“ European solidarity ”is a party of the leader’s type — Poroshenko initially adjusted it for himself and continues to do it,” the analyst explained.

At the same time, according to Shapovalov, it is possible that the Ukrainian ex-president had in mind the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Andrei Parubiy.

“However, one should not take Poroshenko’s words seriously, since such statements are a pre-election move, trying to earn half a percent of the votes at the finish line before the elections,” the expert believes.

“Crossed all red lines”

According to analysts, Zelensky is interested in Poroshenko’s descent from the political “ring”, so his party will not unite with “European solidarity” under any circumstances. In addition, this is evidenced by the bill on lustration introduced by the current president, which also includes Poroshenko, experts say.

Last week, Dmitry Razumkov, head of the President of Ukraine’s Servant of the People’s Party, said in an interview with Novoye Vremya about his intention to “cooperate” in the Rada with new political forces after the early parliamentary elections.

“Old batches are part of the old system. Our goal is to reboot the system, ”the politician emphasized.

Recall, on July 12, Zelensky submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for the lustration of senior officials who held their posts from February 23, 2014 to May 19, 2019. The document mentions including the President of Ukraine, the head of his administration, the Speaker of the Rada and his deputies, the Prime Minister, the heads of security agencies and the National Bank of Ukraine.

At the same time, Poroshenko himself called the bill an attempt to bring back supporters of former head of state Viktor Yanukovych to power. Earlier, the former president of Ukraine said that the idea of ​​lustration was allegedly conceived by anti-Ukrainian forces.

  • President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky
  • AFP
  • © Sergei Supinsky

As Volodymyr Shapovalov notes, Zelensky is definitely not going to create a coalition with “European solidarity”, since even during the election race he and Poroshenko “crossed all the red lines”.

“Therefore, the cooperation of these political forces is excluded. Zelensky is positioning himself as a politician of the new time, while Poroshenko is a politician dropped from the ship of modernity, ”the expert noted.

At the same time, according to Shapovalov, in the case of a successful performance of the “Servant of the People” at the elections, a variant is possible, in which the presidential party will retain the post of prime minister.

“However, if the Zelensky party does not gain an absolute majority in parliament, it can unite with the political forces of Yulia Tymoshenko and Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. Under certain circumstances, there is also the likelihood of a coalition with the Opposition Platform, but this can happen only as a last resort, ”the analyst predicted.

Shapovalov also believes that the law on lustration Ukrainian head expects to attract fluctuating electorate of the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, whose population has a negative attitude to Poroshenko.

“Zelensky, to all else, is seeking to intercept part of Tymoshenko’s electorate, since she also builds her campaign on harsh criticism of Poroshenko. However, the maneuver of the Ukrainian president is unlikely to be successful, because it does not add to his image of new features - voters have heard all this before, ”the expert stated.

At the same time, as Shapovalov notes, the likelihood that Poroshenko’s American or European partners will try to help him or his supporters take over the post of prime minister of Ukraine is extremely small.

“European countries will not constantly carry chestnuts out of the fire instead of Poroshenko, because he has discredited himself - behind him is too large a train of crimes. For European politicians, there is no point in supporting such a “lame duck” as Poroshenko. Obviously, Europe is reconfiguring with respect to Ukrainian politics, ”Shapovalov believes.

Europe would prefer to stay away from the current political squabbles in Ukraine, says Mikhail Pogrebinsky.

“Brussels will not try to return Poroshenko to big politics, as his figure is extremely unpopular not only in Ukraine, but also in the EU countries. In addition, for the European elite, the former Ukrainian president is not a politician with a positive reputation, ”explained the expert.

At the same time, according to Pogrebinsky, in the United States, Poroshenko’s role is somewhat different, but Washington doesn’t have the tools of influence that would have made Zelensky make the Ukrainian ex-president or his supporter the prime minister of the country.