I have been trying very hard not to cover the circus of the forthcoming parliamentary elections too much. There are many reasons for this which I may or may not blog about at a later date. Suffice to say it is a deliberate and conscious decision. To cut to the chase, thus far it has been entirely boring, very predictable causing no changes in public opinion or public interest regardless of what has been said or done so far by any individual candidate or political party as a whole.
Why then, would you want to read a running commentary on how nothing has changed? Exactly, you wouldn’t!
If something even remotely interesting were to occur by way of extraordinary incident or change in public opinion, then naturally I would mention it.
Why then am I writing today about the Arseney Yatseniuk fronted United Opposition rally in Odessa that took place two evenings ago?
Firstly, as regular readers of this blog will know, I have always been something of a closet fan of Yatseniuk. That is not to say I agree with all of his policies, I don’t, but over all he the most rounded, intelligent and thoughtful of the opposition MPs that has ever stood a snowball’s chance in hell of being elected to very high office. Of them all, he is also the most likely to actually run the country in the most democratic manner.
Secondly, I am keeping my traditional attendance at all political rallies in Odessa by all parties in any electoral race. It is something I have done ever since arriving in Ukraine and means there is no requirement to rely on slip-shod or biased reporting from the media. If I am there and see and hear it for myself I have no need to read about it via some crass editorial censorship or simply sloppy and inaccurate reporting.
Lastly, and apologies to those of you that followed my live twitter feed from the Yatseniuk rally at the time, I am writing about it because it was the epitome of all that is wrong with the opposition political strategy and more generally, the opposition as a whole.
To start with, Yatseniuk took the stage with a long line of men in suits stood behind him. Who or what they were was seemingly largely unknown to the crowd in Odessa and the crowds via the live televised links in places such as Illychovsk.
The numbers making up the crowds alone must have been a disappointment for Yatseniuk who has previously worked in the Odessa Administration during his career. I have seen bigger crowds gather to watch a training session of Accrington Stanley FC. Accrington Stanley? Who are they? – Exactly!
Anyway, immediately we launch into how Yatseniuk and the United Opposition will impeach the current president for his current nefarious or past unconstitutional acts. That despite there being no law to impeach a president of Ukraine as underlined by Party UDAR who have stated they will support one if such a law is ever written.
So we start with an exceptionally long short at best, and at worst yet another empty promise from an opposition that is widely regarded as having failed to keep their promises when ushered into power during the Orange Revolution.
Empty promises and complete and utter shambolic governance are the reason that the United Opposition are just that – the opposition.
Whilst on that subject, there was absolutely no recognition of just how desperately poor they had been when in power only 3 years ago. No apology, no acceptance of just how dire they had been, and no statements stating how they would be any better this time building on what they had learned from the last time – if they have indeed learned anything – which seems highly doubtful.
A monologue stating just how bad Party of Regions are then ensued. Maybe justifiably, but no more justifiably than a Party of Regions monologue over just how bad the United Opposition were when in power. The gist of this monologue was that (even though we were a complete and utter abortion in government), if you don’t vote for us then they will win. And we think they are worse than we are.
There was nothing uplifting or inspirational whatsoever. Nothing to ignite the (small) crowd. No real policy statements. In fact nothing visionary at all, unless you include the vision of a nightmare painted for a continuance of Party of Regions power.
During the entire event there was very little applause from the crowd over anything said. It was like watching Max Wall on stage but without the comedy. Quite how such little reaction from a crowd of supporters can be garnered is something of a wonder.
Yes, at this point, many are still wondering who all the men in suits that remain motionless and with dead-pan expressions, stood behind Yatseniuk through this lengthy monologue, are. By now I am starting to think they are, or at least some are, security.
Then begins the Q & A with the crowds in Odessa and by links to those in Illychovsk etc.
The first question relates to Natalia Korolevska and is immediately responded to with a sexist quip by Yatseniuk, who then realises his gaff with so many women in the crowds and then tries to make amends.
The next thing to say about the Q & A is that this being Odessa, all the questions were asked from his supporters were in Russian. It is a predominantly Russian speaking city. It is to be expected.
Yatseniuk would begin the answer in Russian and after the first sentence switch to Ukrainian. There were people in the crowd near me who were looking rather bemused that he continually did this. Some were actually asking why he was doing it.
Now as I have already said, I follow Yatseniuk quite closely because I think he is one of the better of a very bad bunch, and I have seen him be asked a question in English and answer it in English many, many times. Not only is that a sign of education but also good manners if you can do so. Why then, when asked a question in Russian would he answer it partly in Russian and then switch to Ukrainian half way through? On every single question!
Anyway, the Q & A ends and then, eventually, we discover who the men in suits behind him are. They are election candidates in the head to head constituency Odessa seats. We are introduced to them by name and seat they are standing for.
The first question that immediately came to mind was – No women?
Then followed the national anthem, the rally ended to very lukewarm applause from a crowd quite obviously many of which were as deflated by the whole thing as I was, and certainly nowhere near inspired as we all drifted off in our separate directions.
If there was ever any doubt as to why the unpopularity of the Party of Regions has not been reflected in the rising popularity of the United Opposition, that rally two evenings ago put those doubts to rest.
Quite simply, the whole thing was very, very poor. The only beneficiaries from such a dismal display will be UDAR on a national scale and possibly Svoboda in some parts of the nation when it comes to taking some Party of Regions votes. Certainly it was not a display that would induce an undecided voter to vote for the United Opposition.
I console myself that I am addicted to policy and care not for which political party generates a policy that is good, can be implemented and is implemented successfully. No party has the monopoly on good ideas and good policy when all is said and done – and in Ukraine it really doesn’t seem to matter anyway, as they are all quite incapable of effective policy implementation nationally.
Today, after the Yanukovyh circus and Yatseniuk disappointment have departed from Odessa, we have a visit from Sergey Tigipko. I will go along and see what he has to say but unless there is something completely bizarre or extraordinary, I doubt I will blog about it. For all the faults of Tigipko, one thing he is quite capable of is good public speaking – a rarity amongst the Ukrainian political class to be honest.
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