UNIAN, quoting BYuT sources, say that nearly 55,000 people attended Tymoshenko's campaign rally in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Wednesday.
Most commentators agree that the Ukrainian electorate is currently suffering from political cynicism election fatigue, so LEvko suspects a cold shiver passed down the backs of PoR leaders on hearing of the size of the crowd. Possibly the only other person who could have attracted such a crowd would have been senior PoR deputy, Mr Kharkiv himself - Yevhen Kushnaryov - but he was shot dead in a hunting accident last winter.
At last March's parliamentary elections in the Kharkiv oblast, PoR received 51.7% of the vote, BYuT received 12.68%.
Yanukovych is complaining about the dirty 'kompromat' being heaped onto him. A story posted on the 'Obozrevatel' site describes Yanuk's recent R and R holiday in the Altai region of Russia. The holiday was allegedly funded by major Russian businessman, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, owner of the 'Systema' financial-industrial conglomerate, a leading telecom, high tech and real estate player in Russia.
Yevtushenkov, brother-in-law of Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, is allegedly interested in acquiring the Ukrainian "Ukrtelekom", and developing commercial real estate in and around Kyiv. Clearly such major transactions cannot take place without the blessing of the Ukrainian government.
'Oboz' publishes documents which it claims are from the 'Tursib' recreational villas in Altai where Yanuk's entourage stayed from 5th to the 8th August. 20 houses were reserved for them at 'Tursib', including ten 'luxes' for the VIP guests.
Unconfirmed reports say Russian playboy oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, noted for his ski resort carousing, was also there at the time, as were ladies, of the type whose company this man, [and it seems Fedorovych] seems to enjoy.
Another story in Ukrainska Pravda reveals Yanuk's fleet of limos has been upgraded recently to the tune of 14 million hryven - nearly $3 million.
Still, Yanuk and Akhmetov embraced and ran onto the pitch together after seeing Shakhtar Donetsk beat Salzburg to reach the final stages of the European Champion's football league last night.
p.s. Yulka T. should watch what she eats from now on, and especially keep away from sushi..
I think PoR is worried but will of course deny it vehemently and pay for yet another glowing survey poll. There is definitely shift in the eastern regions and in this fight for every single seat, it is crucial. But PoR will continue to rely on and utilize all of its resources under its control inc. administrative resources (and this does not rule out 'fraud' in elections.)
ReplyDeleteIs 300 votes in their reach? Out of the question but they have to have at least enough with the CPU to fast-track legislation with a bit of a margin. So it is no surprise that statements are being made that the vote may not even happen (if 300 deputies show up on Sept. 4th) and Moroz is still wandering loose. Had there been a clean/new political force that people could rally around and believe in, it would really have upset the applecart in a major way. But as is, as high as 20% of voters are undecided and not represented in the Parliament. How will they vote?