Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Kushnaryov's death a loss to PoR

The death of Evhen Kushnaryov may increase Yuliya T's chances of becoming president, according to political expert Andrey Okara.

He says that in the event of early VR elections, in the Kharkiv and other eastern oblasts "Without Kushnaryov and his electoral and organisational resources there is a possibility of some drift of the PoR electorate to BYuT. Without him the party loses a significant portion of it 'all-Ukrainian appeal' and becomes more Donetski-ite, which will result in the loss of votes."

Okara considers Kushnaryov to have been one of PoR's main 'front-men' - an intelligent 'talking-head', and also a charismatic politician of a high order with a high degree of electoral trust and possessing a great deal of political capital, a powerful party manager and organizer, the only 'non-Donetsky' in the leadership of a predominantly Donetskyite party.

He was one of only a very small group of PoR leaders who was entrusted to speak to the media on PoR party policy.

He was head of a tidy network of dozens of family-run businesses in Kharkiv and elsewhere, and several members of his family are embedded in the Kharkiv city council. [not unusual for many Ukrainian politicians.]

According to an order of State forestry committee of Ukraine there are legal restrictions on the hunting of boar and other cloven-footed animals at this time of year. Wolves and other fur-skinned animals may only be hunted at weekends. Kushnaryov and his friends were poaching - but hey, laws passed by VR deputies apply only to the 'plebs' don't they?

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