Former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko has said he links his pardon to the desire of the authorities to weaken the opposition ahead of the presidential elections in 2015.

"The increasing number of opposition leaders and parties ahead of the [presidential] elections will turn into a weakness, rather than a quality. I'm not planning to multiply this weakness. I have no doubt that the decision to pardon me was also taken in the hope that I will elbow my way through current opposition members," he said in an interview with LB.ua on Monday.

"That's why, in the first second that I was released from prison, I said that I'm not planning to create any party or movement," Lutsenko said.

Speaking about the lessons of the Orange Revolution, Lutsenko admitted that "I, like all members of the orange team, am certainly guilty of mistakes."

"I openly admitted that many times and apologize to the voters. Does it mean there is a need for me and other politicians who did not give up and did not put up with the system of state banditry to quit politics? I myself came from politics, but I am sure that today the main force for change is not in parties, but in civil society. I have an answer to the question of how to make politicians take into account this force and how to combine their efforts," he added.